Employment, earnings, and recidivism among Georgia's TANF leavers: findings from the TANF follow-up system, 1997/1998

Employment, Earnings, and Recidivism among Georgia's TANF Leave-5:
Findings from the TANF Follow-Up System
Georgia Department of Human Resources Division of Family and Children Services
December, 1999

Acknowledgments
This report was prepared by Nancy Bross under contract t o the Georgia Department of Human Resources. She would like t o thank the staff of the Evaluation and Reporting Section, Division of Family and Children Services, for their continuing support of the development and maintenance of the TANF Follow-Up System and for their assistance in the preparation of this report.

Executive summary
The TANF Follow-Up System tracks the employment, earnings, and recidivism of adults leaving TANF using administrative data from the Department of Human Resources' management information system for TANF and the Georgia Department of Labor's Unemployment Insurance (UI) wage record files. This report contains information on leavers and their outcomes from January, 1997 through the end of 1998. Because a full year of follow-up data is available for those who left TANF in 1997, it looks at their experiences in depth.
Findings
Approximately 65 percent of the adults who left TANF had wages reported t o the UI system during the quarter in which they left. Over time, quarterly employment rates consistently fell in the range from 57 t o 6 0 percent. Seventy-five percent of the 1997 leavers worked at some time during the year following their exit from TANF.
Average quarterly earnings rose throughout 1997 and 1998. In part, this trend was due t o favorable labor market conditions, but it is also clear that the longer former recipients stay off TANF, the greater their average earnings. Among the 1997 leavers who worked during the year following exit, average annual earnings were $8,189. Their total earnings for the year were over $259,000,000.
Recidivism rates rose in the first three quarters after recipients left TANF but leveled off at approximately 12 t o 15 percent within each quarter. Recidivism did not increase at the end of the first year off TANF, when transitional benefits expire. However, leavers with younger children were more likely t o return t o TANF. Among the 1997 leavers, 20 percent returned t o TANF at some time during the year following exit.
Among the 1997 leavers, employment rates were essentially the same across four types of counties: urban, suburban, rural growth, and rural decline. Earnings were
higher in urban - and especially suburban - counties than in rural counties. In
spite of comparable employment rates and average earnings, recidivism was much higher in declining rural counties than in those characterized by growth.
Among the 1997 leavers with earnings in the year after they left TANF, 5 0 percent had earnings that exceeded the TANF gross income eligibility ceiling, and 21 percent had annual earnings that exceeded the federal poverty level. However, these rates were strongly related t o family size, and were substantially higher among smaller families.
Data on industry of employment revealed that 78 percent of the 1997 leavers who were employed one year after leaving TANF worked in the service industry or in wholesale or retail trade. Eating and drinking places accounted for more employment than any other type of establishment, followed by personnel supply

services. While many individual leavers were working in industries that offer higher wages and opportunities for advancement, the overall picture was of employment in low skill, low wage jobs.

Introduction
Georgia began implementation of Temporary Aid for Needy Families (TANF) on January 1, 1997. With TANF came more stringent work requirements for welfare recipients, a lifetime limit i n receipt of welfare payments, and an end t o the concept of entitlement. Welfare recipients are leaving public assistance at unprecedented rates, but are they prepared t o find and keep jobs that will support them and their families? In order t o answer this question, the Georgia Department of Human Resources (DHR) developed a comprehensive research strategy. This report provides findings from one component of that strategy - the TANF Follow-up System. It looks at employment, earnings, and recidivism among adults who left TANF during 1997 and 1998.
Methodology
The TANF Follow-up System is a data base containing information on adult recipients from closed TANF cases. It matches DHR data on TANF recipients t o quarterly earnings data from the Georgia Department of Labor.
Identifying Adult Leavers. The event that triggers inclusion in follow-up is case closure. In fact, however, because families may go on and off TANF as their circumstances change or they go in and out of compliance with program requirements, it is not always clear when a case is truly "closed." Therefore, for purposes of follow-up, a case is considered closed when no benefit is received in t w o successive months.
Recipients are added t o the follow-up system the first time they meet the criterion for inclusion during a calendar year. Should they receive additional benefits at a later date, they are considered recidivists. However, they only appear once in the follow-up file for that year.
Only those adults who were actually TANF recipients (i.e. included in the TANF grant) are addressed in this report. Excluded are adults who received a benefit on behalf of a dependent child but who did not, themselves, receive a benefit under TANF. Also excluded are other adult household members not included in the TANF grant.
Data. All of the data in the TANF Follow-Up System come from administrative data systems. The advantages of such data are low cost and continuity over time. The disadvantage is that neither what is collected nor how it is organized and maintained are likely t o be ideal for research purposes.
Data on recipients, households, and status at case closure for 1997 come from DHR's PARIS system. During 1998, DHR made a gradual transition t o SUCCESS, its new management information system. Consequently, data for 1998 come from both systems. SUCCESS expands the scope of data available for future research and evaluation. However, the data used in this report are limited to information common t o both systems.
Data on employment and earnings come from the Unemployment Insurance wage record. This record is a report of quarterly earnings submitted by all employers in the state whose

