Since the passage of the welfare reform legislation of 1996, social scientists have studied the impact of reform on poverty, work effort, and well-being among those affected. Most of the research documents the decline in welfare rolls since 1996, the increase in work effort associated with this decline, and the strategies the poor have relied on to make ends meet in the context of a new policy context. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of social networks and social support as key factors in the reliance on work or welfare among rural single mothers.