Exiting TANF: Individual and Local Factors and Their Differential Influence Across Racial Groups^*

Abstract

Objective. We ask whether individual and local factors known to influence reliance on welfare continue to be important under the TANF program, and if such factors differentially affect exit from TANF for African Americans and whites. Methods. We use monthly administrative data on TANF recipients from October 1996 to July 2004 from the Mississippi Department of Human Services. These data are linked to local economic, social, and spatial characteristics to estimate discrete time hazard models of TANF exit. Results. Personal barriers to work (e.g., low education and children) and limited economic and social opportunities in communities reduce the likelihood of leaving TANF. The results show that African-American exits from TANF are more influenced by human capital and local economic, social, and spatial conditions than are whites' TANF exits. Conclusion. The work-first initiative under TANF is most viable where individual barriers to work are limited and economic opportunities and community support to become self-sufficient exist for all people.

Adapting Life History Calendars for Qualitative Research on Welfare Transitions

“…At issue, however, is that current methodologies for examining welfare dynamics (entering and exiting welfare programs) are designed to generate data on personal and spatial factors such as age, education, number of children, and place of residence (Parisi et al 2006). Little is known about the extent to which the biography, history, and local context of low-income people might influence their patterns of welfare use under the TANF program.…”

From Welfare to Workfare: The Unintended Consequences of Liberal Reform, 1945–1965, by J. Mittelstadt

“…Still intertwined, the silence is broken. As reported by Bonds (2006) and Parisi, McLaughlin, Grice, & Taquino (2006), significant racial Book Reviews 325 disparity continues in the postwelfare workforce. Bonds' study illustrates the occurrence of better-educated African-American welfare recipients having the same job rates as their Caucasian counterparts.…”

To Wed or to Work? Assessing Work and Marriage as Routes Out of Poverty

“…Willson (2003) found that good jobs, which she defined as those with fringe benefits, were the most effective pathway to economic well-being for Black women whereas White women gained more from marriage than employment. Other researchers have found racial differences in the prevalence of barriers to work (Parisi, McLaughlin, Grice, & Taquino, 2006). This makes considering racial differences crucial for understanding the utility of the "Work Plan" and the "Family Plan" for all women struggling with poverty.…”