Benefits are often decreased dollar for dollar for any income women make. Women need the government benefits on top of meager wages. The nation's unwillingness to invest in women and children in a preventive way leads to costlier interventions later. The lack of nutrition and education for children may contribute to crime and prison costs later. The growth of the prison system is linked to lack of investment in poor communities and the racist nature of drug policy and prosecutions.
Poor women have difficulty accessing transportation for work, childcare and other daily needs.
Texas is now pushing women with small children into the workforce. Many women have been lied to, insulted and verbally attacked. The system often sees women as trying to get away with something, and intrudes in women's financial and personal lives. The constant monitoring of poor women is not efficient or cost effective given the low real level of fraud. Job training programs tend to offer little assistance and point women to minimum wage jobs.