Family Support Networks, Welfare, and Work among Young Mothers

Abstract

Using 1984 data from a nationally representative sample of young black and white mothers, this research investigates kin networks, kin network support, and the consequences of this support for women's work. Most young mothers have access to nearby kin, and it is these kin who most often provide child care and income support. Young black mothers more often live near kin and receive child-care assistance from kin. When racial differences in marital status are taken into account, white mothers are more likely to receive substantial income support. But for both blacks and whites, kin access and support from kin diminish rapidly as young mothers enter their mid-twenties. Patterns of kin assistance vary by the gender and work status of kin. Nearby female kin provide child care, while working kin provide income support. Contrary to cost-of-child-care arguments, kin-provided child care fails to increase labor force participation. But consistent with a cultureof-employment model, nearby working kin increase this participation. Several lines of research invoke extended family networks as a major factor in family functioning. With modern communication and transportation, the dispersing effects of higher rates of migration can be overcome. Through telephone contact and frequent visits, families separated in space can continue many traditional functions (Lee, 1980; Litwak, 1981; Sussman and Burchinal, 1962). Similarly, extended family networks provide important safety nets for families in poverty, particularly black and Hispanic families (Aschenbrenner, 1973; Bastida, 1979; Hays and Mindel, 1973; Mindel, 1980; Mutran, 1985; Taylor, 1986; Taylor, Jackson, and Quick, 1982). Teenage mothers and others who have lost their jobs turn to kin for shortand long-term assistance. The results of teenage mothering are somewhat less devastating for those who have a grandmother to provide child care while the young mother finishes school or seeks a job, and the quality of care received by children of single mothers is better when the extended family is involved (Furstenberg, 1976; Furstenberg, Brooks-Gunn, and Morgan, 1987; Hetherington, Cox, and Cox, 1978: Kellam, Ensminger, and Turner, 1982). The loss of heat and the threat of hunger and homelessness are less imminent if one has a larger set of kin to fall back on (Angel and Tienda, 1982; Martin and Martin, 1985; Presser, 1980; Tienda and Angel, 1982). The findings from this line of research are less than consistent, however. While providing shortNORC and Department of Sociology, University of Chicago, 1155 East 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637.