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"In the absence of government assistance, most mother-only families would be poor and economically insecure.... Government can reduce economic insecurity, but doing so will increase dependence on government....This creates a major dilemma for policy makers: whether to give priority to reducing economic insecurity or whether to give priority to reducing dependence and prevalence. In this paper we address key questions relevant to the dilemma: the extent of insecurity, dependence, and prevalence; the role of government in producing and maintaining all three; and the experience of single mothers and their children in the United States as compared to those in other advanced industrial nations.... Evidence from both international comparisons and American experience during the past 20 years indicates that a further reduction in welfare benefits will increase poverty and insecurity. Furthermore, the beneficial effects on dependence and prevalence are not likely to be great." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND SPA)

"This study, conducted from the point of view of the children, compares cohorts from the time of New France [Quebec] with those of Canada today, showing that single parenthood is not a new phenomenon. The types of single parenthood, however, are quite different. The colonial model of the traditional family has given way to a variety of family situations. As well, while death was the only cause of single parenthood during the colonial era, separations today are essentially based on some sort of decision. The psychological repercussions of losing a parent are thus completely different." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND SPA)

Developments concerning single-parent, female-headed households in Quebec are analyzed. The authors note that in contrast to past experience, "the new single parent family is in most cases the result of a voluntary disruption of the household, or of a birth outside marriage; its head is mostly--and increasingly--the mother; and it concerns an increasingly younger population, among parents as well as children." Differences among metropolitan regions are analyzed with regard to labor force participation, income, and housing conditions. (SUMMARY IN ENG AND SPA)

The author describes the principal demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of one-parent families in Quebec. Characteristics examined include age, sex, marital status, educational level, economic activity, and income of the household head. Data are primarily from the 1956, 1966, and 1976 censuses