The Effects of Depressive Symptoms on Work Activities and Welfare Exit of Welfare Recipients in Korea1

The purpose of this research is to examine the link between depressive symptoms of welfare recipients and their work activity and welfare exit using a secondary dataset, entitled the Korean Welfare Panel Study. In 2000, the National Basic Livelihood Security System (NBLSS) was introduced to (i) ensure a basic standard of living for households in poverty, and (ii) promote work activity and welfare exit of the recipients. A considerable body of literature has reported that the policy outcome of the NBLSS is not a success. However, the reason for the low success rate is unclear. In contrast to studies in the USA, few studies in Korea investigated the effect of depression on welfare‐to‐work transitions. To bridge the gap in the literature, we examine the association between depression, work activity, and welfare exit using a logistic regression analytic method. The analytic results show that the level of depression (total score on the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale) was negatively associated with welfare recipients’ work activity and welfare exit, suggesting that depressive symptoms may be a significant barrier to promoting economic self‐sufficiency. Implications of the study findings are further discussed.     

The Urban Geography of Welfare Reform: Spatial Patterns of Caseload Dynamics in Detroit

Objective . To assess how the characteristics of welfare recipients have varied geographically in the Detroit metropolitan area since the passage of welfare reform in 1996 and how spatial proximity to job opportunities is related to work rates among welfare recipients. Methods . Using administrative data on welfare receipt in the Detroit metropolitan area and data from two employer surveys in Detroit, I examine changes in the welfare caseload between 1992 and 2000 and estimate logit models of the probability that welfare recipients report work earnings in 1998. Results . Although the number of adult welfare recipients in the Detroit metropolitan area declined by over 75 percent between 1992 and 2000, nearly 25,000 households—most residing in the central city—continue to receive welfare. Rates of work among welfare recipients are positively related to the accessibility of employment opportunities. Conclusions . My results indicate that support services and programs in the coming years will have to fit a caseload that is changing both qualitatively and geographically. Further, consistent with the most current spatial mismatch research, my findings show that greater access to job opportunities leads to greater rates of reported work earnings among welfare recipients.     

Low‐Income Students and College Attendance: An Exploration of Income Expectations*

Objectives. Some have hypothesized that unrealistic expectations regarding their futures may explain the weak link between expectations and realizations among low‐income (particularly minority) youth. Unfortunately, there is little evidence characterizing students' expectations around the time that they make college decisions that would allow one to study this hypothesis. Methods. In this exploratory article, I analyze data on income expectations from a small sample of low‐income minority high school seniors in Baltimore City, MD; and use data from Dominitz and Manski's sample of higher‐income white students in Madison, WI, and the NELS88 for comparisons. Results. I find little evidence that the income expectations of lower‐income minority students are so different from those of higher‐income students. Rather, the expected returns to postsecondary education appear similar between the two samples of high school seniors. Analysis of a nationally representative sample of high school seniors suggests that lower‐income students do not place less weight on expected economic returns to college when making their plans than do more advantaged students, although low‐income students are less able to translate their college plans into actual college attendance. Conclusions. These results suggest that differing income expectations do not explain the weaker relationship between expectations and educational attainment among low‐income students.     

College Attendance and Choice of College Majors Among Asian‐American Students*

Objective. This study explores how various measures, ranging from assimilation, to human capital, to family capital, and Holland's career‐development theories, affect Asian‐American students' choice of college majors. To test our hypotheses, we examine choice of college major using a unique measure based on the early earning potential of a large number of specific majors. Methods. Our data come from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS88). We use the Heckman selection approach to adjust for the nonrandom selection of college attendance and choice of college majors. Results. The findings of the study show little difference between Asian men and white men. On the other hand, there are significant differences among women. Conclusions. Chinese, Filipino, and Southeast Asian women are all more likely to choose more lucrative college majors than white women, controlling for all the other factors. Interestingly, effects of our assimilation, psychological, and some of the family capital measures are quite different for men than for women.     

