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This chapter summarizes our findings and important options for future projects. The chapter begins with a description of the scope and characteristics of the literature and then presents findings for each of the study's questions raised by ASPE (presented in italics at the head of each section).
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As indicated in Exhibit 2.1, the study team reviewed 110 research documents for this project.(4) More than three-quarters of the reviewed items involve qualitative research. Some of the studies classified as qualitative entail reviews of research literature — most, but not all of which is qualitative. Virtually all of the quantitative studies involve analyses of survey data. The bibliography for this report lists all documents we have reviewed, and detailed information on most of the documents is provided in the appendix.
Our review of the literature indicates that, while a large and varied research literature addresses the labor supply of welfare recipients, much less addresses the employers who make up the demand side of the labor market. Indeed, our present understanding of employer attitudes and practices in relation to TANF recipients depends heavily on research studies that have focused on supply-side topics, notably employment and public assistance outcomes for TANF recipients.
The available research, however, strongly suggests three things about employers' interest in TANF recipients. First, employer demand for labor from TANF recipients has been high. However, while a broad range of employers is willing to hire welfare recipients, those that actually do are concentrated in the service sector, notably in retail, eating and drinking establishments, business services, and health services. The employers of TANF recipients tend to be larger companies and located in cities. They are likely also to be offering jobs with irregular work hours, low pay, and/or alternative job arrangements, such as those of independent contractors and on-call workers.
Qualitative Studies
Qualitative Studies
Qualitative and Quantitative Studies
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Second, research studies consistently indicate that employers who hire welfare recipients do so primarily to meet their business objectives, not out of a sense of social responsibility. Firms are especially concerned about the frequency and cost of job turnover, which clearly affects their hiring decisions. Employer demand for welfare recipients is strongly influenced by economic conditions. Consequently, employer interest in hiring recipients roughly corresponds to the changes in the business cycle.
Third, employers are often skeptical of welfare recipients' "soft skills." These skills include such things as positive attitude, conscientiousness, teamwork, and the ability to adapt to workplace norms. Many employers also worry that TANF recipients possess significant barriers that limit their ability to work effectively and increase the likelihood of job turnover. Employers are especially unlikely to hire TANF recipients who have criminal records. Other barriers that lead employers not to hire TANF recipients include poor job skills, limited work experience, poor academic preparation, transportation and child care problems, mental illness, domestic violence, and drug and alcohol abuse. Some of these same issues contribute to the absenteeism and interpersonal difficulties to which many TANF recipients are prone as employees.
In addition, the existing research literature describes the practices of employers in recruiting and hiring TANF recipients as employees. It indicates that, while employers who hire current and former welfare recipients use varied recruitment methods, most rely more on word of mouth and advertising than on referrals from employment agencies. Once individuals have been recruited, employers focus on the screening of potential candidates. A variety of specific tests and background checks are used.
Much less information is available on employer practices once recipients are in jobs. Based on the existing evidence for the supports and services provided by employers, it appears that many employers find it difficult to provide the range of services often needed by welfare recipients. Few employers devote substantial resources to training low-skill workers, and most of the training is concentrated in a few skill areas and provided by large companies. In this training, employers place more emphasis on hard skills than on soft skills. While extensive research has addressed wages and fringe benefits, only a small amount of information has been produced on employer practices in determining this compensation. Very little evidence is to be found regarding mentoring, employee assistance (e.g. job coaching, support services, counseling) and management (e.g. supervision, communication, job performance assessment).
Finally, while many studies have identified and described these practices, none has systematically assessed their effectiveness. Moreover, it is difficult to determine what measures should be taken to improve employer practices. Answers to this question are not based on solid research evidence, because specific practices have not been credibly evaluated. Several studies do provide clues about approaches and procedures that might or might not be helpful, and many people have offered their informed opinions.
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What types of employers are most likely to hire or to be interested in hiring TANF recipients?
Many research studies have addressed the first of these two questions using straightforward analyses of survey or administrative records data. As a result, this is one of the questions that can be answered well.
In general, employer interest in hiring and retaining TANF recipients has been high in recent years. Based on evidence from a large survey of employers in four cities, expert panel member Harry Holzer recently concluded that aggregate demand for their labor is more than enough to absorb all TANF recipients who have entered the labor force (Holzer, 2002). While demand is strong, panel member Timothy Bartik concluded that there still is not enough employment for at least one person in all poor households to hold a full-time, year-round job (Bartik, 2001a).
