abstract: 'Objectives. Although employment among welfare mothers increased

  substantially following the 1996 welfare reform, some former welfare

  recipients failed to find stable employment. We review the extent to

  which low-income mothers are without work and cash welfare for long

  periods of time and seek to understand the correlates of becoming

  chronically disconnected. Methods. We analyze data from a 1997-2003

  panel study of single mothers who received cash welfare in an urban

  county in Michigan in February 1997. We develop a new measure of the

  extent to which former recipients are ``chronically disconnected{''''}

  from both employment and cash welfare and estimate regression models of

  the correlates of this economic outcome. Results. About 9 percent of

  respondents became chronically disconnected, defined as being without

  employment and cash welfare during at least one-quarter of the months

  during the 79-month study period. Important correlates of becoming

  chronically disconnected include having a physical limitation, having a

  learning disability, using illegal drugs or meeting the diagnostic

  screening criteria for alcohol dependence, and having no car or driver

  license. The chronically disconnected are more likely to have lost a job

  than to have lost welfare benefits and are more economically

  disadvantaged than those with regular sources of economic support.

  Conclusions. To reduce the number of women who fail to make a successful

  transition from welfare to work, more attention should be given to

  programs and policies that attempt to reconnect disconnected women to

  regular sources of economic support.'
affiliation: 'Danziger, S (Corresponding Author), Univ Michigan, Gerald R Ford Sch
  Publ Policy, 1015 E Huron St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 USA.

  Univ Michigan, Gerald R Ford Sch Publ Policy, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 USA.'
author: Turner, LJ and Danziger, S and Seefeldt, KS
author-email: sheldond@umich.edu
author_list:
- family: Turner
  given: LJ
- family: Danziger
  given: S
- family: Seefeldt
  given: KS
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1111/j.1540-6237.2006.00378.x
eissn: 1540-6237
files: []
issn: 0038-4941
journal: SOCIAL SCIENCE QUARTERLY
keywords-plus: MOVE; PAY
language: English
month: JUN
number: '2'
number-of-cited-references: '26'
pages: 227-249
papis_id: a2a57fc3d68dde78c3f63b37e16670f3
ref: Turner2006failingtransition
times-cited: '64'
title: 'Failing the transition from welfare to work: Women chronically disconnected
  from employment and cash welfare'
type: Article
unique-id: WOS:000237396900002
usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
usage-count-since-2013: '11'
volume: '87'
web-of-science-categories: Political Science; Sociology
year: '2006'