Hundreds of thousands of Midwest welfare recipients have gone to work since 1996, but most have taken jobs that pay low wages, are part-time, or don't last, according to a major report released today by the Joyce Foundation. As a result, most of those who have made the transition from welfare to work remain poor. These findings and recommendations were released in Welfare to Work: What Have We Learned?

The report presents leading research on welfare-to-work initiatives in the Midwest, including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota,Ohio, and Wisconsin. Both before and since 1996, these states have pioneered innovative strategies to support welfare recipients' transition to work, including "work first" and "making work pay" by offering cash assistance and other supports to working families.

Welfare to Work: What Have We Learned? shows that in the Midwest, as nationally, welfare rolls plummeted during the 1990s, and most of those who left welfare went to work. Work supports – such as child care, food stamps, and the Earned Income Tax Credit – have helped thousands of working families make ends meet. But many of the jobs recipients took are part time or short term, and wages are low. As a result, many working families still face serious economic hardships.

Welfare to Work: What Have We Learned? includes detailed state-by-state reports and at-a-glance data, and concludes with recommendations drawn from the research for improving the lives of working families in the next round of policymaking.

Download the Press Release

Download the Report

Also See:

Welfare Reform Ten Years Later
Ten years after landmark legislation to "end welfare as we know it," welfare rolls in most Midwest states are a fraction of their early-1990s peak. This special report examines what we've learned and what we should do next.

It's time for next step in welfare reform
From the Chicago Sun-Times, Joyce President Ellen S. Alberding writes about the next steps of welfare reform, ten years after Congress passed and President Clinton signed landmark legislation to "end welfare as we know it."