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Objectives. We explored changing relations between substance use, welfare receipt, and substance-abuse treatment among low-income mothers before and after welfare reform. Methods. We examined annual data from mothers aged 18 to 49 years in the 1990-2001 National Household Survey of Drug Abuse and the 2002 National Survey of Drug Use and Health. Logistic regression was used to examine determinants of treatment receipt. Results. Among low-income, substance-using mothers, the proportion receiving cash assistance declined from 54% in 1996 to 38% in 2001. The decline was much smaller (37% to 31%) among low-income mothers who did not use illicit substances. Low-income, substance-using mothers who received cash assistance were much more likely than other low-income, substance-using mothers to receive treatment services. Among 2002 National Survey of Drug Use and Health respondents deemed 'in need' of substance-abuse treatment, welfare recipients were significantly more likely than nonrecipients to receive such services (adjusted odds ratio = 2.31; P Conclusions. Welfare is a major access point to identify and serve low-income mothers with substance-use disorders, but it reaches a smaller proportion of illicit drug users than it did pre-reform. Declining welfare receipt among low-income mothers with substance abuse disorders poses a new challenge in serving this population.

We use a panel study of Michigan current and former welfare recipients to estimate the prevalence and persistence of health problems in the post-reform welfare population and their role in women's employment. Rates of health problems were disproportionately high. Over 70 percent of current and former welfare recipients reported limitations in physical functioning; over 60 percent met the criteria for a mental health disorder measured in the study; and 37 percent reported having a child with a health problem in at least one of four interviews over a 4 1/2-year period. Women who reported physical health, mental health, or child health problems at multiple waves worked fewer months. There were no race-based differences in employment length or in physical health problems, but African-Americans were less likely than whites to meet the diagnostic screening criteria for depression, to meet criteria for general anxiety disorder, and to report a child with a health problem. These findings suggest that the inclusion of persistent health problems as determinants of work in human capital models increases understanding of the transition from welfare to work. Policies need to reexamine welfare's work requirements to encourage states to provide services and supports to recipients. KEYWORDS. Employment of welfare recipients, race differences, health problems

Using data from a recent survey of employers, this article analyzes job performance and retention rates of recently hired welfare recipients. The findings suggest that most recipients perform as well as or better than employees in comparable jobs and that their turnover rates appear fairly low. Still, employers frequently note absenteeism and poor attitudes toward work, problems that are strongly linked to turnover and weak job performance. Various characteristics of the workers, employers, and jobs are associated with performance and retention difficulties among working welfare recipients.

Background: Many psychiatric service users are entitled to welfare benefits, but work from the UK and the USA suggests many are either unaware of their entitlements or find the benefits system difficult to access. Aims: This study has four aims: 1) to assess the extent to which people using a range of community mental health services receive the welfare benefits to which they are entitled; 2) to calculate the impact on income of receiving help from specialist benefits advisors; 3) to ascertain sociodemographic risk factors for under-claiming; and 4) to identify reasons for under-claiming related to the claims system itself, in order to make recommendations for routine practice. Methods: This report makes use of data collected during a welfare benefit uptake project by Mind in Croydon staff (MF-G, RO, RP). Benefit assessments were offered to a total of 153 people attending any Croydon resource centre (run by the Health Service) other than the pilot site, or day centre (run by Social Services) for people with mental health problems. All those who were identified as under-claiming were offered help pursuing claims through to conclusion. We used quantitative methods to address the first three aims; qualitative methods in the form of case studies were used to address the fourth. Results: One-third (34%) of people seen were getting their correct entitlement and two-thirds (66%) were under-claiming. All those found to be under-claiming who accepted all the help offered (87 out of 99 underclaimants) did gain additional benefits as a result, of a mean annual amount of 3079 [pound sterling] each. Under-claiming was more frequent in those under 65 years of age, but having had previous advice or having a care manager did not protect against under-claiming. A number of reasons for under-claiming were identified. Conclusions: For a large and possibly increasing proportion of people using community mental health services, the current benefits system necessitates frequent advice and help by expert advisers to avoid poverty due to under-claiming. The adverse effects on quality of life and mental health may be significant, as are the economic implications of correcting this level of under-claiming.

The federally-imposed lifetime limit on cash assistance receipt compels program administrators to examine returns to welfare after an exit. We explore recidivism among a random sample of 2,665 Maryland families who left welfare between October 1996 and December 1997. Using administrative data, we compare the demographic characteristics, welfare histories, and work histories of recidivists and non-recidivists. Results indicate that most families do not return to welfare within a year. However, almost one-third do return, often within the first 30 days. This rarely investigated 'administrative churning' phenomenon is important because of the federal time limit, the valuable agency resources which are consumed in handling churning cases and the possible negative consequences of churning on family well-being. KEYWORDS. Welfare, recidivism, human services, policy

With the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, there has been an increase in research attention devoted to barriers to workforce participation for welfare recipients. However, much research conducted to this point tends to view the welfare population as a homogeneous group. This study examined eight commonly identified work related barriers in an ethnically diverse sample of 4014 active TANF cases. The results indicated that different ethnic groups face different barriers to workforce entry, with ethnic minorities facing the greatest number of barriers. In this sample, the Asian sub-population, comprised largely of Laotian and Hmong refugees, were at the greatest risk for failure. Implications for service delivery and intervention strategies are discussed. KEYWORDS. Barriers, ethnicity, welfare, employment, skills

This article examines the effects of battery on welfare recipients' transition to the workforce. Topics include the role of battery on welfare reliance, effects of welfare reform on battered women, and long-term consequences of battery.

