Poverty & Income Dynamics

Content The Value of Hardship Measures Defining and Measuring Hardship Material Hardship Indexes Measuring Hardship Using the SIPP Unanswered Questions for Future Research  

This report analyzes the experiences of welfare "cyclers," a group that has received relatively little attention in previous research on welfare dynamics. For this study, "cycling" is defined as receipt of welfare benefits during three or more discrete spells during a four-year "observation" period.

By: Fredrik Andersson, Julia Lane, Erika McEntarfer  

By: Lashawn Richburg-Hayes and Stephen Freedman MDRC April 2004 Submitted to:U.S. Department of Health and Human ServicesOffice of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation

The Welfare Indicators Act of 1994 requires the Department of Health and Human Services to prepare annual reports to Congress on indicators and predictors of welfare dependence.

This paper presents an analysis of workers who persistently have low earnings in the labor market over a period of three or more years. Some of these workers manage to escape from this low-earning status over subsequent years, while many do not. Using data from the Longitudinal Employer Household Dynamics (LEHD) program at the U.S.

Contents Key Findings Conclusions Endnotes Major welfare reform legislation and a strong economy have led to dramatic declines in welfare caseloads during the mid- and late-1990s, with many recipients leaving welfare and finding employment.

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