Welfare

Welfare is a Woman’s Issue

• 2 out of 3 adult recipients of public assistance are women.

  Center for Research on Women (1996)

• 80% of all adult welfare recipients are women.

  California Employment Development Department (1997)

• The average California family that receives welfare is a single mom with 2 children.

  California Department of Social Services (1997)

• 1 out of 5 children in America lives in poverty. Children are poor because their mothers are poor.

  Children’s Defense Fund (1998)

Women Work, But Their Work Does Not Pay

• Women are disproportionately concentrated in lower wage jobs, such as administrative support, sales, and service work.

  U.S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau (1997)

• In 1995, the median hourly wage that a woman earned in the United States was $10.82. For a family of four, that is only 135% of the poverty level.

  Bureau of Labor Statistics; Department of Health & Human Services

• For every $1.00 the average man earned in 1997, white women earned 75 cents; black women 67 cents; Latina women 53.9 cents; and Asian Pacific American women earned 80 cents.

  AFL-CIO Fact Sheet, “It’s High Time--Past Time--for Women of Color to Earn Equal Pay,” 1997

• In 1997, women with a high school diploma earned only 69% of what men with the same degree earned.

  U. S. Census Bureau (1998)

“Work First” Does Not Work: Many Welfare Recipients Work But Work Does Not Always Pay

• Most welfare recipients have worked in the recent past or are working.

  Institute for Women’s Policy Research (1995)

• A study of more than 1000 single mothers on welfare found that the average job available to them paid at or near minimum wage and tended to be in the lowest-wage occupations. These occupations, which traditionally employ women, are domestic workers, childcare workers, waitresses and cashiers.

  Institute for Women’s Policy Research (1995)

• In 1994, a full-time, minimum wage ($4.25) job paid only 75% of the federal poverty level for family of 3.

  Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (1997)

• Low wage work means no health insurance, no paid vacation or sick days, and no unemployment insurance protection.

  Center for Research on Women (1996)

• The percentage of all workers with health insurance coverage has decreased, but more so for low-wage workers. In 1996, only 26% of low wage workers had health insurance coverage.

  U.S. Department of Labor (1998)

There Are Not Enough Jobs That Pay A Self-Sufficient Wage

• Not all counties in California are experiencing low unemployment rates. Many counties have extremely high unemployment: Imperial (31.3%); Tulare (13.3%); Glenn (12.2%); Alpine (11.9%); Merced (11.8%); Yuba (11.1%); Fresno (11%).

  California Employment Development Department (1998)

• A recent MDRC study touted Work-First practices in Los Angeles that led to jobs for welfare recipients. Those recipients only earned $214 per month. In Los Angeles, the average self-sufficiency wage (the amount needed to live without government assistance) for an adult with a preschool age child is more than $1,000/month.

  Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation (1998); California Self-Sufficiency Standard (1996)

• The average self-sufficiency wage in California for an adult with a preschool age and a school age child is $12.46/hour.

  Self-Sufficiency Standard for California (1996)

• Of the 15 occupations in California with the greatest growth potential, approximately 60% have starting salaries of $8/hour or less.

  California Budget Project (1997)

Education and Training for Higher Wage Jobs Is Key

• In 1997, women who were high school graduates working in full-time, year-round jobs earned a median hourly wage of $10.91. Women who were college graduates earned a median hourly wage of $17.14.

  U.S. Census Bureau (1998)

• Nationwide, the median wage for those with only a high school diploma fell by 6%, from 1980 to 1996, while the earnings of college graduates increased by 12%.

  U.S. Department of Labor (1997)

• A woman’s educational background and prior work experience are strongly related to the duration of her welfare use and particularly to the likelihood that her family will leave welfare because of her employment.

  Center on Social Welfare Policy & Law (1996)

• Since the passage of welfare reform in 1996 and implementation of Work First practices, across the country huge numbers of welfare recipients enrolled in college programs are dropping out. Welfare reform has decreased the numbers of welfare recipients who will be able to become economically self-sufficient by earning a college degree.

  Institute for Women’s Policy Research (1998)