State to Advertise New Rules That Reward Welfare Recipients Who Enter Work Force

Proclaiming that jobs provide the best way to get off government aid, the Wilson Administration launched a statewide campaign Thursday to advertise new rules that make it more advantageous for welfare recipients to work.

The $140,000 campaign will use television and radio spots in addition to brochures and posters to advise recipients of changes in the Aid to Families With Dependent Children program. The changes will allow those who work to keep a larger share of their earnings and become eligible for an array of additional benefits.

“Many welfare recipients have become skeptical about working and have learned it’s not worth it to take a low-paying job,” Department of Social Services Director Eloise Anderson said. “Now that we’ve changed welfare so it pays to work, we must do more to convince recipients that getting a job--any job--is the first step toward self-sufficiency.”

Effective this month, the changes grew out of legislation approved last summer and signed into law by Gov. Pete Wilson. They permit working recipients to keep a third more of their earnings before welfare grants are reduced, make them eligible for child-care subsidies and increase the amount of savings they can accumulate.

Under the old system, recipients were penalized when they went to work by rules that required earnings to be deducted from their welfare grants almost dollar for dollar.

Anderson said most recipients found they would have less spendable income if they worked at a low-paying job than if they just accepted a welfare check.