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Improving Job Options for Women Who Leave Welfare
PRINCETON, N.J. (March 10, 1999) - For women leaving the welfare rolls nationwide as a result of recent reforms, the missing link between work and economic success is not just a job - it's skill.
Determining their skill levels could improve job options for those women, who far outnumber men among welfare recipients, according to a new study by Educational Testing Service. The report, Getting Down to Business: Matching Welfare Recipients' Skills to Jobs That Train, was co-written by Anthony Carnevale, ETS vice president for public leadership, and Donna Desrochers, ETS senior economist.
"Work alone is not enough," said Carnevale. "Under welfare reform, too many of those leaving the system are moving from welfare traps into poverty traps. More time on the job will not appreciably increase low-skilled workers' earnings, unless they are placed in jobs with employer-provided training.
"In an economy where the real job growth, earnings potential and employer-provided training are in higher skilled occupations, the missing link between work and economic success is skill," he added.
The authors assert that women leaving welfare for jobs could earn higher incomes and keep their jobs longer with the help of better job placement, on-the-job training, and targeted, time-limited education and training to boost their skills.
By providing hard data on welfare recipients' skill levels, this study helps explain the prospects for the recipients who have left the welfare rolls, and for the remaining 2.8 million single adult welfare recipients heading families, based on their skills and projected new jobs' skill requirements. These findings challenge the view that those who leave welfare should take any job available to them. They have far-reaching implications for educators, welfare and job training program managers as well as policymakers, according to the study's authors.
"This study models the best practices necessary in this next, toughest phase of welfare reform," said ETS President Nancy Cole. "It demonstrates how important it will be for policymakers and case managers to target job placement, education, and training assistance to those former welfare recipients who could most benefit." The study found that the skills of women on welfare fell roughly into three equal shares: * 32 percent demonstrated advanced or competent skills similar to people with at least some postsecondary education. The study found that recipients with competent skills could move up to the advanced skill level and into jobs that pay as much as $10,000 more by investing in up to 200 hours of education or training -- equivalent to a full semester course load. Jobs employing people with advanced levels skills generally pay $30,000 or more. * 37 percent of recipients had basic skills similar to high school graduates in the lower half of their class. The study found that recipients with basic skills could move up to the competent level and into jobs that pay as much as $10,000 more by investing in up to 200 hours of education or training - again, a full semester course load - improving their chances of obtaining jobs that pay $20,000 to $30,000. * 31 percent of recipients had minimal skills similar to school dropouts. The study found that even to boost these women's skills to the basic level, typically required for jobs that pay $15,000 to $20,000, would call for up to 900 hours of education and training - equivalent to four and a half semesters, or more than two years of course work.
"More careful job placement could result in permanent self-sufficiency for some welfare recipients," said Carnevale. The study also found that many recipients could earn up to $400 a week - or about $20,000 a year - with better job placement, even without skill improvements.
The study also confirmed that limited education and training could boost even further the skills and earnings of those leaving welfare. The study recommends that employment counselors work closely with recipients to assess their skill levels. Based on that information, the counselors and recipients can evaluate the relative benefits of obtaining the most readily available job, targeting work that offers training and career advancement, or considering limited education and training that could further boost the skills and earnings of those leaving welfare.
The authors project that welfare recipients with low skills will face a labor market with increasing skill demands. Although 31 percent of welfare recipients have minimal skills similar to school dropouts, less than 10 percent of new jobs created through 2006 will be in this skill range. Instead, nearly 70 percent of new jobs over the next seven years will employ workers with competent or advanced skills.
The study consisted of two phases. The current skill distribution of welfare recipients - based upon the National Adult Literacy Survey - was examined and matched with skill distribution and training opportunities in all jobs. The distribution of jobs was then projected through 2006 by skill requirements and training opportunities, as well as by expected increases in the labor force by skill level.
Free copies of Getting Down to Business: Matching Welfare Recipients' Skills to Jobs That Train are available by writing to ETS Communications Services, MS 50-B, Rosedale Road, Princeton, NJ 08541, or by calling (609) 734-5050. The report also can be downloaded from ftp://etsisl.ets.org/pub/corp/16045.pdf.
ETS is the world's premier educational measurement institution and a leader in educational research. ETS, which is a nonprofit organization, develops and administers achievement, occupational and admissions tests for clients in education, government and business.
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