To assess early effects of welfare reform, administrative data was used to compare prereform and postreform cohorts of teenage parents regarding the impact of reform on welfare enrollments, case closures, child maltreatment, and subsequent births. The relation of mandated living arrangements to outcomes was also examined. Cohort differences were observed in enrollments and reasons for closure, but not in maltreatment or birth rates. Living arrangements were found to be associated with case closure.

The assumption that the drop in welfare benefits in the US since 1973 can be partly credited to decreases in the wage rates of unskilled employees at the base of the wage distribution proved to have a solid basis. A new approach of enforcing median voter models emerged when direct individual-level data on preferences is accessible. The accessibility of individual preference information opens the likelihood of assessing options to the median voter model.

The effect of intergenerational welfare culture on the employment probability of new mothers was examined by analyzing data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth using ordinary least squares and logit regression. The results revealed that new mothers have a lesser probability of having positive work attitudes, but were more determined to use welfare. The results further indicated that employment chances for new mothers are not affected by an intergenerational welfare culture.

The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University conducted a comprehensive study among focus groups in three states concerning welfare recipients undergoing substance abuse treatment and developed a survey on employers' attitudes regarding mothers on welfare. Results show that factors which cause substance-dependent welfare recipients' unemployment include histories of physical or sexual abuse and lack of work skills. FamilyWorks, CASA's research demonstration project, was developed to meet the special needs of low-income and chemically-dependent mothers., The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University is developing an intervention strategy tailored to meet the needs of substance-abusing mothers receiving cash assistance. The author would [...]

The Dept of Human Resources and the University of Maryland's School of Social Work conducted a longitudinal research project which observed the lives of Maryland families following their departure from the state's Family Investment Program. Results show that most clients who left the program during the first nine months were 30 years old and African-American women with one biological child. The most popular reasons for leaving the program included failure to complete or to appear for the redetermination process and receiving of other income., A new study in Maryland gives preliminary data on why families leave the welfare rolls and the types of employment they are likely to find when they do. The often [...]

In this paper bivariate probit estimation procedures and non-independent selectivity adjustments are employed to investigate the determinants of the joint welfare participation-labour supply decisions made by single males, single females, lone fathers and lone mothers, using data from the 1988-9 LMAS. The bivariate probit results indicate that the welfare and labour force participation decisions are not independent. Welfare program parameters, however, such as the basic allowance and the program tax rate, generally do not appear to influence the welfare participation, labour force participation or hours worked decisions. Rather, these decisions are more strongly associated with personal characteristics and labour market conditions.

Many studies of single motherhood and related problems of welfare use and poverty have used data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). Unfortunately, the PSID's Family Unit (FU) Head definition omits subfamily single mothers not observed to leave their household of origin. Resulting biases in terms of the age, race, welfare use, and poverty status are estimated in the present study by using the 1968-85 PSID Relationship File. Substantial undercounts of single mothers in the younger ages and some overcounts at older ages are found, especially for black mothers., I. Introduction The Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID; see Hill 1992) has been used extensively over the last 20 or so years to study single-motherhood (for example, Richards, White, [...]

This research examines the quantitative impacts of welfare program characteristics and individual characteristics on both the labor force and welfare participation decisions of low-income females with children. The participation decisions are estimated jointly as a bivariate probit model using data derived from the U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey for the years 1979 to 1990, inclusive. These data allow the estimation of the precise behavioral impacts of welfare. The main empirical findings are that effective welfare guarantee levels and the effective welfare tax rate on unearned income both significantly affect the probability of labor force and welfare program participation, but that such impacts are very small in magnitude. Implications for policy are discussed.

Tanner and Moore (1995) calculate welfare equivalent wags for the six most common social programs for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. They assert that individuals who choose public assistance over work are responding rationally to incentives of the welfare system, but they offer no evidence. I present statistically significant support for Tanner and Moore's assertion. Among potential welfare recipients, a one dollar increase in the welfare equivalent wage is found to increase the welfare take-up rate by approximately 2.7 percentage points and decrease the labor force participation rate by approximately 2.5 percentage points. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

In this article, we use data from a six-county evaluation of California's welfare-to-work program for recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) to examine the consequences of emphasizing either personalized attention or formal penalties to achieve compliance with the program's participation mandate. Among the outcomes measured were the degree of recipients' participation in program activities, recipients' perceptions of the program and their case managers, and the program's effects on recipients' earnings and use of welfare. The results suggest that, overall, emphasizing personalized attention may be moderately more effective in attaining high levels of participation. At the same time, emphasizing penalties does not preclude high participation, nor does it prevent a majority of recipients from developing positive views of the program or case managers. This approach may generally help a program achieve welfare savings, but it might not help improve recipients' earnings unless it is combined with certain other program practices.

