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CALIFORNIA
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CalWORKs Leavers Survey |
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Date of Report: |
January 2000 (www.dss.cahwnet.gov/research/pdf/leavers.pdf) |
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Methodology: |
Telephone interview of 142 former recipients. (42% Response Rate) |
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Study Timeframe: |
Interviews were conducted two to eleven months after exit |
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Investigator (Contact): |
California Department of Social Services Program Planning and Performance Division, Data Operations Branch, Data Systems and Survey Design Bureau |
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Study Objective: |
Obtain information on why families left CalWORKs and a current assessment of the financial situation/ well-being of those families. |
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Comparable State Findings: |
Former Recipients |
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Percent employed at time of interview |
61% |
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Mean/Median hourly wage of those employed |
N/A |
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Percent receiving Food Stamps/Medicaid at time of interview |
19% / 57% |
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Percent who say life is "better" after welfare |
51% |
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Percent receiving cash assistance in first year since exit |
7% |
Employment & Income
- 69% of the households in the survey had either the respondent and/or spouse or partner working.
- 48% of respondents left welfare because they, their spouse, or another member of their family got a job or they had earnings too high to be eligible.
- The most common reasons for not working at the time of the interview were keeping house/raising children (27%), personal disability (16%) and looking for work (12%).
Other Supports (at time of interview)
- Other sources of household income included employment of spouse/other adult (39%), school meals (31%), WIC (25%), Earned Income Tax Credit (20%), SSI (13%), and Child Support (13%).
- Since leaving cash assistance, 62% of respondents received one or more type of assistance. The most common sources of assistance included: Medi-Cal (57%), child care (11%), and caseworker help (4%).
Family Well-Being
- In order to get by without returning to cash assistance, respondents: got a job (51%), cut back on extras (49%), cut back on necessities (39%), delayed/stopped paying bills (30%), borrowed or were given money from friends/family (27%), and/or got cheaper housing/moved in with others (15%).
- While 23% had no difficulty in paying bills, 25% had a little difficulty, 26% had some difficulty, and 25% had either quite a bit of difficulty or a great deal of difficulty in paying bills.
- 77% of respondents believed that they would not be receiving cash assistance one year after the interview.
- Of those respondents that have returned to TANF, the most common reasons were loss of job, inability to find a job, or having a job but the pay is low.
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