Welfare Reform that Really Works #9

WHAT IS "WORK"? DOES IT MATTER?

Our state's current welfare program (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) includes in its definition of work, education and training activities and paid/unpaid employment. Work activities encompass: 1) basic education, 2) job readiness programs, 3) job search programs, 4) job skills training, 5) post-secondary education, 6) work experience programs, 7) on-the-job training, 8) work supplementation, 9) self-initiated training or education, 10) unsubsidized work, and 11) work study.

But federal welfare reform stipulates that states must limit vocational training toward work requirements to no more than one year per client. Job search and readiness training is limited to four consecutive weeks, or six weeks total. In light of tougher federal definitions of work, how does our state get by with such a permissive definition?

Before leaving office, former Governor Lowry asked for, and received, federal waivers for his version of welfare reform. Among the waivers received for his 10-year program was an exemption from the federal definition of work. Lowry defined work so broadly that a recipient could spend years in the welfare system and never punch a time clock.

Governor Locke, operating under the freedom of the Lowry waiver, drafted his own welfare reform plan called WorkFirst. The specific definitions of work in Locke's bill differ very little from the federal reform definitions. However, Locke's welfare reform priorities, as expressed in his budget proposal to increase funds for education and training programs for welfare recipients, are much the same as Lowry's. And when the budget emphasis is on education and training, the movement will be to those programs, not to work first.

Meanwhile, nearly every state in the country operating successful welfare reform endeavors has abandoned education and job training (except for minors without diplomas) in favor of entry-level jobs. Soft job skills, education, additional training, and support services such as childcare are not ignored, but they are not the focus. Support services are viewed as necessary after a job is obtained. According to Dr. Leslie Lenkowsky, president of the Hudson Institute, the key to Wisconsin's spectacular reform success is "...that people are entitled, not to cash, but to help with finding and keeping a job."

But are enough jobs available? According to forecasts by the Employment Security Department, yes. Many entry-level jobs exist with no shortage in sight.

Critics angrily argue that entry-level jobs do not pay family wages, therefore, education and job training is imperative. We concur that entry-level jobs do not pay wages suitable for supporting a family. That is not the debate. The disagreement is on how a welfare recipient best moves from subsidy to self support. The job training, education, before you work-model has not been successful. The work your way up the pay scale while we offer supplementary support is successful. Lenkowsky argues: "The evidence shows that labor force attachment is superior to training, education, and job search, and it suggests that this is the right course to take."

A recent poll was conducted by the Public Agenda Foundation to assess what Americans want from welfare reform. Their conclusion: "Americans want a welfare system that requires work from the very beginning, community service for anyone receiving benefits, and a transition to paying jobs as quickly as possible."

As Washington state legislators move on to the serious, final stages of reform, they would do well to define work as immediate attachment to the labor force, rather than the various roads one may take to get there. Unless precluded by specific legislation, defining work as education and training could mean years of welfare recipients rotating in and out of assessments, education, training, and re-training. While the program may look good on paper, work will be rhetoric, not reality.

Prepared by Karen Woods, Research Analyst

Evergreen Freedom Foundation P.O. Box 552, Olympia, WA 98507 Phone: (360) 956-3482, Fax: (360) 352-1874 Email: effwa@effwa.org