Employer Demand, AFDC Recipients, and Labor Market Policy

This paper discusses the potential labor market prospects of AFDC recipients who will be required to work under the new welfare legislation. Various characteristics of available low-skill jobs are compared with those of long-term AFDC recipients, and more general evidence on the labor market experiences of welfare recipients is reviewed. From these data, the potential availability of employment and wage levels that recipients will face in the labor market is inferred. The data suggest that job availability for long-term recipients will be quite limited, especially in the short run; many will likely be plagued by lengthy durations of nonemployment, as well as high job turnover and low wages and benefits when they do work. The implications of these findings for labor market policy are then discussed.