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UC study reveals some low-income families aren’t getting services intended to help them

Rural low-income families are not taking full advantage of support and assistance programs that are known to improve families’ financial situations and increase children’s well being, according to UC Cooperative Extension (UCCE) consumer education researchers taking part in a 15-state study that looks at the impact of welfare reform in rural America.

In California, 40 mostly Latino low-income families in Madera and Kern counties are being tracked over the course of three years.

“We focused on Latino families in California to give them a voice,” said Nancy Lees, a professional researcher based at UC Riverside who is the project manager. “Latinos are underrepresented in most nationwide studies.”
The first year, researchers found that 75% of the California families eligible for food stamps were not enrolled in the program. Just 19% of the eligible Latino families used food stamps. More than 36% of the Latino children had no health insurance coverage.

“Some families have a lot of pride and don’t want to receive public assistance,” said Martha López, nutrition, family and consumer sciences advisor for UCCE in Ventura County. “Sometimes, the families just don’t know they qualify for government-funded health care programs, reduced utility and telephone rates, the federal tax Earned Income Credit or food stamps.”

Suspicion of the system, fear of deportation for undocumented immigrants and reports of unpleasant experiences in social service agencies may also contribute to the lower enrollment of Latino families in these programs.
Lees and López are working on the project with Human Resources Program Leader Karen Varcoe, the principal investigator. The California study is funded by the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. USDA and the National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program are funding the 15-state data analysis.

As part of the study, participants are surveyed annually about income, work status, money management, health care, nutrition, food security and transportation. The results are studied collectively. The families’ individual situations are confidential.

“I’ve been very surprised and grateful the participants are so willing to share the personal dimensions of their lives,” said Lees, who is conducting about a third of the interviews.

López, who conducts the remainder of the interviews, said that the study is beginning to reveal surprising effects of poverty.

“Some people don’t have enough money to get groceries at the end of the month, yet we’re seeing an increase in overweight and obesity in children and adults,” López said. “We’re not sure about the relationship, but we’re starting to believe if people don’t always have access to food, when it is available, they eat too much.”

In some cases, the researchers have found ironies in a family’s money management strategy.

“Financial decisions are often made on emotions and without counsel,” López said. “A family might need transportation and buy a brand new car. They will have huge car payments, but live three families to an apartment.”

Each year, the researchers are providing helpful information to participating families, such as toll-free numbers for government programs, budgeting manuals, nutrition guides, etc. In Madera County, a nutrition and parenting skills seminar was offered to research participants.

Just being part of the study is having a positive impact on the lives of some participants. López tells of one woman who, the first year of the study, said she wanted to go to school, but didn’t have a driver’s license. By the second year, she had a license, job training and was working as a certified nurse assistant. What made the difference, she related to López, was being asked at the end of the survey what she would like to see happen in the next three years.

“I was so impressed with her,” López said. “She told me, ‘If it wasn’t for you asking me what my dreams were, I probably wouldn’t have given it much thought.’”

Lees is analyzing the project’s second-year data and she and López are conducting the final round of interviews. At the completion of the project, the California statistics will be combined with information from the other states to give decision-makers an idea how policies and programs affect the lives of low-income rural Americans.

(September 2002)

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