Explores the impact of the new welfare reform bill on female heads of households, arguing that the push for welfare recipients to end welfare dependency and enter the job market ill-prepared presents challenges in the home and the workplace. Suggests that adult educators' role in preparing low-skilled mothers for the workplace is central in…

The resourcefulness of poor Black female heads of households is shown in the methods they use to stretch and supplement their incomes, their ability to obtain help from their extended families, and their sharing of resources. Their responsibilities, however, lead to great emotional stress. (Author/MC)

Reviews the historical role of the extended family in the life of African American women and discusses the adaptations they have used over time in their family life. Surveys functions of the Black extended family and argues the critical role of Black women in strengthening and renewing vital kinship systems. (AF)

Argues that blacks have been disproportionately undercounted in the census and this undercount has resulted in such biased statistics as proportions of black female-headed households, victimization rates of black males, or crude death rates of blacks. Further, these statistics are biased upward and downward, and together they generate distorted…