Meeting Welfare’s Work Participation Requirements and Transitioning into the Labor Market a Study of the Outcomes of TANF Recipients

When TANF became law in 1996, welfare recipients were required to engage in work participation activities, and states were required to have 50 percent of their TANF cases meet these participation requirements. The intention of requiring individuals to engage in these activities was to assist individuals in gaining employment and becoming economically self-sufficient. However, the rates at which TANF recipients meet the participation requirements and transition into employment consistent with economic self-sufficiency are disappointingly low. This chapter provides an overview that begins with a more detailed characterization of these issues to provide a context that highlights the importance of the questions this research seeks to answer. The data used in this research essentially constitutes a census of first-time TANF recipients in Utah, and some of the aspects of this data set are subsequently described. Finally, the TANF population is compared to the general population in Utah for the purpose of illustrating the significant differences between these populations.