| TANF
Report to Congress | FY 1999 TANF
Work Participation Rate Table |
| Welfare Caseload
| Print Version | Office
of Family Assistance |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, Aug 22, 2000
Contact: Michael Kharfen, (202) 401-9215
HHS REPORTS ALL STATES MEET OVERALL
WELFARE TO WORK PARTICIPATION RATES
New Record of Parents Working
HHS Secretary Donna
E. Shalala joined President Clinton today in announcing that all 50 states
and the District of Columbia met the overall 1999 welfare to work participation
rates required by the new welfare reform law. It is the third year in
a row that all states subject to the welfare reform law's work requirements
met them. They also reported that five times higher a percentage of remaining
welfare recipients were working, including employment, work experience
and community service, as in 1992.
This new information,
contained in the Third Annual Report to Congress, builds on previous reports
and studies demonstrating that states are doing even better in helping
families reach employment. Today, the department announced that all 50
states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico met the overall welfare
to work participation rates for all families in 1999, while 28 of the
36 states subject to a separate two-parent family rate met it. Nationally,
states achieved a work participation rate of over 38 percent of all adults
on welfare, an increase of 9 percent from last year. For two-parent families,
states improved the work rate from 42 percent to nearly 55 percent, an
increase of 29 percent.
The data also show
that, nationwide, the percentage of welfare recipients employed has increased
four-fold since the President took office, rising from 7 percent in 1992
to 28 percent in 1999. Similarly, the proportion of recipients who were
working, including employment, work experience and community service,
reached 33 percent, a nearly five-fold increase over the 7 percent recorded
in 1992.
"After four
years, we have strong evidence that welfare reform is working, but we
have more to do to achieve its full promise for America's families and
children," said Secretary Shalala. "The challenge for the states
is to use the resources and flexibility they have to invest in the critical
supports to extend the opportunity of work to all families and ensure
that when parents get jobs, they stay employed and increase their income."
Welfare caseload
numbers continued to decline, with 6.3 million recipients in December
1999, a decrease of nearly 8 million or 56 percent since 1993. The number
of recipients as a proportion of the total U.S. population is now at 2.3
percent, the lowest since 1965. The number of people who have left welfare
since the President took office now exceeds the number remaining on the
rolls. Three-quarters of this decline occurred since President Clinton
signed the landmark welfare reform law four years ago, and there are half
as many recipients on welfare since the new welfare reform was signed
four years ago.
For 1999, the welfare
reform law required states to have adults in 35 percent of all families
working at least 25 hours a week. At least 90 percent of two-parent families
were required to work at least 35 hours a week. The required rates for
all families started at 25 percent in 1997 and increase 5 percent each
year to 50 percent in 2002. For two-parent families, the rates started
at 75 percent and increased in 1999 to 90 percent. States can receive
a credit for reductions in their welfare caseloads for parents moving
off welfare compared to 1995. The credit adjusts the target in both rates
for each state. Before applying the credit, 27 states exceeded the 35
percent participation rate.
"Today's news
builds on the promising results of studies that states are helping more
families than get and keep a job or gain the skills to get better jobs,"
said Olivia A. Golden, HHS assistant secretary for children and families.
"Now, as there are more working families, states need the federal
government to provide more child care funding so parents can rely on safe
places for their children when they are at their jobs."
The states that
failed to meet the two-parent rate are Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, District
of Columbia, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, and West
Virginia. Guam did not meet the overall and two-parent participation rates.
The Virgin Islands did not meet the overall participation rate. States
not meeting the participation rates are subject to financial penalties.
However, they can take corrective action or appeal the penalty for a reasonable
cause exception. In the case of the states not meeting the two-parent
families rate, the penalty amount will be based on the percentage of two-parent
families in the state's caseload.
The report contains
other statistics on the characteristics of families on welfare. The average
monthly earnings for families employed while on welfare increased to $598
in fiscal year 1999 from $533 in 1998 and $466 in fiscal year 1996, increases
of 19 and 28 percent respectively. Reflecting national demographic trends
over several years as well as changes in welfare and other factors, the
welfare caseload has a greater proportion of minority families, somewhat
older parents with older children, and a higher proportion of cases where
no adult receives assistance. The average size of families remained the
same at 3 persons, 1 adult and 2 children.
###
Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are
available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.
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