Assessing Barriers to Work Among CalWORKs Participants in San Joaquin County

This study of San Joaquin County focused on the characteristics of CalWORKs participants, whether they face significant barriers to employment, and how, if at all, these barriers affect their employment, earnings, and reliance on CalWORKs.

Relying on both administrative data and a two-wave survey conducted in 1999 and 2000 by means of in-depth in-person interviews (in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Cambodian), PHI examined a wide range of variables that could impede welfare recipients’ movement into the labor force. Among the variables examined are: physical and mental health status, responsibility for the care of disabled dependents, substance abuse, family violence, criminal record, education, English literacy, work history, housing, child care, and transportation. The researchers clustered these and other potential barriers into four general categories: health problems, human capital deficits, family responsibilities, and logistical difficulties.

Richard Speiglman, Principal Investigator

Senior Research Scientist

Public Health Institute