Welfare Reform and Child Fostering: Pinpointing Affected Child Populations*

Objective. The objective of our research is to examine the impact of New Jersey's welfare reform called the Family Development Program (FDP) on child fostering among children on welfare. Methods. The research and analytical methods we use include an experimental design and probit regressions. Results. Our results show that FDP impacts are confined to children of short‐term welfare recipients (new cases) but affects both African‐American and white children in this welfare group. Among new cases, FDP decreases the probability of African‐American children living in foster families, resulting in a 28 percent change from the baseline prevalence rate of 7.2 percent. In contrast, FDP increases the likelihood of white children living in foster families, leading to a 70 percent change from the baseline occurrence rate of 1.4 percent. Conclusions. We conclude by discussing the policy implications of such segmented impacts of welfare reform for vulnerable child populations.     

Does Catholic High School Attendance Lead to Attendance at a More Selective College?*

Objectives. To evaluate whether Catholic high school attendance, relative to public high school attendance, affects the quality of four‐year college that students attend. Methods. We use quantile regression, which allows the relationship between Catholic high school attendance and college quality to vary along the conditional college quality distribution. Results. We find the relationship between Catholic high school attendance and college quality is larger and more significant at the top half of the conditional college quality distribution than at the bottom half. Conclusions. An understanding of the potential benefits of Catholic schooling is essential to an informed debate about school‐choice programs such as educational vouchers. One potential benefit associated with Catholic schooling is matriculation at more selective colleges and universities. We find some evidence that such a benefit exists.     

Welfare Use As Status Attainment

Empirical studies of welfare dependency have highlighted differences between welfare and nonwelfare families in o;der'io explain the reasons for welfare dependency. This study discusses factors associated with welfare use in a sample of 323 adolescent mothers who were at-risk with respect to becoming welfare dependent. The article first identities the factors which distinguish between those who became welfare recipients and those who did not. Then, the interrelationships among the salient factors are discussed. The analysis suggests that factors which influence movement on and off welfare in the sample are thosc which influence women's social status in general--entering parenthood during adolescence, noncompletion of high school, rapid family building and being the female head of a family. Rathcr than being explained by a distinctive set of factors, welfare use can be explained by the same factors which influence location in the stratification system for wornen at all class levels.     

Welfare Reform and Asset Accumulation: Asset Limit Changes,Financial Assets,and Vehicle Ownership*

Objective. Over the past decade, federal and state governments have substantially liberalized asset limits in welfare. This article examines whether this policy change promotes asset accumulation among the target population of actual and potential welfare recipients. Methods. Utilizing household data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics as well as state data, this study employs a difference‐in‐difference approach in order to determine whether state asset limits affect the target population's financial and vehicle asset accumulation. This study develops a new policy measure that considers the time period following the adoption of liberalized asset limits. Results. Analysis results suggest that increased asset limits may have successfully encouraged the target population's asset accumulation. The earlier a state raised its asset limit, the more likely welfare recipients were to accumulate financial assets and to possess bank accounts. Conclusion. It is recommended to liberalize asset eligibility rules to promote long‐term economic advancement of poor households.     

The Relation between Ethnic and Civic Views on Citizenship,Attitudes towards Immigrants and Sympathy for Welfare Recipients

In this study we investigate the relationship between different definitions of national citizenship, sympathy for welfare recipients, and how this relation is mediated by attitudes towards immigrants. We make use of the 2008 wave of the Belgian Political Panel Survey 2006–11, in which over 4,800 18‐year‐old adolescents were questioned. The results demonstrate that an agreement with both ethnic and civic definitions of national citizenship is related to reduced sympathy for welfare recipients, although the association with an ethnic view on citizenship is clearly dominant. Furthermore, these relations are almost entirely of an indirect nature: ethnic and civic citizenship attitudes are associated with negative views on immigrants, which, in turn, is the key variable that is associated with reduced sympathy for welfare recipients.     

Mark Latham's Third Way: Income Support,Civic Renewal and Collectivism

The core aim of Mark Latham's Third Way‐style policy proposals is to promote the revivification of civil society as part of the renewed pursuit of the common good. I critically examine this core aim with reference to Mark Latham's proposed changes to income support. I claim that Latham's tendency to focus on disadvantaged communities as sites of normative dysfunction only reinforces the traditional conceptual division between deserving employed citizens and undeserving income recipients. It also neglects the real difficulties experienced by mainstream communities, such as the growing time deficit in working households. I conclude that Latham misses a real opportunity to re‐legitimise collective provision and revive the social sphere using a universal rather than a residual policy perspective that shows concern for the well‐being of all Australian citizens.     