Employer interest in TANF recipients has been concentrated in specific types of companies. The research evidence consistently indicates that the employers who most often hire TANF recipients share several attributes. First, the vast majority of these employers are service providers. The service sectors most likely to employ welfare recipients include retail, eating and drinking establishments, business services, and health services (Lane, Mikelson, Sharkey, and Wissoker, 2001; Lane, Mikelson, Sharkey, and Wissoker, 2002; Mills and Kazis, 1999; and Roberts and Padden, 1998a). Current and former welfare recipients are hired less frequently by manufacturers.(5)
Second, TANF employers tend to be larger companies and located in cities. Company size is positively correlated with firms' propensity to hire welfare recipients (Mills and Kazis, 1999; Roberts and Padden, 1998a). Companies above a threshold of about 100 employees appear to be more receptive to the welfare population; however, the additional effect of firm size above this threshold is less clear. The association between firm size and TANF recipient hiring results from readily discernable factors such as the industries and locations of larger firms, as well as more subtle factors such as the attitudes of small business owners toward soft skills (see discussion below).
In general, suburban firms appear to be more willing than inner-city firms to consider hiring welfare recipients, but less likely to actually hire these individuals. Employers in central cities have filled about three percent of their jobs with welfare recipients, compared to two percent for suburban employers (Holzer, 2002a). Much of this discrepancy between intentions and practices results from the fact that most TANF recipients live in cities and are closer to urban employers. There is also evidence that race and ethnicity play a role in hiring decisions (see Moss and Tilly, 2001).
Third, employers interested in hiring TANF recipients are more likely to be offering jobs with irregular work hours, low pay, and/or alternative job arrangements. The inferior hours, wages, and fringe benefits given to TANF recipients are well documented in the literature (Hotz, Mullen, and Schulz, 2002; Rangarajan, 1997). Very often these are the attributes of entry-level positions requiring few skills, as welfare recipients are one of the groups of potential workers possessing limited skills and willing to accept low-paying jobs with minimal benefits.
Welfare recipients, and individuals with characteristics indicating they are at risk of welfare receipt, are twice as likely as other workers to work in "alternative" job arrangements (Lane et al., 2002).(6) Such alternative arrangements, as defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, include independent contractors, on-call workers, temporary help agency workers, and workers provided by contract firms. These arrangements are common in many service sectors in which welfare recipients find employment.
Temporary help agencies are especially important for the TANF population. These organizations employ a large proportion of welfare recipients and their level of contact with recipients is said to be greater than any other employment-related institution outside of public agencies (Autor and Houseman, 2002). Welfare recipients and people at risk of welfare receipt appear to have had worse employment outcomes in temporary jobs than have other workers (Lane et al., 2002). However, the causal connection is unclear, because we do not know how welfare recipients with temporary-help jobs would have fared without those jobs (see Autor and Houseman, 2002).
At the meeting of this project's expert panel, one of the panelists emphasized that it is important to distinguish between different types of employers. While giant corporations and small businesses are both employers, they have very different needs. Even when labor market conditions are favorable for employers — that is, when there are many unemployed people looking for work — small employers report they have a hard time finding workers with the skills they need. Half of the employers surveyed a year ago by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce expressed concern about their ability to find skilled workers, and the Chamber believes that in the past year this number has risen to about 70 percent.
To what extent do employers target TANF recipients when trying to hire low-skill and entry-level workers?
This question is harder to answer conclusively. In part this results from the fact that "target" has multiple meanings. It may refer, for example, to an employer's public commitment to hiring TANF recipients, its close involvement with a labor market intermediary that targets TANF recipients, or the fact that its workforce includes a high percentage of TANF recipients. However, none of these measures necessarily indicates that an employer gives hiring preference to TANF recipients over other low-wage or entry-level applicants or is more inclined to retain recipients after they have been hired. Indeed, researchers such as Holzer (2002a) have focused on factors affecting employer willingness to hire welfare recipients.
At the project's expert panel meeting, several panel members expressed skepticism regarding employers' ability to target TANF recipients. "Employers," said one panelist, "just need someone to do the job, regardless of whether or not he is a TANF recipient." However, targeting may be feasible under better economic conditions. As one expert panel member commented, "Hiring TANF recipients is not the flavor of the month," but was more in vogue three years ago, due to a tight labor market. "Welfare-to-work momentum," continued the panel member, "was lost when the economy slowed." This is consistent with research evidence that labor demand for welfare recipients is very sensitive to business cycle conditions (Holzer and Stoll, 2000).
