Stability and Change in Child Care and Employment Evidence from Three States

With the inception of welfare reform in 1996, the goal was to move recipients off welfare and into work. While many States have adopted supports for recipients moving to work, many former recipients have difficulty maintaining stable employment. This paper, through MDRC, describes instability related to child care and reviews the relationship between child care instability and employment instability. Although the perception may be that employment instability may cause child care instability, findings suggest that child care instability is caused by employment instability.