The Work Lives of the Low-Income Welfare Poor

Abstract

The work lives of the low-income welfare poor vary greatly from those in the primary job market with respect to barriers to employment, availability of child care, workplace conditions, wages and hours of work, job stability, industries of employment, and health benefits. Returners have a pattern of consistently greater barriers to employment, reflective of their gender, racial, and single parent status and their neighborhood environments. Both groups appreciate job training and search activities and could benefit from greater offerings, especially efforts geared to their specific barriers and workplace issues. These findings suggest that the work lives of the low-income poor can be improved by supplementation of wages, increases in the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and minimum wage, enhanced child care, and neighborhood development programs.