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The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) dramatically altered the safety net for low-income families with children. Before PRWORA, families were entitled to cash assistance through the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program as long as their income and assets were below certain levels and they met categorical requirements related to, for example, household composition. Since the enactment of PRWORA, eligibility for cash assistance under TANF remains an entitlement in most states, in the sense that families are eligible to receive assistance as long as they meet the program requirements. However, the conditions under which assistance is provided to families differ markedly from those under AFDC. PRWORA introduced a 60-month lifetime limit on TANF assistance and established stronger work requirements. By 2000, the heads of single-parent TANF cases were required to work at least 30 hours per week.
Partly as a result of these changes in program requirements and partly due to a strong economy, welfare caseloads fell by about half from 1994 through 2000. This dramatic drop spawned numerous studies of the employment experiences and well-being of the families that left welfare in the latter half of the 1990s. As a consequence of those studies, we now understand the characteristics of the families that left public assistance and their circumstances following exit. Until recently, however, families on TANF have received far less attention from policy researchers.
The limited information on TANF families suggests that they are likely to be among the most vulnerable and least job ready of all low-income families with children. While it is not clear that these families are, in fact, harder to employ than those receiving AFDC prior to TANF, evidence suggests that liabilities such as low education, lack of work experience, physical and mental health problems, and domestic violence are prevalent among current TANF recipients and more prevalent than among former welfare recipients (Danziger 2001; Loprest and Zedlewski 1999). These liabilities may impede the progress of some recipients in the labor market or prohibit others from entering the labor market at all. The findings presented in this report, based on a study conducted by Mathematica Policy Research (MPR) of single-parent families on TANF in Illinois, will increase our knowledge of the current welfare caseload.
Illinois is a particularly interesting state in which to examine the current welfare caseload. It is in the top third of states in terms of the average number of families on TANF, and the caseload is mostly urban, with just over 80 percent of recipients residing in the Chicago area (Cook County). In addition, the state has a unique set of policies that encourage work through incentives as well as penalties. The incentives include a 67 percent earnings disregard and stopping the TANF five-year benefits clock for months in which single-parent recipients work 30 or more hours per week. The penalties can amount to full grant sanctions for continued noncompliance with work requirements.
This study builds on the data from a number of recent surveys of TANF recipients but comes closest to developing a full picture of the current TANF caseload in a state. This picture is based on a survey of single-parent families in Illinois that were on TANF in November 2001. We deliberately incorporated a number of measures and scales in the survey that were used in recent studies conducted in Nebraska and in Michigan (the Women’s Employment Study) for purposes of comparison. Although we refer to these studies throughout the report, they had longer periods between sampling and the start of data collection, making their findings somewhat less representative of current TANF recipients than the findings from this study.(1)
Our survey is also based on the instrument used in studies of the TANF caseload now underway in California, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, South Carolina, and the District of Columbia. Consequently, the findings presented in this report will be comparable to the forthcoming findings from those studies. The combined findings from these seven studies will provide policymakers and program administrators with much richer information for making decisions about the best ways to meet the needs of current TANF recipients.
This study was made possible through a collaboration of sponsors. The David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Annie E. Casey Foundation sponsored the development of the survey instrument and survey data collection in Illinois. The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sponsored the data analysis and production of this report.
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This study was designed to describe the characteristics, circumstances, and job readiness of single-parent TANF families in Illinois and, more specifically, the heads of these families (i.e., the adult grantees). Three main questions and a number of related subquestions guided the research and structure of this report.
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To address the study’s three main research questions, MPR selected as its study population all of the 33,495 single-parent cases in Illinois that were authorized to receive a TANF grant in November 2001. A single-parent case generally includes an unmarried adult with children under the age of 18. We defined a single-parent case such that it excludes “child-only” cases—i.e., cases in which there is no adult grantee. The grantee is the person in whose name the TANF benefit is issued. The study population also included a small proportion (nine percent) of “zero benefit cases,” which were officially eligible for TANF in November 2001 but did not receive a cash grant in that month. However, they continued to receive Medicaid and food stamps, if eligible and enrolled. Sanctions, recoupment, and work-first requirements accounted for most of the zero benefit cases.
We defined the study population as all single-parent families in Illinois that were authorized to receive a TANF grant in November 2001 because we wanted to answer the overarching question, “Who are the families that are on TANF in Illinois?” A state’s TANF caseload at a point in time is a function of the process whereby families enter the TANF program, receive assistance for varying lengths of time, and then exit the program. This process is such that there are relatively more long-term and fewer short-term recipients at a point in time than there are among all families that entered the program in the period leading up to that point. Consequently, the findings presented in this report, while applicable to Illinois’ November 2001 TANF caseload, are generally not applicable to all families that entered TANF up to November 2001.
The data for this study came from five sources: (1) a telephone survey of TANF cases in which we sought to interview the case head, (2) administrative records for individual TANF cases from the Illinois Department of Human Services, (3) wage records for TANF case heads from the Illinois Department of Employment Security, (4) criminal history records for TANF case heads from the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, and (5) aggregate demographic and employment data on Illinois counties and five-digit zip codes from the U.S. Bureau of the Census and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The administrative records from the Illinois Department of Human Services and the Illinois Department of Employment Security provided data on the study’s full population of 33,495 single-parent TANF cases. The survey and the criminal history records provided data on a sample of about one percent of that population.
