Mary Eamon

Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, the authors examined the health insurance coverage stability of 1,667 women in working families over a three-year period (1995-1997). Findings revealed that coverage instability is common. Nearly one-half of low-income women experienced health coverage instability over the three-year study period, and low-income women with poor education, single marital status, low work hours, and frequent job changes were at even greater risk of coverage instability. The findings also imply that women affected by recent welfare reforms are likely to experience widespread health coverage problems. The implications for health care policy development, social work administration, and social work practice are discussed.

This article examines health insurance stability patterns and the factors associated with stable coverage in a sample of 453 low-income working women. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), the authors found that only 51 percent of these women had stable coverage during 1995-1997. Logistic regression results indicate that, controlling for other factors, health insurance stability is significantly higher for those who have higher levels of welfare receipt, have more work hours, have fewer job changes, have higher education levels, are African American or Hispanic, and who live outside central cities. The findings suggest that point-in-time health coverage estimates substantially underestimate the health coverage problems of low-income working women. Health policies need to be more sensitive to transitional problems resulting from job changes, marital disruptions, and other changes in circumstances. Recommendations for revising health care policies and for improving existing health care programs are presented.

Using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (1996 and 2001 panels), we determined that experiencing four types of material hardships (inadequate housing, inability to meet basic expenses, unmet medical/dental need, and food insufficiency) was ...

Economic downturns, trends in the increased number of single-mother families and women entering the workforce, recent welfare reforms that make receipt of cash benefits contingent on employment, and changes in the economic environment that have increased ...