| This report provides data on families who have left cash assistance in
Connecticut. The report was produced by the Manpower Demonstration
Research Corporation (MDRC), which is conducting a large-scale
evaluation of Jobs First, Connecticut’s welfare reform
initiative, under a contract with the state’s Department
of Social Services (DSS). Other reports issued by MDRC have
described the implementation of Jobs First, its impacts on
employment and welfare outcomes, and the circumstances of
families who left welfare because of Jobs First’s 21-month
time limit on cash assistance receipt.
This report focuses mainly on people who entered the
Jobs First evaluation when they were applying for or receiving
cash assistance in the Manchester and New Haven DSS offices
between January and June 1996, and who left cash assistance
at some point within 18 months after entering the study (before
reaching the 21-month time limit).
Many of the outcomes for welfare leavers in Connecticut
are shaped by the state’s unusual financial work incentive,
which allows working cash assistance recipients to retain
their entire welfare grant as long as their earnings are below
the federal poverty level. This generous policy, known as
an earned income disregard, means that many of the cash assistance
recipients who find jobs remain on welfare at least for a
time, and thus do not become welfare leavers.
About half of the welfare leavers were employed in
the immediate post-welfare period. This rate is fairly low
compared to the rates found in similar studies in other states,
presumably because of the enhanced disregard. In other states,
a greater proportion of those who find jobs become welfare
leavers whereas, in Connecticut, they are more likely to remain
on welfare. A positive side-effect of the disregard is that
the leavers who are employed have relatively higher earnings,
averaging around $3,400 per quarter. Again, this is because
people with earnings below the poverty level are likely to
remain on welfare.
About one-fourth of those who left welfare returned
to cash assistance within one year after leaving. This rate
is somewhat lower than in other states, possibly because the
individuals who left welfare for work in Connecticut had fairly
good-paying jobs. Less than one-third of the welfare leavers
received Food Stamps after leaving welfare; however, no data
are available on what proportion of these families were actually
eligible for Food Stamps.
In a survey conducted 18 months after people entered
the study, respondents who were off welfare when interviewed
reported average monthly household income of just over $1,500.
Just over 70 percent had health insurance, usually through
Medicaid. A little less than half reported that they owned
a car. In general, it appeared that non-working leavers were
worse off than working leavers, although only a small number
of non-working leavers were interviewed.
Finally, the report briefly compares individuals who
left welfare due to the 21-month time limit with those who
left welfare before reaching the time limit, finding that
the time-limit leavers had a much higher rate of employment.
This is because of the way Connecticut’s time limit is
implemented: for the most part, recipients who reach the time
limit without employment are granted at least one six-month
extension of their benefits; thus, most of the people whose
benefits are canceled at the time limit are employed.
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