The Relationship Between Private Safety Nets and Economic Outcomes Among Single Mothers

Kristen Harknett, University of Pennsylvania

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between private safety nets and economic outcomes among 2,818 low-income single mothers in three U.S. counties in the 1990s. I define private safety nets as the potential to draw upon family and friends for material or emotional support if needed. Using a combination of survey and administrative records data collected for the National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies, I find that human capital deficits, depressive symptoms, and low self-efficacy are associated with having less private safety net support, suggesting that social network disadvantages compound individual-level disadvantages. I also find that mothers with strong private safety nets worked more, earned more, and were less reliant on welfare compared with mothers with more meager private safety nets.