State TANF Policies and Employment Outcomes among Welfare Leavers

• Published in: The Social service review (Chicago) Vol. 83; no. 4; pp. 525 - 555
• Main Authors: Lim, Younghee, Coulton, Claudia J., Lalich, Nina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago The University of Chicago Press 01-12-2009; University of Chicago, acting through its Press
• Subjects: Assistance; Employment; Employment opportunities; Employment statistics; Financial incentives; Government programmes; Health insurance; High school diplomas; Incentive pay; Job satisfaction; Maternal and infant welfare; Panel data; Probabilities; Public assistance programs; Qualitative research; Social Policy; Social services; State government; Statistical significance; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families; U.S.A; United States; Wages; Welfare; Welfare policy; Welfare reform; Work incentives; typology; insurance, employer-provided health; employment outcomes; welfare leavers; work; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families; time limits; welfare; Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA); work requirements; financial incentives; Survey of Imcome and Program Participation
• ISSN: 0037-7961; 1537-5404
• DOI: 10.1086/650532

This study examines the extent to which employment outcomes for welfare leavers differ depending on TANF policies adopted by states. Data on welfare leavers come from the 1996 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation. Policies in the leavers’ states of residence are characterized by factor scores. Results suggest that employment and job quality outcomes for welfare leavers are associated with several aspects of states’ TANF rules. For example, the stringency of work requirements is positively related to employment among later welfare leavers, but neither the leniency nor stringency of work requirements is related to employment among early welfare leavers. Lenient work requirements are found to increase the probability that welfare leavers’ first jobs off welfare carry employer‐provided health insurance.