I. Introduction Canada has a relatively extensive 'social safety net.' The viability of its transfer programs is currently being debated, however, in response to growing government deficits. One element of [...]

The article examines estimates of duration models for unmarried mothers based on Survey of Income and Program Participation data for 1984 and 1985. Local variables, such as per capita sales and urbanization levels, were found to have significant impacts on welfare exit rates.

I. Introduction In the United States, employment rates for mothers are at all time highs. Since 1973, fertility rates have hovered close to their historic lows, with about 1.7 births [...]

A study that explores the effects of child support on welfare dynamics in Wisconsin was conducted using data from the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program from 1980 to 1989. Results indicatethat child support may decrease the time spent on welfare, may increase the probability of leaving welfare and increase the possibility of not reentering the welfare program of the state.

Using microdata from the 1970 and 1980 U.S. Censuses, this article examines recent trends in immigrant welfare recipiency. Immigrant welfare use increased over the 1970s, both in absolute terms and in comparison to the welfare use of natives. A small number of source country characteristics explain over two-thirds of the large variation in welfare recipiency that exists across national origin groups. Moreover, changes in the average source country characteristics of the foreign-born population between 1970 and 1980 can account for almost all of the increase in immigrant welfare recipiency that occurred over the decade., Trends in the use of immigrant welfare from 1970 to 1980 are analyzed. Statistics from the US Census indicates that immigrants have increased their availment of welfare programs in the 1970s vis-a-vis natives. Such a trend could be attributed to the quality of immigrants, the latest groups exhibiting greater welfare dependency than earlier ones. In other words, the recent wave of immigrants come from countries that are economically deprived in relation to the rest of the world.

This paper employs original survey data on female single parents in Boston to examine the determinants of welfare participation. Particular attention is paid to the hypothesis--growing out of the literature on the urban underclass--that there are important neighborhood effects. The results provide support for the existence of neighborhood effects. These effects remain after controls for the personal characteristics of the respondents and for the possible endogenaity of neighborhood choice. The study also provides support for an explanation in which neighborhood effects are a result of the level of resources, particularly resources related to the percent of family heads who work. There is less support for the influence of stigma attached to welfare.

Much of the literature on the underclass alleges that welfare induces dependency. The author uses data from intensive interviews with 50 Chicago-area mothers on welfare to show that welfare pays too little to entice recipients into a life of passive dependence. The women interviewed all supplemented their AFDC and food stamp benefits with at least one of two sources of unreported income: assistance from family, friends, boyfriends, or absent fathers, and income from work.

Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth were analyzed to determine whether the impact of adolescent childbearing on women's subsequent contact with the welfare system differed for Black and White women. Results of a path analysis indicate that there were distinctive differences between young Black and White women in the way early childbearing influences welfare receipt over an 8-year period. These differences are not fully apparent unless both direct and indirect effects of predictor variables are taken into account.

A recent study looks at the economic well-being of women and children following an exit from AFDC The goal of many previous national welfare reform efforts has been to help [...]

This study evaluates the potential effectiveness of alternative child support policies in reducing welfare program participation. Employing longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the analysis addresses the simultaneity of women's decisions regarding welfare participation, labor force participation, and annual hours of work following marital breakup. The estimation framework accounts for the endogeneity of child support payments with female labor supply and for the selection bias due to differential rates of remarriage among divorced/separated women. Results show that higher child support payments would (i) decrease welfare participation and (ii) increase average hours of work. The empirical estimates are used to assess the potential effects of adopting alternative child support policies such as the Wisconsin child support assurance system. These results suggest that large potential welfare cost savings are attainable but significant reductions in welfare participation rates would only be achieved through substantial improvements in child support enforcement or through government-assured child support payments. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.), I. Introduction Policy efforts to alleviate the high rate of poverty among single-parent families have taken place along two lines: (i) defining and enforcing private child support obligations(1) and (ii) [...]

Panel data from the WomenEs Employment Study is used to examine the incidence of material hardship among current and former welfare recipients. It is revealed that hardship decreases monotonically across quintiles of the income distribution for some income measures. It is also found that the bond between transitory changes in income and hardship is not strong.

Public welfare and child welfare systems need to be more closely coordinated to support poor families. Adults with children need to be held accountable in providing for their families, and the well-being of children must be simultaneously safeguarded.

This article examines the utilization of public assistance or welfare in Sweden by immigrants, focusing on how welfare participation decreases with the increase in the amount of time spent in Sweden. A comparison of welfare utilization between refugees, non-refugee immigrants, and natives is presented.