Perceived food and labor equity and school attendance among Ugandan children living in kin care

Emerging research suggests that biological relatedness contributes to differential treatment between children being raised by kin and the biological children in the caregiver's household. This potential concern may be elevated especially when household resources are stretched thin. In this study, 518 Ugandan youth and their caregivers were interviewed individually, examining the association between relatedness and perceived food and work equity, and school attendance. Household income, but not relatedness, was negatively associated with food inequity. However, relatedness was positively associated with perceived disparity in the distribution of work among children living in the household, and with children's school attendance. These findings support and challenge previous findings, raising further research questions and suggesting practice implications. Key Practitioner Message: ● Children in kinship care may be experiencing intrahousehold disparity in the amount of household work they are asked to perform; ● Disparity in school attendance between biological and kin children in the same household could have negative implications for the long‐term wellbeing of children in kin care; ● Programs should be tailored to monitor this type of intrahousehold disparity in treatment.     

Who Benefits Most from Financial Aid? The Heterogeneous Effect of Need‐Based Grants on Students' College Persistence*

Objectives. This study assesses whether need‐based grants are equally conducive to the college persistence of students from various economic strata and the extent to which a redistribution of funds can narrow economic‐based inequality in college persistence. Methods. To estimate the causal effect of need‐based grants on several persistence outcomes the discontinuity created in the dollar amounts of Pell grants when the students have siblings attending college is exploited. The analyses use a nationally representative sample of students enrolled at four‐year institutions in 1995. Results. While the allocation of Pell Grants responds to students' pecuniary constraints, institutional and state grants expand the circle of recipients to more well‐off students. Yet, it is only the persistence of students from the bottom half of the income distribution that is sensitive to aid amounts. If the need‐based funds granted to affluent students had been diverted to these students, the gap in first‐year persistence would have been closed. Conclusions. For a redistribution of funds to boost degree attainment and achieve equality of educational opportunity it must be based on stricter means‐tested allocations of nonfederal funds as they are the main source of need‐based aid.     

Do Mutual Obligation Breach Penalties Coerce Compliance with Government Expectations?

A Brisbane survey was conducted to examine some of the consequences of Centrelink breach penalties when applied to unemployment welfare recipients under the Howard Coalition Government's ideology of Mutual Obligation. Fifty‐six such recipients responded to the author's survey by completing a questionnaire about their experiences after receiving one or more breach penalties. The consequences of being breached for those respondents are contrasted with the Coalition Government's stated expectations for its Mutual Obligation driven breach penalty system. The background to the rise of Mutual Obligation as an ideology and the elevated incidence of breach penalties are briefly discussed, along with the report of the survey findings. Interestingly, two surprise findings are given specific focus as they offer new insight.     

Room to move? Professional discretion at the frontline of welfare‐to‐work

Outcomes of social policies have always been mediated by the discretionary agency of front‐line staff, processes which nevertheless have received insufficient attention in policy evaluation and in the social policy literature more broadly. This article takes the case example of the policy reforms associated with the Australian government's welfare‐to‐work agenda. Drawing on two discreet research projects undertaken at different points in the policy trajectory, the practices of social workers in Centrelink – the Commonwealth government's primary service delivery agency involved in welfare‐to‐work – is examined. Centrelink social workers have been and remain one of the core groups of specialist staff since the Department's inception in the late 1940s, working to improve the well being of people in receipt of income security. Their experiences of the recent past and their expectations of the future of their professional practice as welfare reform becomes more entrenched are canvassed. In summary, the discretionary capacity of the Centrelink social workers to moderate or shape the impact of policy on income security recipients is steadily eroding as this group of professionals is increasingly captured by the emerging practices of workfare.     

Slippery Concepts, Shifting Context: (National) States and Welfare in the Veit-Wilson/Atherton Debate

The debate between Veit‐Wilson and Atherton raises key conceptual questions for the analysis of welfare states. Veit‐Wilson, in particular, focuses on the important, but strangely neglected question of when and why a state qualifies as a welfare state. Atherton usefully draws attention to historical debates about the legitimate purposes of state welfare policies and worthy recipients of state benefits, particularly in the Anglo‐Saxon countries. His contribution may draw our attention to the shifting meaning of concepts (such as poverty) over time. In this contribution I seek to broaden the debate. First, without underestimating the importance of such criteria, rather than presenting one single (normatively based) “discriminating criterion” defining welfare statehood, I argue that other conceptions of “the welfare state” may be useful as well—so long as analysts are clear and explicit about how they are using the phrase. Second, in the current conjuncture of the perceived “transformation” perhaps even “destruction” of the welfare state, historical and comparative research grounded on clear and explicit concepts is crucial.     

