Past efforts to conceptualize the effects of welfare on work have failed to consider the full range of incentives and disincentives that low-skill single mothers perceive and act upon when making the choice between welfare and work. They also have neglected the fundamental economic reality of these mothers' lives-neither welfare nor low-wage work gives single mothers enough income to meet theirfamilies'expenses. In-depth interviews with 379 low-income single mothers in four U.S. cities show that welfare recipients and low-wage workers employ a set of survival strategies to make ends meet. The range of strategies available to mothers is shaped by the social-struc- tural characteristics of the cities in which they live and by the quality of their private social safety nets. We argue that because some survival strate- gies are more compatible with work than others, the strategies a mother em- ploys may affect her ability to move from welfare to work. Most welfare re- cipients want to leave welfare for work. However, most also believe that un- less they can lower the costs associated with work or increase their earning power through investments in further education, they will be unable to meet their expenses by working.