Taylor & Francis

The study examined the impact of child support policy on the financial well-being of one family experiencing divorce in Minnesota. Data were collected from a court record of a 1999 marital dissolution with joint legal and physical custody and a child support order that deviated from state guidelines. The analysis compared the needs-adjusted income the parties had while in the marriage with the needs-adjusted incomes provided by the actual child support order, and with hypothetical amounts consistent with the child support guidelines, and with the situation of sole physical custody.

Marital status and earnings from work for women are studied using the National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS), Young Women’s Cohort. The study focuses on how being continuously married affects the earnings of women from young adulthood through their pre-retirement years. Earnings from work are measured by average annual wages between 1968 and 1999. Bivariate findings suggest that marriage and family are associated with lessening the wage-earning potential of women over the life course but multivariate analysis shows no effect beyond that of other measures accounted for in the study.

The present article reviews evidence related to the prevalence of substance use disorders among welfare recipients, the relationship of substance use to welfare receipt and identifies several key strategies states are using to address substance use disorders as barriers to employment among TANF recipients. The article identifies promising approaches and develops recommendations for future research and policy related to substance abuse and other barriers to employment. (author abstract)