Department of Workforce Development
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| Wednesday, January 13, 1999 Governor Tommy G. Thompson Secretary Linda Stewart | News Media Contact DWD News Office 608/267-4400 e-mail: news@dwd.state.wi.us fax: 608/266-1784 |
Most who left welfare or W-2
found, still hold jobs: state study
"Those and other findings suggest we may have underestimated the capabilities of both our W-2 participants and local W-2 agencies," said Linda Stewart, Secretary of the State Department of Workforce Development (DWD).
"Many people told us in the study their lives are improving, and our programs are having a positive impact."
Stewart said the pilot survey had two purposes:
- find out what happened to families who ended their participation in Wisconsin’s welfare program, either Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) or Wisconsin Works (W-2), between January and March 1998 and did not return thereafter, and
- test the survey procedures themselves, in preparation for a series of similar studies of other time periods in the coming months,
The interviews, most by phone but some in person, were held between Aug. 21 and Nov. 6 with 375 individuals chosen at random who agreed to participate. Most of those contacted agreed.
Among the other key findings of the "leavers" participating in the sample:
- 62 per cent said they were employed at the time they were interviewed.
"That’s significant because it approximates the 69 per cent of Wisconsin’s adult population currently holding payroll jobs – a figure that’s among the highest of all U.S. states," Stewart said.
- 21 per cent more had been in the workforce at some time since leaving welfare or W-2.
"Getting a job is one of the first steps taken under W-2. Whether someone remains employed or loses a job, there’s a broad array of support services that continue to be available to them under W-2."
"At least most, if not all, of them should have higher hopes of future employment, now that they have this experience under their belts and know that many others in the same program are finding and keeping jobs."
- 80 per cent of those with jobs said they were working 30 or more hours a week. Only about one in 10 said they were working half-time or less.
"They wouldn’t be working full-time, or close to it, unless employers found them qualified to do so, or at least promising candidates for continued employment," Stewart indicated.
- The average wage of those working was $7.42, with the most typical wage being $7.00 an hour.
"Those figures are probably going to amaze some people," Stewart said. "Both are well above the minimum wage of $5.15 an hour. The average wage also about matches the $7.50 minimum hourly wage figure most commonly cited by those who favor the ‘living wage’ concept."
"It also approximates the wages being paid in Wisconsin’s labor market to many who are working for the first time, or for the first time in a long time. As these W-2 participants gain more experience with their employers, their earnings also should rise."
- 94 per cent of nonworking leavers reported they were receiving other family support.
Stewart said 53 per cent said they received some type of cash benefit, such as Social Security, while 23 per cent received non-cash benefits, and 18 per cent were living with a working spouse or co-parent.
Among other findings:
- Of the 38 per cent of those who were not working at the time of the survey, the largest reasons given, by one third of them, were closely related: they couldn’t find a job or a job that paid enough, or they didn’t have the needed skills or experience.
The rest said they or someone close to them was ill or injured, they had child care problems or wanted to stay with children, had been laid off, quit or were fired, couldn’t get to work on time, or couldn’t get along with co-workers. Smaller numbers had transportation problems or were in full- or part-time education or training.
"The reasons for not working are varied," Stewart said, "and some simply reflect personal preferences. Some of the other reasons are ones you expect to see when someone has never worked, or has not worked for awhile."
- 68 per cent said that getting a job was easier than living on welfare, and 60 per cent said they thought they would not need welfare again.
"That’s a great indication that we are on the right track, both with the goals of our welfare reform effort and with the design of the administrative operation that supports it," she said.
- 47 per cent said they thought they had more money off welfare than on and 24 per cent said they "hardly worried about money anymore." But 68 per cent said they still were "just making it."
"This attempts to measure something much more subjective and provides a more mixed picture, " Stewart said. "But even of those who say they are ‘just making it,’ at least they are now making it. Welfare doesn’t get you out of poverty; getting and keeping a job can."
Stewart said many "leavers" said they still were receiving outside support, with significant percentages mentioning Medicaid, food stamps, and school lunch programs.
87 per cent said they had health insurance.
- the most-often cited reasons for not being on welfare were, in order of mention, they had found a job, they didn’t want AFDC or W-2, they earned too much to qualify, or they just didn’t want what they perceived as a ‘hassle’ if they participated.
Stewart said the "got a job" category led with mention by 19 per cent of those interviewed, while 12 per cent said they didn’t want AFDC or W-2, and those who said they earned too much or didn’t want the "hassle" were tied at 9 per cent each.
Stewart said she was pleased to see that the "hassle" factor was a small, although measurable, percentage. "We want the program to be accessible but not without reasonable participation and reporting requirements. After all, thee are taxpayer dollars we are spending."
Jean Rogers, DWD’s Economic Support Division administrator who administered AFDC and now W-2, said people also were asked how they were treated by their caseworkers (under AFDC) or Financial and Employment Planners (under W-2).
"One finding is that most did not like the welfare system," Rogers said. "The other was that 67 per cent thought they had been treated ‘with perfect fairness’ by their caseworkers. That’s positive, and significant."
The study started with a random sample of 654 of the 3,564 cases to be studied.
The final sample was reduced to 547 after some were used exclusively for a "pretest" and others no longer were eligible to be included because they had returned to W-2 or were found never to have been in W-2. Stewart said the 375 who agreed to participate was "an excellent response rate."She noted that the research is part of the state’s continuing effort to learn the impact of welfare reform on helping people obtain and retain employment, so that officials can identify ways to improve W-2. The program represents a different, and more work-focused, welfare reform than found in most other states.
"The period we studied was a unique point in time for Wisconsin’s welfare program," Stewart said. "It was the final three months of a seven-month-long conversion of existing welfare recipients from AFDC to W-2. It also was a period when all new applicants for welfare were subject immediately to all the new W-2 requirements."
The study was funded by the Department and was conducted jointly by DWD and the University of Wisconsin’s Survey Research Laboratory.
The questionaire was modeled closely on one developed for use in South Carolina and which is being considered for use by other states, as well. The average telephone interview using the questionaire was 22 minutes.
Most who left welfare or W-2 found, still hold jobs: state study Copies of the studies in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.
- For a copy of the study itself, go to "Survey of Those Leaving AFDC or W-2, January to March 1998, Preliminary Report."
- For an explanation of how the study was designed and conducted, go to "Preliminary Process Report, Nov. 6, 1998."