On the other hand, de facto targeting may occur when employers work with labor market intermediaries that focus on TANF recipients. Pavetti and her colleagues (Pavetti, Derr, Anderson, Trippe, and Pashal, 2000) conducted a substantial qualitative study of such intermediaries, defining them as "brokers between the welfare system and employers." When employers establish working relationships with organizations that train and place only welfare recipients, they signal their intention to hire TANF recipients.
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What do employers relying on low-skill, entry-level workers do to employ TANF recipients successfully?
There is very little information on what employers do to successfully employ TANF recipients. Most workforce development initiatives that facilitate the placement and retention of TANF recipients are led by social service agencies and community-based organizations that partner with employers. Accordingly, most documents that discuss innovative and promising strategies for hiring and retaining TANF recipients discuss the strategies used by these labor market intermediaries or discuss strategies that employers adopt in concert with agencies and organizations acting as intermediaries.
In addition, the research evidence for identifying the most successful employer practices is limited. Using a case study approach, a number of researchers have identified "best" or "promising" employer practices. However, it is important to note that these terms mean different things to different people. This research has examined general employer approaches rather than concentrating on particular practices such as screening tests or job performance assessment.
One of the most frequent types of practices involves employers facilitating TANF recipients' employment and retention by participating in industry-specific recruitment, training, and employment initiatives, and working with social service agencies that devote substantial resources to pre-placement services. These services often include training programs and programs geared to match welfare recipients with jobs that correspond to their individual skills and interests. The leading example of this type of research is The Aspen Institute's Sectoral Employment Development Learning Project (Zandniapour and Conway, 2001; Radamacher, 2002; Radamacher, Bear, and Conway, 2001).
Considerably more is known about employer recruitment and hiring than other employer practices. This research suggests that while employers who hire current and former welfare recipients use a variety of recruitment strategies, most rely on word of mouth and newspaper advertisements as opposed to employment agency referrals. Holzer (1996) reports that only about 5-10 percent of hires for low-skill, low-wage jobs involve private employment agencies.
Once individuals have been recruited, employers focus a great deal on screening potential candidates. Roughly 70 percent of jobs that do not require a college education do require prior work experience; nearly three-quarters of these jobs require references. Job interviews are conducted for nearly 90 percent of non-college jobs and tests are used as a screening mechanism for about half of these jobs. In addition, checks on applicants' educational credentials and criminal activity are done about 40 percent of the time (Holzer, 1996). Although few studies have documented this practice, the consequences of "creaming," or working only with the most skilled and least difficult individuals within a specific disadvantaged population, are apparent from the characteristics of the TANF recipients who are hired by employers in comparison to those who are not hired (see discussion in Section 2.5 below).
At the expert panel meeting, Branka Minik explained that Manpower Inc. uses a complex screening tool in order to identify job-specific skills that are useful to employers. The company stands behind a screened employee as a guarantee to the employer that this person fits the job's requirements. She noted that such "pre-screening" is necessary because the subsequent employer screening process is expensive. Manpower cannot send people with inadequate skills to employers if they would fail the screening tests. When Manpower has used this pre-screening process the job retention rate has been consistently high. On the other hand, when the company relied on other organizations to do the pre-screening, the program was much less successful. Manpower does not view this as "creaming," but rather as only involving in its training programs individuals who are ready to be involved.
Most employers hire welfare recipients individually or in small groups. Some employers, however, hire large "classes" of welfare recipients. These workers are less likely to remain employed consistently than those who work for organizations that hire smaller numbers of recipients (Lane and Stevens, 1997), perhaps because the former were not individually screened.
Work supports and services can be important to the employment success of TANF recipients, particularly job retention (Boushey, 2002). However, the research literature offers little information on the supports and services provided by employers to new hires. Some analyses indicate that many human resources (HR) departments find it difficult to provide the range of services typically needed by current and former welfare recipients, as their needs are often much greater than those of typical employees (Mills and Kazis, 1999).
At the expert panel meeting, one employer noted that implementing an integrated work support program can help a company retain employees. At Save-A-Lot, Ltd., new employees sign up for public supports such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), and assistance with child care and transportation, at the same time they enroll in company-funded health insurance and other fringe benefit programs. In this way, workers receive maximum overall income and benefits and also can maintain health insurance and child care coverage even if primary arrangements are disturbed.
