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. 2006 Nov;96(11):2024-31.
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2004.061762. Epub 2006 Oct 3.

Welfare receipt and substance-abuse treatment among low-income mothers: the impact of welfare reform

Harold A Pollack  1 , Peter Reuter
Affiliations

Welfare receipt and substance-abuse treatment among low-income mothers: the impact of welfare reform

Harold A Pollack et al. Am J Public Health. 2006 Nov.

Abstract

Objectives: We explored changing relations between substance use, welfare receipt, and substance-abuse treatment among low-income mothers before and after welfare reform.

Methods: We examined annual data from mothers aged 18 to 49 years in the 1990-2001 National Household Survey of Drug Abuse and the 2002 National Survey of Drug Use and Health. Logistic regression was used to examine determinants of treatment receipt.

Results: Among low-income, substance-using mothers, the proportion receiving cash assistance declined from 54% in 1996 to 38% in 2001. The decline was much smaller (37% to 31%) among low-income mothers who did not use illicit substances. Low-income, substance-using mothers who received cash assistance were much more likely than other low-income, substance-using mothers to receive treatment services. Among 2002 National Survey of Drug Use and Health respondents deemed "in need" of substance-abuse treatment, welfare recipients were significantly more likely than nonrecipients to receive such services (adjusted odds ratio=2.31; P<.05). Controlling for other factors, welfare receipt was associated with higher prevalence of illicit drug use. Such use declined among both welfare recipients and other mothers between 1990 and 2001.

Conclusions: Welfare is a major access point to identify and serve low-income mothers with substance-use disorders, but it reaches a smaller proportion of illicit drug users than it did prereform. Declining welfare receipt among low-income mothers with substance abuse disorders poses a new challenge in serving this population.

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Figures

FIGURE 1—
FIGURE 1—
Past-year illicit drug use among welfare recipient and nonrecipient mothers aged 18–49 years. Source. 1990–2001 National Household Survey of Drug Abuse.
FIGURE 2—
FIGURE 2—
Welfare receipt among low-income mothers aged 18 to 49 years. Source. 1990–2001 National Household Survey of Drug Abuse.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, American Public Human Services Association. Building Bridges: States Respond to Substance Abuse and Welfare Reform. New York, NY: National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University; 1999.
    1. Califano J. It’s Drugs, Stupid. New York Times Sunday Magazine. January 29, 1995:40–41.
    1. Weaver RK. Ending Welfare as We Know It: Policy Making for Low-Income Families in the United States. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution; 2000.
    1. Schoeni RM, Blank RF. What Has Welfare Reform Accomplished? Impact on Welfare Participation, Employment, Income, Poverty, and Family Structure. Cambridge, Mass: National Bureau of Economic Research; 2000.
    1. Danziger SH. Economic Conditions and Welfare Reform: What Are the Early Lessons? Kalamazoo, Mich: Upjohn Institute for Employment Research; 1999.

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