workers are covered under the U1 system.
UI earnings data provide a low-cost way of tracking employment over time. However, they have t w o important limitations. First, UI earnings data are only available for those jobs covered under the Unemployment Insurance system. Notable exclusions are federal jobs and self-employment, including informal work arrangements. For example, if a TANF leaver supplements her income by providing occasional childcare t o a neighbor, the resulting earnings are unlikely t o be reported t o the UI system. In addition, the earnings of Georgians who work in neighboring states are not included in Georgia's UI data base. Therefore, UI data consistently underestimate employment and earnings (especially in interstate labor markets) and the figures contained in this report reflect minimum levels of employment and earnings among former TANF recipients.
Second, because of the time required for employer reporting and State processing of UI earnings data, complete data on earnings for any quarter are not available until three quarters later. Therefore, in this report, data on employment in the exit quarter are available for all adult recipients who left TANF during 1997 and 1998. However, post-exit earnings data are only available through the last quarter of 1998.
Leavers are considered t o have been employed in a particular quarter if they had reported earnings for that quarter. However, no information is available on wage levels, number of hours worked, or whether employment was continuous.
Data on recidivism come from PARIS and SUCCESS files of active TANF recipients. This report includes data on recidivism through the end of 1998. However, the process of capturing data on recidivism did not begin until October, 1997. Consequently, recidivism data for the earliest leavers are not complete.
In general, data are organized by quarterly exit cohorts. Seven quarters of follow-up data are available for the first exit cohort (January through March, 1997), but no follow-up data are available yet for the last (October through December, 1998).

Overview of TANF Leavers and Outcomes

Leaver Characteristics. The

Figure 1

characteristics of the adults leaving TANF remained essentially the same

Distribution of Leavers by Age

over the period from January, 1997

50%

through December, 1998. Over 9 6

percent of the leavers were women,

40%

and almost all of them were the parents

or step parents of the dependent

30%

children in their assistance unit. The

average age of adult leavers was

approximately 30, and about 70% were

under the age of 35. (See Figure 1.)

10%

0 1997

Family composition has important

0%

lI=

implications for employment and self-

18-24

25-34

35-44

45-55 55;ndOlder

sufficiency. The number of children in

Age Group

each assistance unit ranged from 0' t o

12. The average number of dependent children was 1.9, and approximately three-quarters

of the leavers had fewer than three children. (See Figure 2.) A majority of the leavers had

children under the age of 6. (See Figure 3.)

Figure 2 Number of Children in TANF Grant
1

Figure 3
Age of Youngest Child
I

Number of Children

Age Group

Characteristics of the 1997 and 1998 adult TANF leavers are summarized in Table 1, below.

' A parent may receive TANF when he or she has a child who is receiving disability
payments and is eligible on the basis of income. The disabled child is not included in the grant.

Table 1 Characteristics of Adult TANF Leavers by Year

Characteristic Number of Leavers Women Average Age White Black Other Minority Average Number of Dependent Children Average Age of Youngest Child

1997 42,094 96.1 % 30.3% 30.6% 67.4% 2.0%
1.8 5.8

J
1998
42,963 96.5% 29.6% 25.0% 73.3%
1.7% 2.0 5.4

Employment. No data are available on reasons for case closure, although why a case closes has implications for the likelihood that an adult leaver will either return t o TANF or have earnings reported t o the State's Unemployment Insurance program. For example, recipients that move outside of Georgia or marry and stay home with their children are unlikely t o appear in either system.

