Welfare Job Training

A group of researchers studying the job prospects of former welfare recipients say state “work-first” policies should be reformatted as “work second, train first.”

“Work-first policies have resulted in an immediate, sharp decrease in comprehensive job training and post-secondary education for women welfare recipients,” said Heidi Hartmann, head of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research in Washington.

The result, according to an institute report, is that women leave welfare with limited basic skills and find themselves trapped in low-paying jobs with little hope of advancement.

These authors don’t want just any kind of training, they’re pushing for a little gender bending. Instead of funneling women into traditionally female--and traditionally lower-paying--fields such as child care or cosmetology, they say, welfare case workers should promote traditionally male--and traditionally higher-paying--jobs in fields such as welding, car sales or electrical work. The study suggests most case managers are not well informed about the benefits of so-called nontraditional employment.

The report also advocates changing federal rules so that vocational education could count as a work activity for more welfare recipients.

The IWPR study was directed by Cynthia Negrey, a sociologist on leave from the University of Louisville, and funded by the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund.