2005-2008
The Understanding the Demand Side of the TANF Labor Market project developed, conducted, and analyzed a national survey of employers, in order to gain a better understanding of the policies, practices, and opportunities in the entry-level, low-skill labor market where most recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits seek employment.
The project was intended to increase our knowledge in four main areas: (1) understanding employer hiring, employment practices, and measures of worker success in low-skill jobs; (2) examining differences in employer hiring, employment practices, and measures of worker success between employers that have hired, or are willing to hire, current or former TANF recipients and those that have not and are unwilling to do so; (3) connecting measures of success in the workplace for TANF recipients to different employer hiring and employment practices; and (4) comparing TANF recipient hires to other low-skill hires in the characteristics of employers’ hiring, employment practices, and measures of worker success.