Welfare reform in California : early results from the impact analysis / / Jacob A. Klerman ... [et al.].

• TeilnehmendeR: Klerman, Jacob Alex.
• Year of Publication: 2003
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (147 p.)
• Notes: "MR-1358."

Examines the effects of the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program on work activity participation rates of welfare recipients, welfare caseloads, and outcomes for welfare leavers. While the CalWORKs reforms appear to have been responsible for some of the uniform improvement in outcomes shown by the analysis, the robust economy and other policy changes were probably also important.

Table of Contents

Preface; Contents; Figures; Tables; Summary; Acknowledgments; Acronyms and Abbreviations; 1. Introduction; Background; Objectives and Conceptual Model; Pre-CalWORKs Welfare Reforms; The CalWORKs Reforms; Other Government Policies; The Economy; Methods; Random Assignment; Nonexperimental Program Evaluation; Simulation; Data; Scope of This Report; Organization of the Report; 2. Program Participation; Overview of Descriptive Findings; Meeting Federal Participation Rates; Components Used to Determine Participation Rates

How California Has Fared in Meeting All-Families Work Activity Participation Rates How California Has Fared in Meeting Two-Parent Work Activity Participation Rates; How California Compares with the Rest of the Nation in Meeting Federal Work Activity Participation Rate Requirements; Near-Universal, Immediate Participation in CALWORKS WTW Activities for 32 Hours per Week; How Many Hours Are Welfare Recipients Participating in the Activities?; Of Those Current Welfare Recipients Who Are Working, How Much Are They Working?; Possible Explanations for Descriptive Findings

The Effects of County Welfare Programs The Effects of the Composition of California's Welfare Caseload; The Effects of Pre-CalWORKs Reforms and CalWORKs Legislative Changes to the Benefit Structure; The Effects of Other CalWORKs Legislative Changes; The Effects of the Economy; 3. The Caseload; Overview of Descriptive Findings; Caseload Trends in California; Aggregate Statewide Trends; Disaggregated Trends by Subgroups; The Effects of Changes in Population and Composition on California's Caseload; California's Caseload Trends Relative to the Rest of the Nation

Possible Explanations for the Descriptive Findings What Might Explain the Magnitude and Timing of the Caseload Decline in California?; What Might Explain the Smaller Caseload Decline in California Compared with the Rest of the Nation?; 4. Outcomes for Leavers; Overview of Descriptive Findings; Return to Welfare; Employment, Earnings, and Earnings Growth Among Leavers; How Welfare Leavers Are Faring in Terms of Any Employment and Earnings Growth; How Leavers Are Faring in Terms of Full-Time Work and Household Resources; Given Employment Levels, How Are Leavers Supporting Themselves?

Entering Cohorts versus Leaving Cohorts Medi-Cal Take-Up Among Leavers; Outcomes for All Single-Parent Households; Possible Explanations for the Descriptive Findings; Decreases in Return to Cash Aid, Increases in Employment and Earnings, and Decreases in Poverty Rates; Increases in Medi-Cal Take-up Rates; 5. Conclusions and Next Steps; Conclusions; What Has Happened to Outcomes of Interest?; What Caused These Outcomes?; Were the Changes Worth the Cost?; Next Steps; Appendix A. Overview of Factors That Might Affect Outcomes; B. Data Sources; C. Analytic Methods

D. Results of the Policy Simulation Conducted on Participation Rates