Running Out of Time : Voices of Parents Struggling to Move from Welfare to Work

The family needs survey was conducted over a three-week period from April 25 through May 15, 2002, at 230 different events in 124 different locations throughout Los Angeles County. Nearly 60 percent of the surveys were completed in welfare offices, the rest in adult education classes and community agencies. The survey database contains information from 8,536 respondents. The survey was augmented by 21 focus groups.Of the 8,536 survey responses, 50 percent were from current CalWORKs recipients, 8 percent from past CalWORKs recipients, and 41 percent from non-recipients. Similarly, of the 4,346 surveys completed in welfare offices, 45 percent were from parents who were not receiving CalWORKs. Survey responses were drawn from the county's overall poverty population as well as CalWORKs parents. Because of the very large sample of respondents the survey supports a reliable analysis of the needs and priorities of CalWORKs parents as well as other groups of working poor parents who are beneficiaries of other assistance programs such as Medi-Cal.The seven barriers to employment most frequently identified by CalWORKs parents were: 1) Lack of childcare during the day or the night, 2) Limited education 3) Limited job experience 4) Lack of housing 5) Lack of transportation 6) Limited job skills 7) Limited English.Only 9 percent of current CalWORKs parents reported that they had no problem getting a good paying job