|
Personal problems increase risk of long stays on welfare
The women in the study have maternal and child health problems and suffer from domestic violence, as well as low education levels and increased numbers of children living with them. The study examined data from the Women's Employment Study to determine which characteristics were associated with accumulating more months of cash welfare receipt toward the federal 60-month limit on benefits. The 1996 welfare reform law included several provisions making extended welfare stays more difficult. "Our findings suggest that women who stay on welfare for long periods of time are more disadvantaged than those who left welfare quickly after the 1996 reform," said the paper's co-author Kristin S. Seefeldt, a research investigator at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. Sean M. Orzol, research analyst at Mathematica Policy Research Inc. in Princeton, N.J., is the other co-author. The authors analyzed data on 556 women who received cash assistance through Temporary Assistance to Needy Families in a Michigan county between October 1996 (when Michigan implemented federal welfare reform) and September 2001. The respondents—all between the ages of 18 to 54—were divided into groups based on whether they had received the assistance at low (less than 20 months of receipt), medium (20 to 39 months) or high (40 to 60 months) levels. Living with a male partner or being married and having fewer children were factors in whether a woman would accumulate a relatively "low" amount of time on temporary assistance as opposed to a "medium" amount of time. Less education, as well as health problems and experiences of domestic violence, were associated with an increased likelihood in accumulating a "high" number of months toward the 60-month limit. Some findings include: • The "low" welfare group was more likely to be married or cohabitating (30.2 percent) compared to the other groups (13.4 percent medium, 7.6 percent high). • On average, respondents in the "high" group had three children compared with two children for the other groups. • The "high" group was more disadvantaged regarding literacy, with 28.2 percent reading at or below the 5th grade level compared with 14.9 percent for "low" and 17.6 percent for "medium" groups. "Women who remain on welfare for extended periods of time are likely to need a more comprehensive set of services, including help dealing with domestic violence, remedial education and health care for themselves and their children," said Seefeldt, who is also assistant director of the National Poverty Center, a research center at the Ford School. The article appears in current issue of Social Work Research.
Related Links: More information about Seefeldt
Contact: Jared Wadley
|
||||||||||
 |
 |
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
YOUTUBE
MOST EMAILED
Print
Email to a Friend
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Women with persistent personal and family problems are at an increased risk of remaining on welfare for an extended time, a University of Michigan study says.
