Moving from Welfare to Work: A Snapshot Survey of Illinois Families.

The role of child day care in enabling parents to leave welfare for employment is a central issue in the current welfare reform debate. Little information is available, however, about parents and children who use child day care after leaving AFDC. Information gathered from 207 parents using the Transitional Child Care subsidy six months after leaving welfare was used to examine their characteristics and demographics and illustrate the life circumstances they face. Findings suggest that income, erratic schedules, and ages of children contribute to the complexities parents face in accessing and using child day care. This information is crucial to discussions of child day care as a tool to help parents on AFDC move toward employment. Much of the discussion regarding the reform of America's welfare system concerns families moving between welfare and work. The cycle between welfare and work for parents who are single heads of household often hinges on the availability of affordable, reliable child day care. Policymakers at the state and federal level are responsible for developing programs that will have a profound impact on these families. What information can policymakers use to make the most informed decisions? How can policymakers gather the information they need? In 1991, the Illinois Department of Public Aid (DPA), wanting to ask consumers of federal child day care subsidies what their needs and experiences regarding child day care were, commissioned an in-depth study of 8,000 parents on AFDC [Siegel & Loman 1991]. Since then, periodic snapshot surveys have been made by DPA staff to keep abreast of the needs of these families. The Survey Sample In 1994, DPA staff conducted a snapshot survey of families using time-limited child day care subsidies who moved from welfare to work. With the assistance of graduate students of the University of Illinois, the DPA staff developed a survey instrument asking 14 questions related to child day care and employment. The survey was mailed to 800 randomly selected parents receiving Transitional Child Care (TCC) subsidies in the spring of 1994. Two hundred and seven parents responded. This article examines the demographics and life circumstances of this sample. TCC is a time-limited child day care program mandated by the federal Family Support Act of 1988 (P.L. 100-485). In Illinois, it provides child day care subsidies to parents for 12 months after their income from employment exceeds the eligibility limits of AFDC. Provision of this subsidy is not guaranteed beyond the time limit established by the federal act. The information provided by responding parents indicates that their earnings and the schedules they work affect their ability to purchase care in the marketplace. The Impact of Child Day Care Subsidies The survey found that the average family using TCC was headed by a woman of 28 years of age. She had two children (a preschooler and a school-age child) and earned $5.42 per hour working full-time. Assuming that the preschool-age child is three years old and the school-age child is seven, the average family would continue to need child day care for at least 10 years. Figure 1 shows the family's potential earnings and the impact of child day care subsidies on them over a ten-year period. (Figure 1 omitted) A family of three on AFDC, with two children of the same ages as our study population, would have a spendable income of $8,052 the first year in cash assistance and food stamps. The families in our study were employed, had hourly earnings of $5.42 per hour, and received a child day care subsidy. Their total income includes food stamps, the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Child and Dependent Care Credit, and adjustments for state and federal taxes. Their spendable income would be $14,579 per year. If their child day care subsidy is time-limited to 12 months, however, in year 2 the family would have a spendable income of only $8,910, notwithstanding the assumption that they would receive a 5% increase in their hourly wages. …