Employment rates among adult leavers - both in their exit quarters and in the quarters that follow - have proven t o be highly consistent over time. Table 2 shows employment
rates, by quarterly exit cohorts, over a t w o year period. During this period, approximately
65 percent of all leavers were employed during their exit quarter - the quarter in which
they left TANF. In subsequent quarters, employment rates declined slightly, leveling off in the range of 57 to 6 0 percent. Employment rates appear t o be unaffected by seasonal variation. Earnings. Average earnings for each exit cohort, across post-exit quarters, are shown in Table 3. These earnings increased substantially over time. For example, among those who left TANF during January through March of 1997, average earnings increased by $1,59 1 over seven post-exit quarters. Two effects are reflected in this increase. First, average earnings increased generally during this time period. For example, average earnings in the first post-exit quarter were $830 higher for the cohort that left TANF during the months of July t o September, 1998 than for those who left during January through March of 1997. This effect is greater than one would expect t o see due t o simple inflation and is probably due t o increasing wage competition or increased hours of work in a tight labor market.
Table 3 Average Earnings among Employed Leavers by Post-Exit Quarter
But this effect does not account for the entire increase seen. When comparisons are made across the same calendar quarter, it becomes clear that the longer a cohort has been off TANF, the higher its earnings. The shaded cells in Table 3 illustrate this effect. All of these cells contain earnings from the fourth quarter of 1998, so economic conditions are constant across post-exit quarters. However, between the first and the seventh post-exit quarter, average earnings increased by $761. Increased earnings due t o longer time off TANF are probably due t o increased work experience and greater connection t o the labor

force among these former recipients. Over time, leavers may work for more hours, higher wages, or both.
Recidivism. Recidivism rates are the other side of employment, as those who cannot sustain themselves and their families through employment return to welfare dependency. For those who left TANF during 1997 and 1998, recidivism rates were lowest in the first post-exit quarter and increased over time, leveling off in the range of 12 t o 15 percent.

Table 4 Recidivism Rates by Exit Cohort and Post-Exit Quarter

Exit Cohort
Jan - Mar '97 Apr - Jun '97
Jul - Sep '97
0 c t - Dec '97 Jan - Mar '98
Apr - Jun '98
Jut - Sep '98
NA: Not available.

1 *
N A NA
5.3% 6.0% 3.0% 5.7% 7.4%

2"d NA 12.5% 11.7% 10.7%
9.9% 14.3%

Post-Exit Quarter

3"'

4"'

5'"

14.1% 13.2% 12.3%

13.7% 13.0% 12.4%

14.2% 14.6% 15.8%

12.2% 14.2%

13.8%

6"' 11.9% 12.8%

7'" 12.1%

Outcomes of 1997 Leavers in the Year Following Exit

Because a full year of follow-up data on the 42,094 adults who left TANF during 1997 is now available, it is possible t o look closely at their em-ploy- ment and earnings in the first year following exit, and how they relate t o who they are, where they lived, the industries in which they worked, and whether they returned t o TANF.

Figure 4

Total UI-Reported Earnings by Post-Exit Quarter

rso.~.oool

I

Seventy-five percent of the adults who left TANF had earnings reported to the Georgia UI system during at least one quarter of the following year. Among those who worked in covered employment, average annual earnings were $8,189. Total reported annual earnings increased steadily over time and totaled $259,020,900.

p a s t a Quarter

Employment in the exit quarter was strongly predictive of subsequent employment and earnings. Among those with earnings in their exit quarters, 95 percent worked during the following year, compared t o 4 0 percent of those who did not have earnings in their exit quarters. (See Table 5, below.)

Table 5 Outcomes of 1997 TANF Leavers by Employment Status at Exit

Outcome
Percentage of Leavers Had Earnings in Following Year Average Annual Earnings (All Leavers) Average Annual Earnings (Those with Earnings Only) Average Number of Quarters Worked (All)

Employed in Exit Quarter

Yes

No

64.5%

35.5%

94.7%

39.7%

$8,521

$1,857

$8,999 3.2

$4,679 .9

Because the follow-up system did not begin to capture recidivism data until October, 1997, recidivism data are not complete for those who left TANF during the first half of

1997. However, among those who left

Figure 5

TANF during the period from July through December, 1997, only 20 percent

Year 1 Distribution of Employment and Recidivism

returned t o TANF at any time in the

following year. Those who did return

NO WOWNUReturn

received benefits for an average of 5

months. Figure 5 shows the relationship

between employment and recidivism in

~ e t u wmotk

the year following exit. Twenty percent

of the leavers neither had reported earnings nor returned t o TANF. On

WorklNo Return

meturn

average, these leavers were older and

had older children. (See Table 6.)

