Study examines Dane County W-2 families

A new study by the Institute for Research on Poverty chronicles the successes and challenges of 100 Dane County families that have transitioned to Wisconsin’s new welfare reform program.

The authors — professors Irving Piliavin and Mark Courtney and graduate student Amy Dworsky — caution that their findings are taken from a relatively small sampling of families participating in the Wisconsin Works, or W-2, program.

Related Web site: Full text of study (95K PDF file)

Nevertheless, they say the results are similar to those of a 1999 study of Milwaukee W-2 families.

“Given the limitations of our study, additional research on the experiences of Wisconsin families under W-2 is clearly needed,” the authors write. Among the survey’s major findings:

• Of the respondents, 54 percent were employed one year after first being interviewed for the study. Another 20 percent reported at their second interview they had worked at some time during the past 12 months.
• The mean wage reported by participants who were working at their second interview was $8.24 an hour — about 75 cents per hour higher than reported in the Milwaukee study. The authors say Dane County’s low unemployment rate may have contributed to the higher wage.
• Of those surveyed, 12 percent reported being unemployed at the time of the second interview and said they had not worked in the past month. They were also not living with a family member likely to be employed, and they were not receiving any sort of governmental cash assistance.
• Most families reported income at or slightly above the 1999 poverty line for a family of three ($13,880) but below the poverty line for a family of four ($16,700).
• Most families indicated confusion about W-2 rules and regulations, including whether they received monthly cash payments; whether there were time limits on cash assistance; and whether food stamp and/or Medicaid eligibility hinged on participation in the W-2 program.
• Child care problems were common, including the “alarming” fact that children under 5 years old were being left alone or in the care of a sibling no older than 12 while respondents were working.
• Many families said they had experienced some kind of economic hardship, including running out of money and not being able to buy food.
• Physical and/or emotional well-being are likely to be “major barriers” to employment for a substantial number of study participants. And mental health problems, including depression, are prevalent among respondents.

“While the more disconcerting of our findings should not be viewed as negative ‘effects’ of W-2, an important question to consider is whether and how the program might be able to address any of the problems to which they point,” the authors conclude.

The researchers interviewed 163 Dane County families between November 1997 and June 1998, and follow-up interviews were conducted with 100 families between February and June 1999. Their study examined the transition the families were making from the federal Aid to Families with Dependent Children program, or AFDC, to W-2.

To view the study, “Early Transfers from AFDC to W-2: The Experiences of 100 Dane County Families,” visit: http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/irp/research/home.htm.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the UW–Madison Graduate School funded the research.