Some employers devote substantial resources to training low-wage and low-skill workers, but most do not.(7) Training provided by employers may increase welfare recipients' ultimate job retention and advancement, although there is limited evidence to support this proposition.(8) Research indicates that about 10-15 percent of workers receive some form of on-the-job training. The likelihood that a worker will receive training depends on the type of position and the employers' characteristics. Individuals in permanent, full-time jobs are more likely to receive training than temporary and/or part-time workers (Isbell, Trutko, Barnow, Nightengale, and Pindus, 1996a).
On-the-job training for TANF recipients is concentrated in a few areas (e.g., management and computer skills) and tends to be provided by larger companies. Mid-sized, Midwestern, health care, and publicly-owned companies are more likely to provide training to low-skilled workers than are other companies (Isbell et al., 1996a).
Research on the experience of public agencies that have sought to promote job retention and advancement by welfare recipients offers little guidance to employers on how to provide training. The Post-Employment Services Demonstration (PESD), which operated from 1993 to 1999, sought to promote retention, advancement, and reemployment for employees who lost their jobs. This demonstration provided services and enhanced financial support (such as payments to cover work-related expenses) for employed current and former welfare recipients in Chicago, Illinois; Portland, Oregon; Riverside, California; and San Antonio, Texas. However, the impacts of the services, measured using an experimental research design, were negligible (Rangarajan, 2002).
Very little research evidence is available regarding employers' job performance assessment practices. This is surprising, given the presumed importance of such assessments for employees' job retention and advancement. The most pertinent available information comes from survey evidence reported by Holzer (2002a). Holzer and his colleagues found that TANF recipients' job performance generally has been judged to be as good as, or better than, other workers' performance in the same jobs. However, absenteeism and poor "soft skills" were found to be important issues (Holzer and Stoll, 2001; Holzer, 2002a).(9) The most common soft skill deficits concern attitudes toward work and relationships with coworkers. Poor performance and turnover are associated with absenteeism and attitude problems (Holzer, 2002a). However, absenteeism is also correlated with other problems such as lack of child care, transportation, and poor health.
At the expert panel meeting one employer said that often welfare recipients' literacy skills have not been adequate to permit them to participate in company training for promotion, thereby stifling their prospects for advancement. She noted that many recipients have no more than an eighth-grade reading level despite having a high school diploma.
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Why do employers hire or make an effort to hire TANF recipients?
A relatively large number of research studies have used survey and focus group data to address this question. These studies consistently indicate that businesses participating in welfare-to-work programs and hiring welfare recipients do so primarily to meet business objectives. Firms are especially concerned about the frequency and cost of job turnover (Roberts and Padden, 1998a).
This conclusion was reaffirmed by members of the project's expert panel. One panel member said that companies have to make a business case for hiring welfare recipients. Another member of the panel agreed with the research findings that companies are concerned about turnover. These two panel members also agreed that, given this reality, it is important for employers to have access to good assessment tools and work supports. Thus, assessment tools (discussed in the previous section) are important to employers at the recruitment and hiring stages to increase retention, while tools such as work supports are important once individuals are employed. When seeking to engage business, it is important for social service agencies and other labor market intermediaries to take this finding into account. These organizations should frame welfare-to-work training and placement programs in business terms and describe ways in which such programs can meet business objectives.
Employer demand for welfare recipients is strongly influenced by economic conditions (Holzer, 2002a; Holzer and Stoll, 2001). Combining data from employer surveys administered in the early 1990s (addressing low-wage, low-skill employees) and late 1990s (focusing on TANF recipients), Holzer and Raphael (2003) found that employers substantially changed their hiring practices and increased their wages as labor markets tightened during the decade. This increased demand applied to all workers except those with severe stigmas, notably ex-offenders. Thus, employer interest in hiring recipients roughly corresponds to the changes in the business cycle.
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Why do employers fail to hire or make an effort to hire TANF recipients?
Employers hiring entry-level workers are usually more concerned with "soft skills," (such as conscientiousness and the ability to work as a member of a team), than about job-specific skills and training (Regenstein and Meyer, 1998). While many employers are skeptical that welfare recipients have the soft skills necessary to perform assigned tasks, other businesses with actual experience employing welfare recipients are less skeptical (Regenstein and Meyer, 1998); the soft-skills weakness of recipients is largely confined to absenteeism (Holzer and Stoll, 2001; Holzer, 2002). The importance of these views is underscored by the fact that employers are more willing to provide training in "hard" or occupational skills than in soft skills or basic literacy (Giloth, 2000).