Whites were disproportionately repre-

sented in this group, and very few were

employed during the quarter in which

they left TANF. In general, it appears

that they left TANF for reasons other than employment, such as relocation, marriage,

support from other family members, or receipt of disability payments.

Table 6 Leaver Characteristics by Employment and Recidivism in the Year Following Exit

Characteristic

Outcomes in Year Following Exit

Employed

Not Employed

Returned to TANF

Did Not Return

Returned to TANF

Did Not Return

Average Age

27.6

29.7

28.4

33.3

Average Number of Children

1.9

1.8

1.7

1.6

Average Age of Youngest Child

4.6

5.5

5.6

6.9

Employment Rate in Exit Quarter

78.7%

81.8%

22.7%

12.8%

White Black Other Minority

17.0% 82.3%
.7%

27.5% 70.8%
1.7%

28.4% 69.9%
1.7%

40.5% 55.8%
3.7%

Note: Data in this table are based on adults who left TANF during the period from July through December, 1997.

Sixty percent of all leavers worked during the following year and did not receive benefits at any time during that period, while sixteen percent both worked and received benefits during the year.

Outcomes and Demographic Characteristics. Age was associated with both employment and earnings. (See Table 7.) Specifically, employment rates were highest among the youngest leavers and declined steadily with increasing age. Among those age 18 t o 24, 81 percent were employed during the following year, compared with only 26 percent age 55 and older. However, average earnings were highest among those age 25 t o 44.

Table 7 Employment and Earnings in the First Year after Exit by Age Group

Age Group 18 to 24

Employed 81.3%

Returned to TANF*
27.2

Average Annual Earnings of Employed
$7,198

25 to 34

&-

77.9%

18.3

$8,627

35 to 44

69.0%

16.0

$8,620

45 to 54

50.7%

11.5

$8,476

55 and Older

26.4%

6.8

$7,736

All Leavers

75.1 %

19.9

$8,189

* Based on those who left during the period from July through December,
1997, only.

Differences in outcomes across ethnic groups were also substantial. Both employment and recidivism rates were highest among Black leavers. Average earnings among those who worked were highest among members of other minority groups, and lowest among White leavers. (See Table 8.)

Figure 6
Recidivism Rate by Age of Youngest Child and Ethnicity
40%-

One would expect t o see an inverse

relationship between employment or

earnings and recidivism rates. The fact 1%'

that that is not the case suggests that

other factors have an effect on return

0%

Black

t o TANF, and that such factors may

<I

2

4

6

8

10 12 14 16 18

explain the relatively high recidivism rate seen among Black leavers. For

Age d Youngest Child

example, recidivism was related t o the age of a leaver's youngest child. Specifically, the

younger the child, the more likely a leaver was t o return t o TANF. Average age of

youngest child is slightly lower for Black leavers than for White. However Figure 62shows that Black leavers had consistently higher recidivism rates across age of youngest child.

-
Table 8 Employment and Earnings in the First Year after Exit by Ethnic Group

Ethnic Group
White

Employed 66.7%

Returned to TANF*
13.5%

Average Annual Earnings of Employed
$7,496

Black

79.5%

22.9%

$8,431

Other Minority

57.1 %

9.5%

$9,193

All Leavers

75.1 %

19.9%

$8,188

* Based on those who left during the period from July through December,
1997 only.

Another possible explanation has t o do with where leavers live. Because ethnic groups are not evenly distributed across the state, differences in recidivism rates may have more t o do with economic conditions in the counties where leavers live than with their group membership.
Counties have been classified on the basis of the "four Georgia's" designation developed by Doug Bachtel of the University of Georgia. This designation distinguishes between
urban, suburban, and t w o types of rural counties - those experiencing economic growth
versus those characterized by economic decline. Table 9 shows outcomes by county type.
Employment rates are very similar across types of counties, but earnings are lower in rural counties than in urban and, especially, suburban counties, where wage competition is greater. Interestingly, the relationship between average earnings and recidivism is not consistent. While higher recidivism in generally associated with lower average annual earnings, the recidivism rate in growing rural counties is closer t o that of urban counties, where earnings are substantially higher, than t o that of declining rural counties, where earnings are essentially the same. It may be that recidivism depends, in part, on the resources available t o leavers from their extended families and communities, as well as their own resources. Declining rural areas may have fewer resources available t o help support the transition t o self-sufficiency.

