Current and Former Welfare Recipients: How Do They Differ?
Rapidly declining welfare rolls have led many to ask whether those who have left the cash assistance program tend to be a more able group, leaving behind an increasingly disadvantaged caseload. If this is the case, states will need to establish new programs targeted towards a group with multiple obstacles to work in order to prevent severe hardship for mothers facing benefit time limits. A recent study published by the Urban Institute reported that in 1997 61 percent of former welfare recipients were employed and three-quarters lived in a family with an employed adult.1 This study also explored the personal and work characteristics of former welfare recipients, and showed the incidence of economic hardship. Another study, focused on current welfare recipients, showed that 21 percent were employed, while 44 percent reported at least two significant obstacles to work.2 The findings of both studies drew upon nationally representative data from the 1997 National Survey of America’s Familie