In addition, the hard skill requirements on most jobs sought by welfare recipients "are not trivial," especially in terms of reading, math and computer skills (Holzer, 2002a). Many jobs require post-secondary training and, for those that do not, three-quarters of employers require, or strongly prefer, applicants to have high school diplomas or GEDs. Thus, even when GEDs, diplomas, or other credentials are not required, jobs are likely to be given to applicants who have them. This is a problem for long-term welfare recipients, 60 percent of whom have not completed high school or a GED (Holzer, 2002b).
Many employers also believe that TANF recipients routinely possess other significant barriers, such as unreliable transportation and child care, that limit their ability to work effectively. Employers are worried that these barriers increase the probability of poor performance and job turnover. Employers' concern is warranted, because there is extensive evidence that multiple barriers are common among welfare recipients (e.g., Danziger, Corcoran, Danziger, Heflin, Kalil, Levine, Rosen, Seefeldt, Siefert and Tolman. (1999). Nevertheless, the caseload is diverse, and many recipients do not have these barriers.
Employers' concerns are heightened by their lack of confidence in the capacity of publicly provided supports to successfully address these barriers (Roberts and Padden, 1998a). In addition, research has shown that TANF recipients' barriers often include difficult issues such as mental illness, substance abuse, and domestic violence. One expert panel member commented that employers often have encountered undiagnosed mental disabilities in TANF recipients who work. Another panel member noted that poor skills and multiple barriers do not foster a positive perception of the TANF population among employers. However, Holzer's survey data indicates that employers do not automatically have negative opinions about TANF recipients who work.
Hard skill requirements have significant impacts on the race and gender of the person hired for a given position. Over the past decade, however, the focus has shifted to soft skills. This is problematic, because employers' perceptions of soft skills are subjective, and cultural and racial differences may affect employer assessments of such skills.
Finally, many employers have had little or no experience employing welfare recipients, and have no evidence that contradicts their preconceptions regarding poor soft skills and barriers to employment. Employers that do hire welfare recipients tend to have more positive feelings about recipients than those who do not (Regenstein and Meyer, 1998). Employers are gaining more experience with welfare recipients as employees (as indicated by the unprecedented extent of recipient hiring in recent years), suggesting that employer attitudes toward recipients may improve over time.
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Which segments of the TANF population present the greatest challenges?
The answer to this question closely resembles the answer to the last question. Most TANF recipients possess some barriers to obtaining and retaining employment. Many of the barriers that make employers reluctant to hire TANF recipients are the same ones that make employing TANF recipients a challenge.
As discussed above, the limited job skills of TANF recipients are caused by both limited work experience and insufficient academic and vocational preparation. These deficits, however, can be addressed through education, training, and work experience. Attitudinal problems and other poor soft skills may be more difficult to remedy.
The importance of transportation and child care problems for welfare recipients' employment, mentioned above, has been well documented in the research literature (Danziger and Seefeldt, 2002; Rangarijan, 1998). Transportation issues result both from inaccessible public transportation in urban areas and lack of a dependable vehicle in suburban and rural areas. Some TANF recipients have no child care, and many more have undependable care arrangements or care that is hard to arrange for irregular work hours.
Many of the barriers that inhibit recipients' ability to work consistently are not easily detected. Welfare recipients who suffer from mental illness or are victims of domestic violence have substantially more trouble obtaining and retaining employment than do other welfare recipients. Drug and alcohol abuse also is a common barrier, although the proportion meeting clinical criteria for drug and alcohol dependence is small (Danziger and Seefeldt, 2002). Welfare program staff report that these barriers are especially difficult to address (AFYA, 1998). However, many welfare recipients find and keep employment despite facing these types of barriers.(10)
Employers are especially unlikely to hire TANF recipients who have criminal records. Over two-thirds of employers will not hire individuals with criminal records (Holzer, 2002b). Expert panel members agreed that criminal convictions represent a significant barrier to the hiring of TANF recipients. This is true even for recipients convicted of minor crimes.
