Determinants of Informal Social Help Among Women Enduring Marital Separation and Poverty

Abstract

The private economic assistance that women experiencing poverty can potentially receive during a marital separation has been largely overlooked. This study investigates determinants of economic aid from family, friends, and private community organizations among women experiencing marital separation and poverty. Such private social help may make the difference between an informal but flexible support network and a formal but routine social safety net. Using panel data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), this study found that the odds of a woman receiving private help to make ends meet during a period of marital separation and poverty were associated with her human capital, command over marital assets, employment, and duration of the separation. Separated women with fewer economic resources or more urgent economic needs were more likely to receive informal social help. The growing dependency on private assistance over the duration of marital separation also suggests the chronic strain model that economic hardship is a chronic stress for women after separation.