* The category "other minority groups" was excluded from this graph because of the very
small number of cases within age levels.
12

Table 9 Outcomes by Type of County

Outcome
Number of Leavers Employment Rate Average Earnings of Employed Recidivism Rate

Urban 13.753 76.9% $8,288 22.6%

Type of County

Suburban

Rural Growth

12.151

12,239

73.8%

74.4%

$8,980

$7,516

14.2%

19.4%

Rural Decline
3,951
75.3% -
$7,507
28.1 %

Similar patterns of recidivism relative t o county type are seen among both Black and White leavers. While Black leavers experienced higher recidivism rates than Whites across all types of counties, the differences across types were more substantial for them. In addition, the gap between Blacks and Whites was greatest in the relatively poor declining rural counties and smallest in the much more affluent suburban counties. It appears, therefore, that the economic environments in which they live contributed t o the higher recidivism experienced by Black leavers. In communities with less, they were less able t o remain off of TANF.

Figure 7
Recidivism Rates by Ethnicity and County Type
40%

10%

0% Rural Dedlne Rural G-

Suburban

TypeofCanty

Urban

Ethnic Grwp
=mite
la-

Outcomes by County. Outcomes are listed by county in Appendix 1.

Earnings, Self-Sufficiency, and Family Composition. The goal of welfare reform is for families t o use the various forms of public assistance as temporary help while they move toward self-sufficiency. Therefore, it is important t o look at the extent t o which the 1997 leavers "graduated" from basic forms of public assistance on the basis of their earnings in the first year after they left TANF.

Table 10 shows t w o sets of income benchmarks: the TANF gross income ceiling and the federal poverty level. Both take family size into consideration.

Among the 1997 leavers with earnings in the year following exit from TANF, only 21 percent had annual earnings that exceeded the federal poverty level for their family size. Again, those with smaller families were more successful in meeting the criterion level.
Another benchmark of self-sufficiency is 130 percent of the federal poverty level. That is the Food Stamps gross income ceiling - the point at which families are no longer eligible t o receive Food Stamps. Only 11 percent of those with earnings in the year following exit from TANF exceeded this income level.

Table 11 Percentage of Employed Leavers Whose Earnings Exceeded Income Eligibility Ceilings by
Program and Family Size

Number in Family

Number of Cases

1

1,680

2

12,622

3

9,770

4

5,073

5

1,799

6 or More

687

All

31,631

* 100%of federal poverty level * * 130%of federal poverty level

Program

TANF

Medicaid* (Age 6 to 18)

64.8% 56.1 %

39.4% 29.0%

49.5%

17.8%

41.9% 31.3% 28.7% 50.3%

9.8% 4.3% 3.1 % 21 .O%

Food
Stamps* *
28.8% 16.8%
8.0% 3.7% 0.9% 0.4% 11.4%

Industries of Employment. Information on the industries in which leavers were employed one year after leaving TANF (i.e. the 4thpost-exit quarter) is presented in Tables 12 and 13. In general, employment was concentrated in low-wage industries. Seventy-eight percent of those who were working were employed in either services or wholesale or retail trade. Another 13 percent were working in manufacturing and processing. Table 13 lists the industries employing more than 500 TANF leavers. Eating and drinking establishments employed more of the leavers than any other industry, followed by personnel supply services. The latter provide temporary and contract workers t o other businesses.
A complete list of the industries in which the former recipients were employed is included in Appendix 2.

Table 12
Employment and Earnings by lndustry in Is Post-Exit Quarter

Industry Services Wholesale & Retail Trade Manufacturing & Processing Government Transportation & Public Utilities Finance, Insurance & Real Estate Construction Agriculture, Forestry, & Fishing Mining

Share of Total Employment
44% 34% 13%
3% 3% 2% 1% 1% <.I%

Average Quarterly Earnings
$2,896 $2,547 $3,637 $4,109 $4,293 $4,619 $4,072 $2,870 $6,118

Table 13 Industries Employing More than 500 TANF Leavers

Industry Eating & Drinking Places Personnel Supply Services Food Stores Nursing & Personal Care Facilities General Merchandise Stores Apparel & Other Textile Products Hotels & Other Lodging Places Food Processing Hospitals
Elementary & Secondary Schools
Child Day Care Services

Share of Total Employment
15.2% 10.4%
5.1 % 5.1 % 4.5% 4.2% 3.7% 3.3% 3.2%
3.1 % 2.8%