Individuals who face severe barriers or who possess multiple barriers have had difficulty maintaining secure attachments to the labor force (Danziger and Seefeldt, 2002; Danziger et al., 1999). The results from studies assessing the importance of particular barriers to employment are inconsistent. Kirby, Fraker, Pavetti, and Kovak (2003) found that, individually, only three barriers were important determinants of unemployment for a sample of TANF recipients in Illinois who were surveyed for the study: (1) limited recent employment experience; (2) a physical health problem; and (3) a lack of child care. However, consistent with other studies, these researchers found a significant relationship between multiple barriers and unemployment.
Some studies have concluded that a higher proportion of current welfare recipients face severe or multiple barriers than has been the case in the past. Many "job ready" individuals left the TANF rolls during the late 1990s, leaving behind recipients whose barriers kept them from finding and maintaining employment. Other studies, however, have questioned this conclusion (Zedlewski, 1999). Regardless, some recipients who currently remain on welfare possess serious barriers (e.g., mental illness, drug abuse, and domestic violence) that may make it difficult to employ them.
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What would enable employers to increase and improve their efforts?
Since most practices have not been systematically evaluated, it is difficult to provide a concrete answer to this question. However, several studies provide clues about approaches and procedures that might be helpful, and many people have offered their informed opinions on this subject.
Most employers are unfamiliar with the range of government services and supports available for individuals transitioning from welfare to work and for the companies that hire them. This has led some researchers to recommend that the government better publicize these supports.
However, a number of studies indicate that employers are often not interested in financial incentives, such as the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) for hiring welfare recipients. There is concern that hiring workers who prove unsuccessful ultimately may prove extremely costly. There also is evidence, from earlier rigorous studies of tax credits, that such incentives may signal to employers that eligible applicants are risky employees. Employers appear to be consistently more interested in supports that will enable them to hire effective workers, as opposed to receiving subsidies for marginally successful workers.
Many researchers have recommended that government agencies and community organizations provide more training, arguing that training would increase the likelihood that individuals transitioning from welfare to work would obtain, retain, and advance in employment. There is evidence that soft skills as well as job skills are important to job retention and advancement by welfare recipients. Researchers have also encouraged efforts to ensure that the training provided resonates with employers' real needs, and that there are jobs available for individuals who complete training programs.
Finally, a number of researchers have concluded that closer relationships are needed between employers, government agencies, and community organizations. Qualitative analyses on such relationships suggest they are most effective when they involve business-intermediary partnerships and when efforts to hire welfare recipients are integrated into companies' human resources processes (Mills and Kazis, 1999).
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(4) It is important to note that the research literature includes several groups of publications based on analyses of the same data source. Indeed, in some cases more than one document addresses different aspects of the same analyses-for example, one document providing a summary and policy recommendations geared to decision makers, a second providing more analytical details for researchers, and a third focusing on a particular issue (such as hiring) included in the analysis. Harry Holzer and his collaborators have conducted a number of analyses for each of two surveys of employers. In several other instances (such as some studies on WIA conducted by the U.S. General Accounting Office), more than one analysis and/or presentation has been based on the same set of qualitative case studies. As a result, a number of the documents we reviewed cover the same or similar research as other documents.
(5) In part this limited hiring by manufacturers reflects slower relative growth in the manufacturing sector, resulting in fewer job openings. In addition, many welfare recipients may lack the requisite occupational skills for manufacturing jobs.
(6) This group includes current TANF recipients, individuals who have received welfare within the last year, and individuals who live in households with incomes below 150 percent of the federal poverty level.
(7) Training refers to both those skills required for a specific position plus additional hard and soft skills necessary for employment.
(8) Most of the available research on employer-provided training (which varies in type and intensity) does not focus on welfare recipients. See, for example, L. Lynch, "Private Sector Training and Its Impact on the Earnings of Young Workers," American Economic Review, vol. 82, no. 1 (1992), pp. 299-332.
(9) "Soft skills" are the nontechnical abilities and traits needed to function in a work environment. They include problem-solving and other cognitive skills, oral communication skills, personal qualities (including conscientiousness and work ethic), and interpersonal and teamwork skills
(10) For example, in the Women's Employment Study, conducted in Michigan, half of sample members employed in at least 75 percent of the months in the three years covered by the study had mental health problems; 60 percent had physical limitations; 54 percent experienced domestic violence; and six percent used alcohol or drugs heavily at least part of this time. However, most of these steadily employed women did not have these problems in all three years examined in the study. See Danziger and Seefeldt (2002). As discussed below, more recent findings from Illinois (Kirby et al., 2003) differ from those in Michigan.
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