Turning Job Finders into Job Keepers

Abstract

Most welfare-to-work programs designed to help single mothers leave welfare for employment focus on the challenge of finding a job. This article looks beyond the point of employment to consider the difficulty many former welfare recipients have keeping their jobs. The authors review evidence showing that many families cycle back and forth between welfare and work, losing jobs and returning to public assistance while they seek work again. Factors contributing to high rates of job loss include characteristics of the job and of the worker. Temporary jobs, frequent layoffs, low pay in relation to work expenses, lack of experience meeting employer expectations, and personal or family problems all lead to dismissals and resignations. Drawing from the experience of innovative programs, the authors recommend policy changes and program approaches that can help families overcome setbacks and stabilize their lives as they move from welfare into increasingly stable employment.

The effect of ill health and socioeconomic status on labor force exit and re-employment: a prospective study with ten years follow-up in the Netherlands

“…Entering the labor force through temporary jobs decreases the duration of the non-employment period (38). However, temporary jobs with low wages may result in more frequent unemployment episodes during working life (37). Further research needs to be done to confirm the findings of the current study and give more insight into employment conditions and contracts after re-entering paid employment.…”

“…Socioeconomic differences in entering paid employment may be smaller among persons with a recent employment history. Non-employed persons with a low socioeconomic status may be more likely to enter paid employment into poor-quality or temporary jobs (37). Entering the labor force through temporary jobs decreases the duration of the non-employment period (38).…”

Political Theories of Low-Wage Work

“…Further, she notes that single mothers are much more likely to be poor when compared to married mothers without children and that single mothers in the United States experience the highest poverty rates of all the OECD countries in the study. Hershey and Pavetti (1997) suggest that low-wage work is a product of the failure of welfare policies to take into account the fact that mothers moving from welfare to work often have difficulty with job stability. They argue that regardless of poverty status, American mothers need to balance their work obligations with those of their family obligations that are related to health care, child care, and personal resources (including time and money).…”

Using African American Narratives to Analyze Social Policy

“…69) The "temporary" aspect of assistance under TANF is designed to dispel such attitudinal barriers to work attachment. Moreover, contemporary proponents in the Washington stream have not addressed whether the high rates of initial job loss experienced by former welfare recipients (Hershey & Pavetti, 1997) also affect the expected gains in self-esteem.…”