More work for welfare

1
More work for welfare

• March 30, 2002
• BY WENDY WENDLAND-BOWYER
• FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
• http//www.freep.com/news/mich/work30_20020330.htm
  

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Beginning April 1

• Beginning Monday, most welfare recipients will
  have to work up to 40 hours a week in Michigan,
  putting the state at the forefront of a debate
  now raging in Washington.
• The federal welfare law is up for reauthorization
  this year and the Bush administration is
  proposing making welfare recipients work 24 hours
  a week if they have a child under the age of 6,
  or 40 hours if their child is 6 or older.
• In Michigan, welfare recipients will be among the
  first to be required to work up to 40 hours a
  week. But unlike the Bush administration plan,
  the state sets 40 hours as a goal that can
  include hours spent in job training or in school.

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Raising the bar

• "When we started welfare reform way back when, it
  was voluntary that you do something. Then it
  became mandatory that you work," said Karen
  Smith, Michigan Family Independence Agency
  spokeswoman. "This is raising the bar again. . .
  . It is saying, 'Let's get you closer to the real
  world.' "
• The 40-hour requirement is one of several changes
  taking effect Monday. People on welfare with
  disabled children will no longer be automatically
  exempt from having to work. If welfare recipients
  fail to comply with certain rules, they can be
  completely cut from public assistance within a
  month. Previously they lost 25 percent of their
  welfare check for four months before being cut.

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The Economics

• Currently, single-parent welfare recipients are
  required by federal law to work a minimum of 20
  hours a week if their child is under the age of 6
  and 30 hours a week if their child is older.

Net income
Net income
Welfare
168
148
128
Leisure
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Is this good

• Depends on the utility function and child-care
  costs

• We can draw several different scenarios

Net income
Net income
Welfare
168
148
128
Leisure
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Individual Reviews

• Caseworkers will review individual cases to
  determine what combination of work and job
  training they'll require, Smith said, adding that
  she understands that full-time jobs aren't always
  available.The FIA will also take less time to cut
  off welfare recipients who are not following
  certain rules. The move is to make the punishment
  happen closer to when the rule is broken. Smith
  said the change has been effective in several
  test sites.
• Michigan had 77,207 welfare cases in February,
  and cut off 597 people for failing to meet a work
  requirement. The FIA cuts an average of 27
  clients per month who fail to cooperate with
  efforts to collect child support.