RESOURCE FILES

Chapter 10

The Architecture of Stratification: Social Class and Inequality

Welfare Reform

The contemporary American welfare system reflects the belief that the best way to reduce poverty is to change poor people's lifestyles. In 1994, about 5 million U.S. citizens were on government assistance. By 2002 that figure had dropped to a little over 2 million. ¹ You might think that a booming economy is what helped to reduce U.S. citizens' dependence on government assistance, but much of the reduction was actually due to a new welfare system, which began in 1996.

The new welfare system includes a mandatory work requirement after two years of receiving assistance (or enrollment in vocational training or community service) and a five-year lifetime limit to benefits for any family. The system also requires states to provide child care and health care for working mothers, but the 1996 law didn't specify how long states must offer such support to each recipient. ² The economic downturn of the early 2000s brought further cuts to the welfare rolls as state legislatures across the country looked for ways to save on payments to hospitals, nursing homes, and pharmacies. In 2003, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that imposed stricter work conditions on people receiving federal cash assistance, such as working more hours per week. ³

These changes initially improved the lives of poor people to some degree. Every state saw an increase in the number of former welfare recipients who were employed. Some states spent the money they saved on transportation for these new workers, job placement, and programs that let welfare recipients keep more of their benefits even while earning paychecks. ⁴

A few states paid women—often welfare recipients themselves—to set up family day care centers in their homes. In allowing women to earn a living by caring for the children of others, these states created jobs for welfare mothers and paved the way for other mothers to go to work. ⁵

But welfare reform has not been an unqualified success. The system can work only if people leaving welfare have viable employment opportunities and if those opportunities provide a sufficient wage to lift them out of poverty. ⁶ The part-time, temporary, and low-wage work available to former welfare recipients leaves families in most states below the poverty line. ⁷

A major predictor of whether people will exit welfare permanently is whether they can find employment within a year after they get off public assistance. ⁸ In one study, only 16% of participants in a welfare-to-work program could find a job within the mandated time. ⁹ Five years after leaving welfare, only one in four is employed full time. ¹⁰

These individuals also switch jobs frequently. Only 17% were employed by the same company for more than three years. Most had new employers every six to nine months. ¹¹

Even when they do work steadily, many former welfare recipients find it difficult to make ends meet. Researchers have found that former welfare recipients who work earn on average $400 less a year than they would have received had they stayed on welfare. ¹² A study conducted by the Economic Roundtable tracked 100,000 Los Angeles welfare recipients over eight years. ¹³The researchers found that three years after leaving the welfare rolls, 70% of former welfare recipients still earn below the poverty line. More than half of the women who leave the welfare rolls eventually return to welfare because their jobs end or because they aren't earning enough. ¹⁴

Most people who leave welfare also lose health benefits. ¹⁵ Close to 1 million poor parents lost their Medicaid health insurance coverage as a consequence of welfare reform. Those who did find jobs that offered insurance were often unable to pay the premiums. ¹⁶

And it's estimated that about a million additional toddlers and pre­schoolers are in day care—in many cases poor-quality day care—as a result of welfare revisions that require their mothers to work. ¹⁷

So, as desirable as it is to reduce the need for government assistance, we cannot assume that all those who leave the welfare rolls are experiencing a better life.

¹United States Bureau of the Census. 2004. Statistical abstract of the United States. www.census.gov/prod/www/statistical-abstract-04.html . Accessed June 15, 2005.

² Harris, K. M. 1996. Life after welfare: Women, work, and repeat dependency. American Sociological Review, 61, 407–426.

³ Pear, R. 2003, February 14. House endorses stricter work rules for poor. New York Times.

⁴ DeParle, J. 1997, June 30. U.S. welfare system dies as state programs emerge. New York Times.

⁵ Kilborn, P. T. 1997, June 1. Child-care solutions in new world of welfare. New York Times.

⁶ McCrate, E., & Smith, J. 1998. When work doesn't work: The failure of current welfare reform. Gender and Society, 12, 61–80.

⁷ Joyce Foundation. 2002. Welfare to work: What have we learned? Findings from research on welfare reform in the Midwest. www.joycefdn.org/pubs/pubsmain-fs.html. Accessed January 24, 2003.

⁸ Vartanian, T. P., & McNamara, J. M. 2000. Work and economic outcomes after welfare. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 27, 41–77.

⁹ Brush, L. D. 2000. Battering, traumatic stress, and welfare-to-work transition. American Sociological Review, 62, 540–560.

¹⁰ Cancian, M., & Meyer, D. R. 2000. Work after welfare: Women's work effort, occupation, and economic well-being. Social Work Research, 24, 69–86.

¹¹ Economic Roundtable. 2000. The cage of poverty. www.economicrt.org/publications.html#recent. Accessed July 28, 2001.

¹² Cited in DeParle, J. 1999, December 30. Bold effort leaves much unchanged for the poor. New York Times.

¹³ Economic Roundtable. 2000. The cage of poverty. www.economicrt.org/publications.html#recent. Accessed July 28, 2001.

¹⁴ Harris, K. M. 1996, October 4. The reforms will hurt, not help, poor women and children. Chronicle of Higher Education.

¹⁵ Corcoran, M. Danziger, S. K., Kalil, A., & Seefeldt, K. S. 2000. How welfare reform is affecting women's work. Annual Review of Sociology, 26, 241–269.

¹⁶ Pear, R. 2000, June 20. A million parents lost Medicaid, study says. New York Times.

¹⁷ Lewin, T. 2000, February 4. Study finds welfare changes lead a million into child care. New York Times.