implications of welfare reform for housing and school instability, The

Journal of Negro Education, The, Winter 2003 by Nichols, Laura, Gault, Barbara

Where families are moving. Moving could potentially be a positive outcome for children if the moves were to better neighborhoods and housing circumstances, and if they provided children with increased supervision and support, little disruption in school attendance, and increased school quality. Few studies have examined where families have moved. However, the Ohio study (Coulton et al., 2001) found that most of those who moved did not go to better neighborhoods, but stayed in some of the most impoverished areas.

The nature of changes in housing quality may differ according to the economic conditions of each state. A study of 137 former TANF recipients in Iowa found that of the 30% who moved after losing their welfare benefits, half reported moving to better quality housing, while 22% said they had moved to worse quality housing (Fraker, Nixon, Losby, Prindle, & Else, 1997). This may be explained by the fact that approximately 40% of those who lost benefits experienced increases in their monthly income. Improvements in housing quality could also result from welfare recipients moving in with others who have better housing arrangements.

Moving in with others. On average, about 5% of families with children who lived below the poverty line in 1999 had moved in with others (Zedlewski, Giannarelli, Morton, & Wheaton, 2002). Based on available studies, it appears that former and current welfare recipients have higher rates, and in some states much higher rates, of living with others. Variation in the degree to which welfare recipients report moving in with others may be the result of differing sample selection methods and response rates across studies.

A six-state survey of 674 former and current welfare recipients contacted in-person found that 25% of former recipients said that they lived with others to afford rent, while only 15% of current recipients shared housing (Sherman et al., 1998). A telephone survey of 349 former welfare recipients in New Orleans found that 21% of those studied moved in with others one to five months after losing benefits (Mancoske, Kemp, & Kindlhorst, 1998), while a telephone survey of 560 respondents who had lost benefits in the past 11 months in Kentucky found that only 2% had moved in with others (Cummings & Nelson, 1998). 2

Among welfare recipients, moving in with others appears to be the result of benefit loss, low wages, and unemployment. An Urban Institute study of a national sample of welfare leavers reported that 7% of those who left welfare between 1995-97 and 9% of those who left between 1997-99 had moved in with others within a year of being interviewed (Loprest, 2001). In Arizona, 22% of families with cash assistance received free housing from a relative, compared to about 27% of those who no longer received benefits (Westra & Routley, 1999). In New Jersey, 16% of those who left TANF and were not employed had moved in with friends or relatives, compared to 10% of those who had left TANF and were employed (Rangarajan & Johnson, 2002). Of those in Iowa who had an income of $500 or less a month after leaving TANF, 38% had moved in with others to save money; this compares to 19% of those who had left TANF but had over $500 a month in income (Hill & Kauff, 2001).