Research and Evaluation Services Article Archives
Two Profiles of Poverty Under Welfare Reform
Published in The Roundtable, vol. 3, no. 10, (December 2000), p. 6-7
By Kirsten Stingle and Ellen Amstutz, Community Service Society of New York
The Alliance research department is in the process of gathering and analyzing personal narratives from the families served by Alliance members for the national research project, Faces of Change: Welfare Reform in America. Each story recounts an author’s struggle to become self-sufficient since the enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996. Viewed as a whole these stories present a more complete picture of the successes and challenges brought about by this legislation than quantitative studies, and help inform the direction of future policy and programmatic goals.
Our preliminary analysis of 149 stories suggests that those affected by welfare reform fall into two distinct groups. One group, about two-thirds of our sample, is comprised of those who have left the welfare rolls (or who may have avoided cash assistance altogether) and are working in low-wage work, supporting their families on minimal income with few opportunities for advancement. They have benefited from a strong economy as well as state flexibility under PRWORA to target block grant money for supports and services for low-income workers. However, the majority of these families have not reached self-sufficiency and deal with day-to-day challenges that make it difficult for them to make ends meet. Most remain below the federal poverty line for households of their size and type. The following statement from a twenty-eight year old mother of two served by the Consensus Organizing Institute in San Diego illustrates the financially tenuous situation these families face:
My sitter charges $5/hour for two kids. I make $8/hour, plus your kids are in daycare longer than you are working because of travel time that means I would have less than three dollars an hour per day to pay rent, a car payment, gas & electric, phone and laundry expenses, plus food! It cannot be done!
The second group is comprised of those who have not been able to make the transition from welfare to work. This group faces significant barriers to employment that are often beyond their immediate control, such as temporary and permanent disabilities, chronically sick or disabled children, domestic abuse, substance abuse, mental illness, insufficient education, homelessness and language barriers. Consider this excerpt from the story of a thirty-seven year old mother of two served by Families First in Atlanta:
…And, that’s sort of a disadvantage…being a recovering addict and having a very big gap in your life and trying to do the Work First program. You barely…you’re learning how to live clean and sober…you’re learning how to be responsible. Then they say, "…you got to go to work … or you gotta be in some program…" And you’re like shaking, shaking scared, fearful [. . .] You know…I be needing somebody just be walk with me through job search…not just tell me where to go…I mean actually go with me.
These accounts strongly suggest that some individuals may never be able to join the work force, and will need ongoing support to maintain decent quality of life. A second, larger group remains trapped in poverty by low wages and the absence of avenues to advance their dreams. They need better wages and opportunities to grow. Furthermore, the stories offer little support for the notion that those touched by welfare suffer from a lack of will. Rather, their personal accounts document great striving and an earnest commitment to being on their own.
Understanding the different groups of families living in poverty and the distinct sets of challenges they face is fundamental to successful service delivery. However, the work of service providers may be limited if policymakers fail to recognize the distinct needs of poor families through federal and state legislation.
The reauthorization of TANF in 2002 offers an opportunity for the Alliance to use this research to make policy recommendations and influence the direction of welfare reform to better assist these families. Key questions that will likely be included in the reauthorization debate include:
The findings from Faces of Change can inform the discussion of these issues. For example, the services and supports necessary to assist both groups of poor families will require additional spending. If the TANF block grant is reduced and adequate funding is not available to support these program initiatives, the state’s ability to help more families reach self-sufficiency could be greatly reduced.
Through their stories, the families participating in Faces of Change articulate what poverty looks like in the era of welfare reform. These stories guide us as we consider next steps toward reducing poverty and moving families toward self-sufficiency. Although these findings are preliminary, they begin to define a set of future priorities and the possible policy strategies for which we can advocate to better serve children and families.
Acknowledgement: We wish to recognize the contributions of the other members of the research team, David Campbell, Rachel Burrows, Tom Lengyel and Liza Weinstein.