"The most common explanation for nonworking status appears to be having multiple barriers such as a chronic health problem coupled with limited education or work experience; a second smaller group relates to those who, though healthy, have been unable to find work or get hired; a third group is made up of authors involved in job readiness programs or other training and education opportunities, often outside the TANF framework."

"Given the low-wages, poor benefits, and limited opportunities in this labor market, many authors are faced with a choice between meeting their parenting responsibilities or working. Although all parents have difficulty balancing work and family, most parents are able to rely on employer-based provisions such as vacation and sick leave to cover time missed to care for a sick child or a daycare conflict without fear of a loss of income or losing one’s job. In addition, given that the vast majority of parents in our study are single parents, their ability to manage the day-to-day demands of parenting or to care for the needs of a child is further limited. Without the benefit of employer provisions and a second parent, many transitioning workers find they are forced to choose between neglecting their families and neglecting work."

"Even when working and increasing one’s income is a central priority, the conditions of work found in the low-wage job market can frustrate the best of efforts. For example, temp jobs which are often endorsed by welfare offices in job fairs or promoted by caseworkers to their clients present a set of distinct challenges. In addition to having virtually no job security, limited hours, and often low pay and few or no benefits, these jobs can be especially difficult for working parents, who, unable to predict when they may be called to work, must quickly secure daycare arrangements."

"While these workers encounter a host of problems in the labor market that complicate their transition to employment and self-sufficiency and challenge their ability to meet parental responsibilities, TANF rules can offset some of the problems facing workers. Rather than compensate for the inadequacies found in a low-wage job market, however, TANF rules often reinforce them...In many cases, workers find they are unable to pay for daycare and other family needs once they start working and their benefits are reduced or ended."

"Family needs that arise can complicate meeting TANF obligations, which in turn can further exacerbate both family and employment problems. Some authors report being sanctioned or losing TANF assistance or other support benefits because they were unable to meet a program requirement or had to leave a program to care for a sick child."

"Current TANF program rules may inadvertently work to restrict advancement and higher wages for transitioning workers by sanctioning or ending benefits if a participant leaves a job. Under TANF program rules in many states, transitioning workers who are stuck in dead-end jobs frequently face the dilemma of losing valuable supports if they lose their jobs or reduce their hours to look for something better or to seek out job training and education to land better paying jobs. This, despite the fact that several studies find that voluntary job changes lead to higher wages among former welfare recipients, and the long established positive correlation between income and education."

"Some of the employed authors in this study can be considered a kind of "success story." Of the 106 families in our study that are working, approximately 14 have found jobs and life circumstances that bring their families a degree of material security and who appear to be on the path to self-sufficiency or have already achieved it. What is clear from this group is that success is as much based on the co-incidence of family supports, positive life circumstances, and simple good fortune as it is on finding that "great job." Thus, rather than being able to point to some successful strategy, these authors’ success reflects a decidedly serendipitous element. In many ways the work histories and training and educational backgrounds of this group of workers are quite similar to those who are working but aren’t "making it." What stands out among this group is the positive confluence of multiple factors in their lives that are key to making the transition to work successful in terms of self-sufficiency and employment that is sustainable over the long term. Still, their level of success is quite relative and precarious. This group of more successful workers is only marginally better off than the other group of working authors. With incomes that put them in a "near poor" status, and with several lacking postsecondary education or a clearly defined vocational degree, their situation is delicate enough that one change in their life situation could place them in the group of workers struggling to make ends meet."

"Finding jobs, sustaining employment, and advancing in the labor market do not occur in a vacuum. These goals are mediated by the level of family and worker supports that may or may not be in place to meet such vital needs as child care, transportation, and health care. Although the group of "success stories" generally had access to health care through an employer, and either could rely on family help to provide child care or could afford private child care, the vast majority of transitioning workers need these supports through TANF and other programs. Currently, many do not receive them."

"The levels of worker supports offered to transitioning workers vary in part due to state by state differences in the scope of programs and eligibility. In terms of health insurance, a relatively high percentage of authors (83%) who were employed have access to medical insurance, most of it coming from state Medicaid programs rather than private health insurance from an employer. While this finding is encouraging, it signals that a significant number are without any health insurance and that very few working authors receive health insurance through their employer...a number of gaps exists in Medicaid programs and many participants lose these benefits once they are working or their incomes rise, regardless of whether they have access to private forms of health care from their employers...On the other hand, a much smaller percentage had access to child care assistance (roughly one half of those working in our study). However, the need for child care assistance and greater access, particularly hours of operation that fit with many work schedules, emerge clearly in these narratives as a worker support absolutely critical to transitioning workers."