Average Quarterly Earnings
$2,076 $2,455 $2,417 $2,747 $2,719 $3,402 $2,369 $3,514 $3,963
$2,493 $2,685

Afterward
While the TANF follow-up system cannot give us the answers t o many important questions, its data do paint a portrait of what happened t o the typical adult who left TANF.
The typical TANF leaver is a woman in her late twenties or early thirties with one or t w o children. Chances are, she went t o work after she left TANF, and if she did, she is continuing t o work. However, she is probably working in the service industry or wholesale or retail trade, and her earnings are relatively low. Gradually, though, they have started t o rise. In the year after she left, she probably earned enough t o exceed the TANF income eligibility ceiling, but not enough t o exceed the federal poverty level. Her family continued t o be eligible for Food Stamps and Medicaid, but she probably didn't return to TANF. However, the younger her youngest child, the more likely she did, especially if she lived in a resource-poor declining rural county. It takes more than a job t o stay off welfare.
So far, the typical TANF leaver is a success, in terms of the goals of welfare reform. The question is where she will go from here. Will she continue t o work? Will her earnings continue t o rise? Will she move into industries that offer higher wages and opportunities for upward mobility? Will she get t o a point where she no longer needs or qualifies for public assistance? How long will it take for her t o get there?
It is not clear how long Georgia should continue t o track what happens t o the adults who leave TANF, but it is clear that the journey t o self-sufficiency takes more than a single year.

APPENDIX I

Appendix I Outcomes of 1997 Adult TANF Leavers in Year Following Exit by County

Left

Outcomes in Following Year

County

TANF in 1997

Employed

Average Earnings

Returned to TANF*

1 APPLING

141

80.9%

$7,367 14.8%

2 ATKINSON

75 70.7%

$6,936 27.8%

3 BACON

123 70.7%

$6,684 15.8%

4 BAKER

36

86.1 %

$7,752 35.3%

5 BALDWIN

31 5 82.2%

$8,064 13.0%

6 BANKS

41

80.5%

$9,594 28.6%

7 BARROW

88 69.3%

$7,464

5.9%

8 BARTOW

21 9 71.2%

$7,409

7.4%

9 BEN HILL

89 77.5%

$8,126 50.0%

10 BERRIEN

139

74.1 %

$8,161 12.9%

1 1 BIBB

1355 79.0%

$7,756 20.3%

12 BLECKLEY

87 82.8%

$8,390 35.3%

13 BRANTLEY

141

66.0%

$5,330

7.7%

14 BROOKS

137 68.6%

$6,251 28.4%

15 BRYAN

1 44 69.4%

$7,458 16.7%

16 BULLOCH

260 75.4%

$7,217 21.9%

17 BURKE

21 1

71.6%

$7.217 24.1%

18 BUTTS

121 75.2%

$8,468 1 1.6%

19 CALHOUN

63 85.7%

$8,075 42.9%

20 CAMDEN

202 63.4%

$4,967

3.6%

21 CANDLER

59 72.9%

$7,245 22.2%

22 CARROLL

364

76.1 %

$7,434 11.3%

23 CATOOSA

173 48.6%

$6,593 13.6%

24 CHARLTON

8 1

60.5 %

$5,480

7.4%

25 CHATHAM

1 564 80.4%

$7,701 16.6%

26 CHATTAHOOCHEE

34 55.9%

$6,025 31.3%

27 CHAlTOOGA

103 68.0%

$7.935

5.6%

28 CHEROKEE

137 65.0%

$7,176 10.2%

29 CLARKE

426

85.4%

$8,619 25.1%

30 CLAY

38 63.2%

$7,399 33.3%

31 CLAYTON

1260 74.4% $10,092 13.9%

32C 100 L 73.0% l $5,271 N 34.4% CH

33 COBB

1178 72.3%

$9,858 13.7%

34 COFFEE

295

74.2 %

$7.71 5

7.0%

35 COLQUllT

383

82.5%

$7,380 23.2%

* Leavers from July through December, 1997,only.

