Seminar Series Archives
Scholars in Health Policy Research Program
Special Seminar
590L University Hall
Monday, November 21, 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
"The Extent and Consequences of Health and Mental Health Problems among Welfare Recipients"
Sandra K. Danziger and Sheldon Danziger,
Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
University of Michigan
The welfare reform debates leading up to the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 were marked by controversy between conservatives and liberals who had divergent views about why so few welfare recipients worked. Conservatives made the case that the poor were capable of finding and working at available jobs, but that they rejected low-wage work in favor of cash assistance. Liberals made the case that welfare recipients wanted to work but could not find available jobs because of spatial mismatch, skills mismatch or other structural barriers. Welfare receipt was thus a last resort when "work disappeared." Most studies of welfare recipients gathered information on their labor force skills and experiences. But, little attention was given to measuring their physical health or mental health.
In 1997, we and our colleagues at the University of Michigan launched a panel study, the Women's Employment Study (WES) that interviewed a sample of mothers who received cash welfare in February 1997 five times over a six year period. We gathered much more extensive information than previous studies on their physical and mental health; we also gathered detailed information on their labor force skills and experiences. And, we had access to monthly data on their receipt of cash assistance, Food Stamps and Medicaid over the study period.
In this talk, we review what we have learned about the effects of the 1996 welfare reform on the work, welfare receipt and economic well-being of our respondents. We find that their health and mental health problems are much more common and persistent than most policy analysts thought and that women who have multiple problems are much less likely to have made a successful transition from welfare to work than those with few problems. We also find that women who had very few barriers to employment were quite likely to have made a successful transition. For the sample as a whole, despite substantial increases in work and earnings over the study period, poverty remains high.
If we are to move further toward an effective work-based safety net, more needs to be done to address the employment barriers that are associated with reductions in work. For those with few barriers who are working steadily, more needs be done to supplement their low earnings.