How Well Does the “Safety Net” Work for Family Safety Nets? Economic Survival Strategies Among Grandmother Caregivers in Severe Deprivation

• Main Author: LaShawnDa Pittman
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Russell Sage Foundation 2015-11-01
• Series: RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences
• Subjects: grandparent caregiving; African Americans; urban poverty; safety net; economic survival strategies
• Online Access: http://www.rsfjournal.org/doi/full/10.7758/RSF.2015.1.1.05

Using qualitative data collected from fifty-eight African American grandmothers raising grandchildren in skipped-generation households (SGHs), I reveal how and why women in non-normative families, lacking legal protections and publicly recognized authority as parents, must negotiate risk in pursuit of resources. I demonstrate that these grandmothers struggle for economic survival while seeking simultaneously to minimize the risk of losing their grandchildren and maximize their chances of receiving public assistance. I argue that grandmothers in SGHs face significant challenges obtaining government benefits owing to policy eligibility guidelines, street-level implementation, and family dynamics. Ultimately, I illustrate how the severe deprivation experienced by these grandmothers is exacerbated by their exclusion from safety net programs that could help them support the children in their care.