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Welfare Reform and its they can perform certain caretaking many still did not earn their way out
Aftermath responsibilities—however, that time of poverty. Unstable employment
is unpaid. Workers in low-wage jobs, patterns were characteristic of just
Working After Welfare: How Women particularly single mothers who are about half of these workers. Most of
Balance Jobs and Family in the Wake of sole earners for their families, usually the sample left welfare by 2003 and
Welfare Reform. By Kristin S. Seefeldt, cannot afford lengthy absences with- did not return. At the end of the sur-
Kalamazoo, MI, W.E. Upjohn Institute out pay. And to qualify, employees vey just over two-thirds, 68.6 percent,
for Employment Research, 2008, 171 must have been working in the job for were employed.
pp., $40/hardback. at least 12 months. Higher than av- The results of the Women’s Em-
erage turnover characterizes the low- ployment Study regarding barriers
Working After Welfare author Kristin wage labor market, so many mothers to employment indicated that 29.9
S. Seefeldt, who holds a faculty re- may not work in one job long enough percent of the women had less than a
search appointment at the Gerald R. to be eligible for unpaid leave. high school education/no GED, 13.3
Ford School of Public Policy at the A number of teams launched ma- percent had a learning disability, 13.9
University of Michigan as well as an jor research projects designed to track percent had low work experience,
assistant directorship at the Nation- the well-being of those families af- 21.1 percent work skills barriers, 8.9
al Poverty Center, begins her book: fected by the change in social policy percent “work norms” barriers, and
“Several years ago, The New York triggered by Welfare-to-Work. Barri- 14.7 percent had experienced prior
Times quoted a former executive who ers to work for low-income individu- discrimination—all considered “hu-
decided to stay home with her chil- als typically included low education man capital” deficits. Among other
dren as saying ‘Most of us thought levels, spotty employment histories, employment challenges faced by
we would work and have kids…But health issues, and child care and those in this group, 64.6 percent had
really we were kind of duped. None transportation problems. And, com- pre-school aged children, 41.8 per-
of us realized how hard it is.’” The pared to national samples of women, cent had a child aged two or younger,
Times article also acknowledged that welfare recipients were more likely 22.9 percent had a child with a health
a particular group of women—single to suffer from depression and other problem, 42.9 percent had a trans-
mothers—posed an exception to any mental health disorders and to have portation barrier, 36.9 percent had a
trend from paid work in the formal recently experienced domestic vio- mental health problem, 16.0 percent
economy to staying at home with lence. faced domestic violence, 22.0 percent
the children. Welfare reform begin- To help former welfare recipients were involved in drug use, and 19.4
ning in 1996, along with other policy maintain steady, secure employment, percent had a physical health prob-
changes, helped fuel an increase in states began offering services ranging lem. Many experienced more than
single mothers’ labor force participa- from transportation assistance and one of these challenges.