Degree Completion Among Nontraditional College Students*

Objective. With the growing number of older students attending college, one major issue concerning these nontraditional students is their overall low completion rates. We examine factors affecting nontraditional students' degree completion. Methods. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, we examine the effects of student characteristics on the probability of finishing college with event history models. Results. Part‐time enrollment significantly deters college completion, whereas the number of prior enrollments facilitates it. Being relatively young, having high cognitive ability, and a high‐status occupational background also increase the chance of completion, but these effects partly differ by gender. On the other hand, being divorced and having young children, the factors often negatively associated with women's socioeconomic status, suppress degree completion for both genders. Conclusions. Based on these results, we discuss how higher educational institutions and employers might be able to help increase the rate of completion among nontraditional students.     

Unemployment and conditional welfare: Exclusion and belonging in immigrant women's discourse on being long‐term dependent on social assistance

Long‐term unemployment with dependency on social assistance in Sweden has increased and is particularly high among foreign‐born persons. The present study explored immigrant recipients' experiences of being welfare reliant. Swedish‐Iraqi women's construction of exclusion and belonging in relation to policies and welfare regulations was scrutinised. The women referred to unemployment with frustration, expressing that it renders dependence on social welfare and enforces adherence to the stipulations of the social services. The individual's mobility and agency are restricted and concerted efforts to obtain employment are futile, which increase the sense of exclusion. However, the entitlement to social assistance also engenders feelings of belonging, of being connected to and cared for by the new country. More research is needed to examine the role that social assistance regulations play in forming feelings of belonging and exclusion. It appears essential that political initiatives be taken to reverse the trend of high unemployment among foreign‐born persons.     

Failing the Transition from Welfare to Work: Women Chronically Disconnected from Employment and Cash Welfare*

Objectives. Although employment among welfare mothers increased substantially following the 1996 welfare reform, some former welfare recipients failed to find stable employment. We review the extent to which low‐income mothers are without work and cash welfare for long periods of time and seek to understand the correlates of becoming chronically disconnected. Methods. We analyze data from a 1997–2003 panel study of single mothers who received cash welfare in an urban county in Michigan in February 1997. We develop a new measure of the extent to which former recipients are “chronically disconnected” from both employment and cash welfare and estimate regression models of the correlates of this economic outcome. Results. About 9 percent of respondents became chronically disconnected, defined as being without employment and cash welfare during at least one‐quarter of the months during the 79‐month study period. Important correlates of becoming chronically disconnected include having a physical limitation, having a learning disability, using illegal drugs or meeting the diagnostic screening criteria for alcohol dependence, and having no car or driver license. The chronically disconnected are more likely to have lost a job than to have lost welfare benefits and are more economically disadvantaged than those with regular sources of economic support. Conclusions. To reduce the number of women who fail to make a successful transition from welfare to work, more attention should be given to programs and policies that attempt to reconnect disconnected women to regular sources of economic support.     

Examining the Administration of Work Sanctions on the Frontlines of the Welfare System*

Objectives. Financial penalties, or sanctions, are a core mechanism for enforcing the work requirements of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program and helping clients achieve self‐sufficiency. This study's objective is to examine whether sanctions are being administered consistent with policy goals of encouraging work. Methods. This study uses administrative fair hearing decisions, which are the product of an adversarial‐style procedure triggered when a client appeals an adverse decision by the agency, including work sanctions. Qualitative content analysis is used to analyze the decisions. Results. The study found that despite organizational reforms, local offices had created the welfare‐to‐work version of an eligibility‐compliance culture, where sanctions were based primarily on attendance records and became a paper‐processing function. Transactions between clients and workers were often routinized and mechanical, resulting in improper and arbitrary sanctions that were reversed by the hearing officers nearly 50 percent of the time. Conclusion. This study underscores the importance of scrutinizing and correcting agency errors that may undercut clients' engagement in work activities.