I

County
36 COLUMBIA 37 COOK 38 COWETA 39 CRAWFORD 40 CRISP 41 DADE 42 DAWSON 43 DECATUR 44 DEKALB 45 DODGE 46 DOOLY 47 DOUGHERTY 48 DOUGLAS 49 EARLY 50 ECHOLS 51 EFFINGHAM 52 ELBERT 53 EMANUEL 54 EVANS 55 FANNIN 56 FAYETTE 57 FLOYD 58 FORSYTH 59 FRANKLIN 60 FULTON 61 GILMER 62 GLASCOCK 63 GLYNN 64 GORDON 65 GRADY 66 GREENE 67 GWINNElT 68 HABERSHAM 69 HALL 70 HANCOCK 71 HARALSON 72 HARRIS 73 HART 74 HEARD

Left TANF in
lgg7

Outcomes in Following Year

Employ&

Average Earnings

Returned to TANF*

296 69.9%

$7,547 14.4%

1 30 75.4%

$8,115 26.8%

335

73.7%

$7,133 13.3%

79

63.3%

$8,594 12.1 %

319 86.8%

$8,037 30.5%

79

48.1 %--.

$4,109

3.6%

38 73.7%

$7,713 20.0%

23 1

64.9%

$8,364 24.6%

3383

76.4% $1 0,229 10.9%

167 76.0%

$7,554 23.4%

102 84.3%

$8,285 29.8%

1408 77.9%

$8,005 27.6%

31 2 74.0%

$8,456 12.5%

198 64.6%

$6,067 35.3%

23 69.6%

$6,358 12.5%

197 77.2%

$8.512

6.7%

135

76.3%

$9,760 14.3%

185 77.8%

$7,089 19.1%

117

82.1 %

$7,128 37.3%

86 61.6%

$6,526

2.6%

79

72.2%

$9,061 21.7%

397 80.9%

$7,704 23.8%

80 76.3%

$8,317 2.8%

87

66.7%

$8,307 10.0%

5482 76.6%

$8,810 22.5%

57 61.4%

$8,195 11.1 %

12 75.0%

$7,506

0.0%

41 9 77.3%

$7,489 25.3%

1 04 70.2%

$6,913 17.4%

147 66.0%

$5,870 24.3%

122 85.2%

$7,780 11.9%

647

70.6% $10,300 10.1 %

64 70.3%

$7,511 25.0%

41 9

76.1 %

$8,185 15.7%

77

81 -8%

$7,665 27.3%

130 62.3%

$7,102 12.1%

90 73.3%

$7,305 33.3%

1 50

77.3%

$8,361

17.8%

49 69.4%

$7,429 11.1%

* Leavers from July through December, 1997,only.
II

County
75 HENRY 76 HOUSTON 77 IRWIN 78 JACKSON 79 JASPER 80 JEFF DAVIS 81 JEFFERSON 82 JENKINS 83 JOHNSON 84 JONES 85 LAMAR 86 LANIER 87 LAURENS 88 LEE 89 LIBERTY 90 LINCOLN 91 LONG 92 LOWNDES 93 LUMPKIN 94 MACON 95 MADISON 96 MARION 97 MCDUFFIE 98 MCINTOSH 99 MERIWETHER 100 MILLER 101 MITCHELL 102 MONROE 103 MONTGOMERY 104 MORGAN 105 MURRAY 106 MUSCOGEE 107 NEWTON 108 OCONEE 109 OGLETHORPE 110 PAULDING 1 1 1 PEACH 112 PICKENS 113 PIERCE

Left TANF in
1997

Outcomes in Following Year

Employed

Average Earnings

Returned to TANF*

175

72.0%

$8,271 11.2%

642 76.8%

$7,272 21.5%

70 84.3%

$7,366 22.9%

188 70.7%

$7,851 12.8%

66 72.7%

$7,214 21.6%

85 71 -8% $7,616 12.5%

187 70.6%

$8,058 22.3%

46 80.4%

$6,877 20.7%

86 77.9%

$6,646 28.2%

68 76.5%

$7,422 10.3%

85

82.4%

$7,923 14.6%

76 72.4%

$6,578 20.9%

369 79.9%

$8,008 13.4%

95 83.2% 450 66.4%

$6,695 $6,742

25.5% -
18.3%

53

58.5 %

$7,137 27.3%

92 78.3%

$6,731 13.5%

81 3 78.5%

$7.716 25.5%

56 71.4%

$6,777 15.6%

158 79.7%

$7,892 24.1%

1 00 73.0%

$6,801 22.7%

83 78.3%

$7,898

8.8%

156 77.6%

$7,406 28.9%

84 69.0%

$7,103 15.4%

150 76.0%

$8,112 14.5%

5 5

69.1 %

$7.318 42.4%

21 6 76.9%

$8,202 35.2%

70 88.6%

$8,274 15.4%

30 56.7%

$7,087 15.4%

75 77.3%

$7,820 10.0%

89 57.3%

$6,858 15.2%

1626 71-6% $8,192 22.1%

256 77.0%

$7,455 19.1 %

60 93.3%

$7,975 26.1 %

39 79.5%

$7,632 18.2%

187 73.3%

$8,220 17.7%

242

71.1 %

$8,197 28.1%

66 75.8%

$7,624 14.3%

137 64.2%

$7,126 19.7%

* Leavers from July through December, 1997,only. .-.
111

County
114 PIKE 115 POLK 116 PULASKI 1 17 PUTNAM 118 QUITMAN 119 RABUN 120 RANDOLPH 121 RICHMOND 122 ROCKDALE 123 SCHLEY 124 SCREVEN 125 SEMINOLE 126 SPALDING 127 STEPHENS 128 STEWART

Left TANF in
lgg7

Outcomes in Following Year

Employed

Average Earnings

Returned to TANF*

25

64.0%

$8,735 15.4%

1 64 64.6%

$7,453 20.0%

6 5

78.5 %

$8,386 19.4%

116

79.3%

$7,538 24.1 %

37

32.4%

$4,086 45.8%

35

62.9%

$7,218 23.5%

1 30 68.5%

$7,547 22.2%

1892 75.5%

$7,882 25.9%

154 72.7%

$7,605 17.7%

39

82.1 %

$7,023 14.3%

110

83.6%

$6,763 36.4%

141

70.2%

$8,617 27.4%

326

81.6%

$8,283 20.6%

1 34 74.6%

$7,758 16.7%

76 71.1%

$7,558 45.0%

* Leavers from July through December, 1997,only.
IV

County
153 WHEELER 1 54 WHITE 155 WHITFIELD 156 WILCOX 157 WILKES 158 WlLKlNSON 159 WORTH
State

Left TANF in
1997

Outcomes in Following Year

Employed

Average Earnings

Returned to TANF*

54

74.1 %

$6,918

18.2%

34 70.6%

$7,071 14.3%

175 72.6%

$7,308

5.3%

79 75.9%

$8,287 21.6%

56

78.6%

$7,568 16.1 %

71

80.3%

$8,362 32.4%

275 75.6%

$6,901 27.5%

42094

75.1 %

$8,189 19.9%

* Leavers from July through December, 1 997,only. v

APPENDIX ll

Appendix II Industry of Employment in the 4~ Quarter Following Exit for
1997 TANF Leavers
SIC Code and Industry

1 178 Water Well Drilling

I
vii

$4,089 (

SIC Code and Industry

253 Public Building & Related Furniture 254 Partitions & Fixtures 259 Misc Furniture & Fixtures

7

$4,275

11

$2,948

5

$4,336

SIC Code and Industry

SIC Code and Industry

386 Photographic Equip & Supplies 387 Watches, Clocks, Watchcases & Parts 391 Jewelry, Silverware, & Plated Ware 393 Musical Instruments 394 Toys & Sporting Goods 395 Pens, Pencils, Office, & Art Supplies 396 Costume Jewelry & Notions 399 Misc Manufactures

1

$3,832

8

$3,856

1

$6,524

1

$551

8

$3,136

1

$2,660

1

$4,971

8

$4,182

SIC Code and Industry

5 1 1 Paper & Paper Prod 512 Drugs, Proprietaries, & Sundries 513 Apparel, Piece Goods, & Notions 514 Groceries & Related Prod 515 Farm-product Raw Materials 516 Chemicals & Allied Prod 517 Petroleum & Petroleum Prod

28

$4,347

22

$4,101

27

$3,685

92

$3,788

3 1

$1,795

10

$4,037

90

$3,315

SIC Code and Industry 539 Misc. Gene

SIC Code and Industry

736 Personnel Supply Serv 737 Computer & Data Processing Serv 738 Misc Business Serv

2556 92
507

$2,455 $5,207 $2,835

SIC Code and Industry

836 Residential Care 839 Social Serv 841 Museums & Art Galleries 842 Botanical & Zoological Gardens 861 Business Associations 863 Labor Organizations 864 Civic & Social Associations
xiv

143

$3,229

47

$3,312

3

$2,854

1

$125

4

$3,664

5

$1,264

54

$2,691

SIC Code and Industry