The survey was based on a sample of 532 single-parent TANF cases randomly drawn from the study’s full population within two strata—residence in Cook County or in the rest of the state (referred to hereafter as “downstate”).(2) The sample was drawn in mid-November 2001 and interviewing began later that month and continued for 16 weeks, ending in early March 2002. We completed interviews with 416 of the sample members for a survey response rate of 78 percent. We took special care to complete the final interview as soon as possible after identifying the study population and selecting the survey sample in order to maximize the proportion of interviews completed with cases still receiving TANF. Eighty-six percent of the survey respondents reported that they had received a TANF grant in the month before their interview. The total percentage of respondents still on TANF at the time of the survey is likely to have been slightly higher given the possibility of “zero-grant” cases (the extent of which is unknown at the time of the survey). The survey findings presented in this report are based on data from the respondents that have been weighted to be representative of the entire population of single-parent TANF cases in Illinois.
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The findings presented in this report have several potential limitations common to studies based on data from sample surveys and state administrative records. The limitations related to the survey findings include bias resulting from nonresponse by some sample members, recall errors in responses to survey questions, and misreporting in responses to sensitive questions. Despite our strong efforts to minimize the incidence of these problems, 22 percent of the sample members did not complete an interview, either because they were not reached at all or because they ended the interview before completion. In addition, some sample members who did complete an interview undoubtedly provided erroneous answers to certain questions. We adjusted for survey nonresponse by weighting the respondents up to the full study population on the basis of characteristics obtained from state TANF administrative records. However, the weights are based on just three characteristics (county of residence, age, and receipt of a positive TANF grant), and the weighted survey respondents may differ from the full population in other characteristics.
The limitations related to the findings based on data from TANF records, Unemployment Insurance earnings records, and criminal records arise from the absence of data on out-of-state activities and incomplete coverage of in-state activities (e.g., some jobs are not covered by the Unemployment Insurance system, and information on some arrests and convictions is not forwarded to database administrators). Limitations in administrative data may also arise when clients misreport information to authorities (e.g., misreporting of educational attainment or marital status by case heads to TANF caseworkers).
Nevertheless, the incidence and magnitude of these limitations are likely to be no greater than in other similar studies of welfare populations. Furthermore, our survey-based findings are likely to be more reliable than the norm because of a short survey field period (which reduced the risk of recall error), a high response rate, and the use of survey weights to adjust for the nonresponse that did occur.
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The demographic characteristics of the heads of single-parent TANF cases and their households can provide context for the findings on the main research questions. Based on administrative data for the study’s full population, Table I.1 shows that four in every five single-parent TANF cases in Illinois reside in Cook County. Nearly all of the case heads are women, a large majority of whom are African American. An equally large majority has never married. About one-third of the heads of single-parent TANF cases are younger than 25 years of age.
| Percentage or Median Value | |
|---|---|
| Location (%) | |
| Cook County | 81 |
| Downstate (all other counties) | 19 |
| Gender(%) | |
| Female | 98 |
| Male | 2 |
| Ethnicity/Race (%) | |
| Non-Hispanic, white | 12 |
| Non-Hispanic, African American | 82 |
| Non-Hispanic, other races | 1 |
| Hispanic, any race | 6 |
| Marital Status(%) | |
| Never married | 84 |
| Married, spouse present | 4 |
| Separated, divorced, or widowed | 13 |
| Age(%) | |
| Less than 25 years | 35 |
| 25 to 34 years | 38 |
| 35 years and over | 26 |
| Median Age in Years | 28.5 |
| Source: 2001 Illinois administrative data on the TANF caseload. | |
The households of TANF case heads may include people in addition to those officially on the case. Based on data from the study’s survey, Table I.2 presents characteristics of these households. Households occupied by only the TANF case head and children account for a slight majority of all households. However, two in every five households include other adults who may be the head’s relative, friend, or partner. Although the study population is single-parent TANF cases, a small share of the households does not include children (one percent) or includes the head’s spouse (four percent), reflecting changes that could have occurred in the brief interval between sample selection and the completion of interviews. On average, the households of single-parent TANF cases are occupied by 4.5 people, nearly three of whom are children under the age of 18. The average age of the youngest child in these households is slightly less than four years.
| Percentage or Mean Value | |
|---|---|
| Household Composition (%) | |
| Adults only, no children | 1 |
| Single parent, children | 55 |
| Single parent, other adults, children | 36 |
| Single parent, partner, children | 4 |
| Two married adults, children | 4 |
| Mean Number of Persons | 4.5 |
| Mean Number of Children < Age 18 | 2.7 |
| Mean Number of Children < Age 6 | 1.2 |
| Mean Age of Youngest Child in Years | 3.8 |
| Source: 2001-02 survey of Illinois TANF cases. | |
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Chapter II of this report, which focuses on the first research question, describes the welfare and employment experiences of TANF recipients. Chapter III addresses the second question by describing the assets that TANF recipients bring to employment and the prevalence of their various liabilities for employment. Chapter IV presents findings from a multivariate analysis to answer the third question on the effects of the number and type of liabilities on employment. The final chapter summarizes our principal findings and discusses their relevance to policymakers and program administrators.
(1) As in this survey, the Nebraska and Michigan surveys use a point-in-time sampling approach. In Nebraska, the sample of TANF recipients was selected in January 2000, and individuals were interviewed 10 to 12 months later. In Michigan, the sample was selected in February 1997, and interviews were conducted 7 to 10 months later. At the time of these surveys, 52 percent of individuals in Nebraska and 72 percent in Michigan were receiving TANF.
(2) Appendix A provides details on the study population, the survey sample, the fielding of the survey, the development of survey weights, and an assessment of the representativeness of the weighted survey respondents.
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