tion as an intended consequence— counseling for handling workplace Surveys by employers, most nota-
from about 62 percent in 1995 to disputes—support that might help bly Georgetown professor and chief
about 73 percent by 2000. The result workers keep existing jobs—to op- economist for the U.S. Department
for many single mothers, who tend to portunities to participate in vocational of Labor in the Clinton Administra-
be far more likely to earn low wages training activities. The Women’s Em- tion Harry Holzer, showed that even
and struggle to pay for child care than ployment Study—a collaborative ef- entry-level job openings required
married mothers, was that reducing fort among a multidisciplinary group high school diplomas and the ability
the number of hours they work was of University of Michigan research- to perform simple reading and com-
no longer a viable option. ers—collected data from a sample of putational skills. Yet many welfare re-
According to Seefeldt, the poli- Michigan women who received cash cipients lacked these credentials. An-
cies that are in place to address work- welfare beginning in 1997, just after other concern was that welfare recipi-
family balance issues tend to benefit welfare reform was implemented in ents who had minimal work histories
those who work in well-paid jobs. Michigan, until August 2003. They were perhaps not accustomed to the
For example, the Family and Medical numbered 750 recipients, the ma- culture of work. Employers sometime
Leave Act of 1997 requires employ- jority of whom worked in any given look for a strong prior attachment to
ers to provide up to 12 weeks of leave month. For those who worked earn- the labor market as a signal of the
to certain classes of employees so that ings did increase over time, although ability to perform a variety of job-re-
Monthly Labor Review • May 2010 47
Book Review
lated tasks or as a proxy for the ability The reasons Seefeldt sees for wom- American work-force have changed
to show up for work reliably. en remaining in poverty-wage jobs: dramatically over the last 30 years, the
Median hourly wage rates in 1997 structure of the American workplace
were $6.66 (in 2003 inflation adjust- 1. Women with large families tend has not. It retains its full-time, year-
ed dollars) and wage rates increased to stay in very low-wage jobs if round form, which no longer makes
by 25 percent over the 1997–2003 the positions that pay better are sense when most employees live in
study period, reaching a median of less flexible in regard to schedul- dual-earner or single–parent house-
$8.35 an hour by 2003. Many women ing. More children often mean holds (and often have considerable
held service jobs, such as cashiers in greater challenges to achieving care-giving responsibilities).” This is
retail stores or fast-food outlets, jani- child care, particularly if that also supported by the Bureau of La-
tors, or health care aides. The propor- care must be with different pro- bor Statistics’ Time Use Survey data
tion of workers whose employers viders. which show that, even when women
offered paid sick days, paid vacation 2. Not knowing appropriate work- work outside the home in two-gender
days, and health plans and retirement place norms: this could lead to households, they still usually carry the
benefits all increased over the 6 year issues with absenteeism; late ar- responsibilities of helping and caring
period. Inflation-adjusted wages also rival, extended breaks, and early for household members and purchas-
increased modestly over the study pe- departure; personality conflicts; ing goods and services.
riod. In 2003, about 16 percent of the and refusal to do tasks outside Seefeldt makes a number of rec-
women made between $10 and $12 the “job description.” ommendations. She feels a shorter
an hour compared to just 7 percent 3. Having previously experienced work-week and more generous leave
in 1997, and more women—17.3 discrimination in the work- policies could enable welfare mothers
percent—earned at least $12 an hour. place increases the probability to get a better education and, simul-
The percentage of women earning of staying in a poverty-wage job taneously, encourage men to devote
less than $7 an hour fell from 53 to relative to moving up the ladder more time to family responsibilities.
about 30 percent. and to later unemployment. A She also recommends additional
About 17 percent of women who worker discouraged about her funding for high-quality child care
started in a poverty-wage job ended prospects for obtaining a better and a government policy of health
in one, and about 25 percent started job may not seek one out. care for all.
in a poverty-wage job and moved into Working After Welfare, tapping into
a higher paying position. Thirteen Seefeldt sees that many of the the quantitative and qualitative evi-
percent of those working at the start challenges faced by working moth- dence gathered in the Women’s Em-
were not employed in the 12 months ers, whether they are the women ployment Study of an urban Michi-
prior to the 2003 interview. About a who participated in the Women’s gan county, offers valuable insights
quarter of the workers, 26.1 percent, Employment Study or higher-paid into how women who left welfare for
both began and ended in jobs pay- executives, are generated by condi- work balanced job and family in the
ing above poverty wages. Just under tions inherent in the way American wake of welfare reform. I recommend
a tenth (9.3 percent) moved from employment and educational insti- it.
above poverty wages to a poverty- tutions are structured. The Alfred P.
level job; similar percentages started Sloan Foundation, a leader in funding —Mary Ellen Ayres
in jobs above poverty-level wages but research on work and family, states Office of Publications (Retired)
were not employed at all in 2003. that, “While the demographics of the Bureau of Labor Statistics
48 Monthly Labor Review • May 2010
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