WORK v. FAMILY: UA SOCIOLOGIST EXPLORES WELFARE REFORM ISSUES

CHICAGO — After four years of work with single mothers on welfare, a University of Arkansas sociologist says that one reason current welfare systems fail is the conflicting messages delivered to women recipients.

While society tells women to stay home and raise their families, social workers tell them to get out and find a job, said Dr. Magalene Taylor.

"We’re asking these women to do something that is contradictory to their nature — to leave their children and enter the workforce. Then we condemn them when they choose their children over jobs," Taylor said. "Middle class women make the same choices, but we don’t condemn them."

On Saturday, Aug. 7, Taylor will present her views to the American Sociological Association at its national convention in Chicago. Taylor’s paper, entitled "Gender Role Socialization and its Effects on Policy Making," states that welfare reform efforts often force a choice between work and family without accommodating a woman’s need for both.

According to Taylor, society raises women to be nurturing, caring and devoted to their children. She calls this phenomenon gender role socialization and asserts that all women are subject to its effects, regardless of social or economic status.

Society conditions women in this way because it deems traditional family values admirable. However when a woman must enter the welfare system, these same values can conflict with the welfare goal — to get people off the rolls and into the workforce.

When faced with this conflict, women often turn down opportunities for training or work, opting to care for their children instead.

"Their choices are not an indication that these women don’t value work," said Taylor. "In fact, many of them are interested in entering the work force. But as single mothers, their children depend solely upon them for emotional and physical support. These mothers are not about to participate in a reform effort that takes them away from their kids."

Taylor believes this conflict between family and work reveals a flaw in the welfare reform effort. Seldom do welfare recipients get a chance to speak on their own behalf, so legislators and reformers remain unaware of many of the issues these people face.

"If we’re going to have reform in welfare, we need to incorporate the insights and experiences of people actually engaged in the process. How can we provide service for people we’ve never listened to or spoken with? These people need a voice," said Taylor.

Through working with single mothers on welfare, Taylor has heard those voices and has found several issues that she feels must be addressed if the welfare system is to succeed.

One such issue is the need for daycare. Many women are raising children without the support system of an extended family, said Taylor. These women have no one to care for their children while they work.

Taylor also suggests that greater availability of part-time jobs could help ease women into the work force. Mothers could work while their children attend school but still be available for their families in the afternoon. As the children grew older, these mothers could enter full-time employment.

"Part of the problem is that women with young children have different needs than those with older families," said Taylor. "We need to examine the life course of families and integrate that into our policies."

If welfare policy reflected family needs, single mothers would be able to better serve both their families and their communities.

"We have these two institutions that rule our lives — family and work. If we have to make a choice between them, women will tend to choose family," said Taylor. "If the welfare system is going to succeed, we need to find a way to make these institutions complement rather than conflict with each other."

EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr. Taylor can be reached at the Allerton Crowne Plaza Hotel in Chicago, (312)440-1500, from August 3 through August 10.

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