Female-Headed Families in Poverty

GAO discussed the poverty status of women and children, especially those living in families headed by single women. GAO found that: (1) the number of female-headed families in poverty was substantial and increasing; (2) female-headed families accounted for over one-third of all people in poverty; (3) marital breakups and out-of-wedlock births were prime causes of the increase in female-headed families; (4) a number of federal programs, some in conjunction with states, provided cash, food, medical, and employment assistance to needy families; (5) a number of states operated work incentive (WIN) demonstration projects as supplements to Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) programs; (6) federal agencies were evaluating the effectiveness of the projects; (7) some WIN projects had a positive effect on the employment and earnings of female heads of households; (8) the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Family Assistance (OFA) has not adequately monitored or evaluated state AFDC programs; (9) an administration proposal would cut federal funding for state WIN projects, require AFDC recipients to participate in employment-related activities, and impose financial penalties on states for failure to achieve high participation; (10) the proposal could create funding problems because states rely on WIN funds to provide support services; and (11) OFA poorly documented the proposal because it relied on studies that were not rigorously evaluated or applicable nationwide.