Assessing the New Federalism Discussion Paper No. 99-17
Assessing the New Federalism is a multiyear Urban Institute project designed to analyze the devolution of responsibility for social programs from the federal government to the states, focusing primarily on health care, income security, employment and training programs, and social services. Alan Weil is the project director. Researchers monitor program changes and fiscal developments. In collaboration with Child Trends, the project studies changes in family well-being. The project aims to provide timely, nonpartisan information to inform public debate and to help state and local decisionmakers carry out their new responsibilities more effectively.
Key components of the project include a household survey, studies of policies in 13 states, and a database with information on all states and the District of Columbia, available at the Urban Institute's Web site. This paper is one in a series of discussion papers analyzing information from these and other sources.
The project has received funding from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the McKnight Foundation, the Commonwealth Fund, the Stuart Foundation, the Weingart Foundation, the Fund for New Jersey, the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, and the Rockerfeller Foundation.
The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.
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Contents
Current and Former Welfare Recipients: How do they Differ?
How Do Current and Former Recipients' Demographics Differ?
To What Extent Do Current and Former Recipients Report Significant Obstacles to Work?
To What Extent Do the Groups Report Multiple Obstacles to Work?
How Do the Groups Differ on Level of Work Activity?
Are There Differences in Indicators of Economic Struggles between the Two Groups?
Conclusion
References
About the Authors
Current and Former Welfare Recipients: How Do They Differ?
Rapidly declining welfare rolls have led many to ask whether those who have left the cash assistance program tend to be a more able group, leaving behind an increasingly disadvantaged caseload. If this is the case, states will need to establish new programs targeted towards a group with multiple obstacles to work in order to prevent severe hardship for mothers facing benefit time limits.
A recent study published by the Urban Institute reported that in 1997 61 percent of former welfare recipients were employed and three-quarters lived in a family with an employed adult.1 This study also explored the personal and work characteristics of former welfare recipients, and showed the incidence of economic hardship. Another study, focused on current welfare recipients, showed that 21 percent were employed, while 44 percent reported at least two significant obstacles to work.2 The findings of both studies drew upon nationally representative data from the 1997 National Survey of America's Families (NSAF).3
This paper compares the characteristics of current recipients with former welfare recipients to increase our understanding of the differences between these two groups. Data on current demographic characteristics, the presence of obstacles to work, work activity by obstacles to work, and economic struggles are provided for these two groups. These data represent current and former welfare recipients at one point in time — 1997 — and consequently provide an early glimpse of the welfare reform process.4
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Notes
1. Loprest (1999).
2. Zedlewski (1999).
3. See Brick et al. (1999) for a description of the NSAF data and its reliability.
4. Data from the 1999 NSAF will provide a smapshot further along in this process and should be available next year.
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Disclaimer: The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.
