Abstract
This study examines whether and how a wide range of potential barriers to work,including psychological characteristics and attitudes, are associated with current employment in a recent sample of welfare recipients in Michigan (N = 672). Psychological factors include measures of depressive symptoms, work attitudes, and perceived risks associated with leaving welfare. Over and above demographic, economic, and contextual factors, positive psychological characteristics and attitudes were found to be moderately associated with currently being employed. Implications for welfare-to-work programs and policy are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Adler, M. (1993). Disability among women on AFDC: An issue revisited. Washington, DC: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Bassuk, E., Weinreb, L. F., Buckner, J. C., Browne, A., Salomon, A., & Bassuk, S. S. (1996). The characteristics and needs of sheltered homeless and low income housed mothers. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 276, 640–646.
Belle, D. (1990). Poverty and women's mental health. American Psychologist, 45, 385–389.
Bird, C. E., & Fremont., A. M. (1991). Gender, time use, and health. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 32, 14–129.
Brady, H., Meyers, M., & Luks, S. (1998). The impact of child and adult disabilities on the duration of welfare spells. Unpublished manuscript.
Diefenbach, P. (1996). Michigan's Project Zero: A study of barriers to client employment. Unpublished report, Michigan Family Independence Agency Office of Quality Assurance, Lansing, MI.
Edin, K., & Lein, L. (1996) Making ends meet: How single mothers survive welfare and low-wage work. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Friedlander, D., & Burtless, G. (1996). Five years after: The long-term effects of welfare-to-work programs. New York: Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation.
Goodwin, L. (1982). Causes and cures of welfare: New evidence on the social psychology of the poor. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
Greenberg, M., & Savner, S. (1996). A detailed summary of key provisions of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Block Grant of H.R. 3734.Washington, DC: Center for Law and Social Policy.
Greenwell, L., Leibowitz, A., & Lerman, J. (1998).Welfare background, attitudes, and employment among new mothers.Journal of Marriage and the Family, 60, 175–193.
Gross, J. (1997, November 18). Poor without cars find trek to work is now a job. The New York Times. A1.
Gueron, J., & Pauly, E. (1991). From welfare to work. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Hagen, J., & Davis, L. (1994). Another perspective on welfare reform: Conversations with mothers on welfare. New York: Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, State University of New York.
Harris, K. (1996). Life after welfare: Women, work, and repeat dependency. American Sociological Review, 61, 407–426.
Harris, K. (1993). Work and welfare among single mothers in poverty. American Journal of Sociology, 99, 317–352.
Herold, J., & Waldron, I. (1985). Part-time employment and women's health. Journal of Occupational Medicine, 27, 405–412.
Hershey, A., & Pavetti, L. (1997, spring). Turning job finders into job keepers: The challenge of sustaining employment. In The Future of Children. The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, The Center for the Future of Children.
Holzer, H. (1996). What employers want: Job prospects for less-educated workers. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Johnson, A, & Meckstroth, A. (1998). Ancillary services to support welfare to work. Princeton, NJ: Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
Kalil, A., Schweingruber, H., Daniel-Echols, M., & Breen, A. (2000). Mother, worker, welfare recipient:Welfare reform and the multiple roles of low income women. In S. H. Danziger & A. C. Lin (Eds.), The social contexts of inner-city poverty: Qualitative research on the African-American experience (pp. 201–223). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Kalil, A., Corcoran, M., Danziger, S., Tolman, R., Seefeldt, K., Rosen, D., & Nam, Y. (1998). Getting jobs, keeping jobs, and earning a living wage: Can welfare reform work? (Discussion Paper No. 1170–98). University ofWisconsin-Madison, Institute for Research on Poverty.
Kessler, R. C., McGonagle, K. A., Nelson, C. B., Hughes, M., Swartz, M., & Blazer, D. (1994). Sex and depression in the National Comorbidity Survey II: Cohort effects. Journal of Affective Disorders, 30, 15–26.
Kessler, R. C., Turner, J. B., & House, J. S. (1987). Intervening processes in the relationship between unemployment and health. Psychological Medicine, 17, 949–961.
