Finishing the Welfare Revolution Progressive Policy Institute March 10, 2002

Perceptions of Welfare: Then and Now The Bad Old DaysKaiser Family Foundation Poll, % of respondents said most welfare recipients do not really want to work 46% said most people who receive money from welfare could get along without it if they tried 56% thought welfare does more harm than good 64% said the govt spends too much on welfare TodayKaiser Family Foundation Poll, % of Americans want expanded job-training 80% would increase tax credits for low-wage workers 85% would spend more on child care 75% would spend more on subsidized housing 56% would pay more taxes for worker supports 61% like welfare reform

Preserving the success of welfare reform requires resources AND results Require work Support work Make work pay

Work first works National work participation rate for recipients: 2000: 34% 1992: 7% States with work rates higher than 40%: 19 Percentage of recipients without work experience in preceding three years: 1999: 27% 1997: 42%

Work first works Earnings: wages for the bottom 25% of single moms have grown 17% since 1996 For single moms with incomes between $13K and $21K: Earnings rose from $4,900 in 1993 to $11,700 in Total incomes for this group rose by $4,000.

TANF reauthorization: Work should still be first Increase work participation rates to 70% by 2007 Eliminate the caseload reduction credit Create an employment credit and a credit for improvements in child support enforcement Maintain current time limits and exemptions

After welfare: goals of reauthorization Ensure that no family with a full-time worker lives in poverty Create a seamless and comprehensive system of work supports

Finishing the job of reform: Increase resources Maintain the basic block grant and MOE requirements Increase money for child care Fund transitional jobs and other services for hard-to-serve clients Fund training and education for working recipients and leavers

Finishing the job of reform: Increase resources Fund job services for non-custodial dads Promote effective teen pregnancy prevention and responsible fatherhood programs Expand the EITC Put more money into housing, transportation and health insurance for the working poor Restore benefits to legal immigrants

Finishing the job of reform: Put dads to work Offer TANF-funded job services to poor dads Include NCPs participating in TANF job programs in work participation rates Eliminate separate work requirements for two-parent families

Finishing the job of reform: Put dads to work Fund child support pass-through Encourage efforts to coordinate child support enforcement and employment programs Fund effective responsible fatherhood programs

Finishing the job of reform: Prevent teen pregnancy Forget about marriage promotion Fund second-chance homes and effective teen pregnancy prevention programs Encourage efforts to change cultural attitudes toward unwed childbearing

Finishing the job of reform: Break down bureaucratic barriers Give states flexibility to combine funding streams, coordinate related programs and escape the regulatory jungle Create interagency performance measures that focus on results Modernize food stamps

Problems with Bushs proposal Its stingy. Its unfair to legal immigrants. It encourages workfare. It ignores men. It wastes time and money on marriage promotion.

Welfare reforms greatest success: Renewed public support for the working poor

For more information: Finishing the Welfare Revolution, by Will Marshall and Anne Kim, Progressive Policy Institute, February 2002 After Dependence, by Will Marshall, Blueprint, January/February 2002 Finish the Job, by Anne Kim, Blueprint, January/February 2002 Marriage as Public Policy, by Daniel T. Lichter, Progressive Policy Institute, September 2001 Go to: