Steps Toward Self-Sufficiency: A Study of the Characteristics and Work Participation of TANF Recipients in Fiscal Year 1999.

As states try to move more TANF recipients into work, they are searching for ways to target families that may need additional help in achieving self-sufficiency. This report describes characteristics of recipients, using the Emergency TANF database maintained by the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, and links TANF records to local unemployment rate data from the U.S. Department of Labor. The authors focus on characteristics of the caseload, both at the case and individual level, that are associated with self-sufficiency and family stability.