Kornfeld, R., & Bloom, H. (1997). Measuring program impacts on earnings and employment: Do UIWage reports from employers agree with surveys of individuals? [On-line] Available: http://www.jcpr.org/publications.html
Kramer, F. D. (1998). The hard to place: Understanding the population and strategies to serve them. Welfare Information Network (issue notes), 2, (5). [On-line]. Available: http://www/welfareinfo.org/hardto.htm
Krinitzky, N. (1990). Welfare dependency and psychological distress: A study of Puerto Rican women in New York City (Doctoral dissertation, New York University, 1990). Dissertation Abstracts International, 51, 1797.
Kunz, J., & Born, C. (1996). The relative importance of economic and cultural factors in determining length of welfare receipt. Social Work Research, 20, 196–202.
Loprest, P., & Acs, G. (1996). Profile of disability among families on AFDC. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute.
Mead, L. (1992). The new politics of poverty: The nonworking poor in America. New York: Basic Books.
Meyers, M. (1993). Child care in JOBS employment and training program: What difference does quality make? Journal of Marriage and the Family, 55, 767–783.
Michigan Family Independence Agency. (1998). Project Zero reference guide, september, 1998. Lansing, MI: Michigan Family Independence Agency.
Moffit, R. (1992). Incentive effects of the U.S. welfare system: A review. Journal of Economic Literature, 30, 1–61.
Moore, J. C., Stinson, L. L., Welniak, E., Jr. (1997). Income measurement error in surveys: A review. Unpublished manuscript, Bureau of the Census, Washington, DC, U.S.
Moore, K. A., Zaslow, M. J., Coiro, M. J., Miller, S. M., & Magenheim, E. B. (1995). The JOBS evaluation: How well are they faring? AFDC families with preschool-aged children in Atlanta at the outset of the JOBS evaluation. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.
Murray, C. (1984). Losing ground: American social policy 1950–1980. New York: Basic Books.
Neenan, P., & Orthner, D. (1996). Predictors of employment and earnings among JOBS participants. Social Work Research, 20(4), 228–237.
Oliker, S. (1995). Work commitment and constraint among mothers on workfare. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 24, 165–194.
Olson, K., & Pavetti, L. (1996). Personal and family challenges to the successful transition from welfare to work.Washington, DC: The Urban Institute.
Ong, P. (1996). Work and automobile ownership among welfare recipients. Social Work Research, 20, 255–262.
Pavetti, L. (1993). The dynamics of welfare and work: Exploring the process by which women work their way off welfare. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Harvard University.
Pavetti, L., Olson, K., Pindus, N., Pernas, M., & Isaacs, J. (1996). Designing welfare-to-work programs for families facing personal or family challenges: Lessons from the field. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute.
Quint, J., Bos, J., & Polit, D. (1997). New chance: Final report on a comprehensive program for young mothers in poverty and their children. New York: Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation.
Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D scale:Aself-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385–401.
Rucker, G. (1994). Status report on public transportation in rural America, Federal Transit Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Schott, L., & Mann, C. (1998). Assuring that eligible families receive medicaid when TANF assistance is denied or terminated. Washington, DC: Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.
Seefeldt, K. S., Sandfort, J., & Danziger, S. K. (1997). Project Zero: The view from the sites. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, Poverty Research and Training Center.
Shrout, P., & Yager, T. (1989). Reliability and validity of screening scales: Effect of reducing scale length. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 42, 69–78.
Siegel, G., & Loman, A. (1991). Child care and AFDC recipients in Illinois. Chicago: Illinois Department of Public Aid.
U.S. Department of Labor. (1998). Fact sheet, welfare-to-work grants [On-line]. Available: http://wtw.doleta.gov/resources/factshet.html
U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means. (1996). 1996 Green Book: Background material and data on the programs within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Wolfe, B., & Hill, S. (1995). The effect of health on the work effort of single mothers. Journal of Human Resources, 30, 42–62.
Zill, N., Moore, K. A., Nord, C. W., & Stief, T. (1991). Welfare mothers as potential employees: A statistical profile based on national survey data. Washington, DC: Child Trends, Inc.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kalil, A., Schweingruber, H.A. & Seefeldt, K.S. Correlates of Employment Among Welfare Recipients: Do Psychological Characteristics and Attitudes Matter?. Am J Community Psychol 29, 701–723 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010413101010
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010413101010