Welfare, Housing, and Employment: Learning from the Jobs-Plus Demonstration

Publication Date: May 2001

Publisher: MDRC (Organization)

Author(s): Susan Blank; James A. Riccio

Research Area: Labor; Social conditions

Keywords: Public Housing; Welfare-to-Work

Type: Brief

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

Recent research by the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation (MDRC) indicates that while recipients in public housing may be a more difficult-to-employ group in some locales, they may also benefit the most from mainstream welfare-to-work programs.

These findings open questions that need further exploration, but they strongly suggest that public officials ought to make housing status a key consideration in developing strategies to strengthen mainstream welfare-towork programs. They also indicate that special efforts may be required in order to promote big improvements in the self-sufficiency of welfare recipients in public housing.