The Dynamics of Women Disconnected from Employment and Welfare

The differential role of human capital and health in explaining welfare exit‐route and labour outcomes

“…However, none of the human capital factors distinguishes the disconnected and the combiner group from the not‐working recipient group. These findings are in accord with previous evidence (e.g., Corcoran et al, ; Num, ; Son et al, ) but are in contrast to others studies that point at the importance of human capital in explaining welfare use and disconnectedness (Danziger & Seefeldt, ; Loprest & Nichols, ; Moore et al, ; Seefeldt & Orzol, ; Wu et al, ).…”

“…In general, studies have indicated that welfare recipients facing these barriers are less likely to enter the labour market and more likely to remain on welfare or to become disconnected from both work and welfare (Danziger et al, ; Meara & Frank, ; Moore, Wood, & Rangarajan, ; Seefeldt & Orzol, ). However, postwelfare reform studies have produced mixed evidence with respect to the role played by many of these barriers in explaining labour and welfare use outcomes.…”

“…Therefore, it is expected that after taking into account socio‐demographic characteristics and other sources of income, their labour and welfare use decisions will be greatly explained by their human capital. However, postwelfare reform studies (e.g., Danziger et al, ; Heflin, ; Moore et al, ; Seefeldt & Orzol, ) have expanded the field of investigation by including additional determinants in their attempt to explain labour and welfare use decisions. Based on previous knowledge concerning both the importance of ‘health capital’ to labour supply (see Currie & Madrian, ; Hill & Wolfe, ) and the high prevalence of health problems among welfare recipients (e.g., Kaplan et al, ; Loprest & Maag, ), one of the main determinants added is health condition.…”

“…These families, often called ‘disconnected’ or ‘detached’, are more disadvantaged than current and former welfare recipients in terms of human capital characteristics (Loprest & Nichols, ; Turner, et al, ). Single mothers with more education and work experience are estimated to be at a lower risk of experiencing disconnection (Moore et al, ). However, becoming chronically disconnected, defined as being without both work and cash assistance at multiple points in time, is not associated with education level, work experience or job skills (Loprest & Nichols, ).…”

Financial incentives to work: A quasi‐experimental analysis of in‐work cash benefits for single mothers

“…Covariates included in the model were based on the economic framework of labour supply decisionmaking and the human capital model which emphasises not only formal education, but also sociodemographic characteristics, work experience and labour force attachment as important predictors of employment and earnings (Mincer & Polachek, 1974). Those covariates, along with the condition of the local labour market, were used in previous studies examining labour and welfare use outcomes among welfare recipients (e.g., Moore, Wood, & Rangarajan, 2012;Seefeldt & Orzol, 2005;Wood, Moore, & Rangarajan, 2008;Wu, Cancian, & Meyer, 2008). They were also used in evaluation studies of labour market policy that applied PSM (e.g., Bryson et al, 2002;Harknett, 2006;Millar, 2005;Rønsen & Skarðhamar, 2009).…”