Success After Welfare: What Makes the Difference? An Ethnographic Study of Welfare Leavers in South Carolina

Abstract

Abstract The success of state welfare-to-work programs has been closely scrutinized as the 1996 TANF legislation underwent extensive review prior to renewal in 2003. Although most states' caseloads have been reduced by more than half, the poverty rates have not proportionately declined, and obtaining jobs that offer economic security remains a persistent problem for post-welfare women. The goal of this ethnographic study was to discern the factors that distinguished women with greater success after welfare from those who were less successful. Factors related to levels of assistance received, resource utilization, mentorship, and self-help attitudes differentiated the experiences of more successful women from those less successful. Public policy implications of these findings are discussed.