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Job Access, Commute and Travel Burden among Welfare Recipients

Author

Listed:
  • Paul Ong

    (Department of Urban Planning, School of Public Policy and Social Research, University of California, Los Angeles, USA, pmong@ucla.edu.)

  • Evelyn Blumenberg

    (Department of Urban Planning, School of Public Policy and Social Research, 3250 Public Policy Building, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095-1656, USA, eblumenb@ucla.edu.)

Abstract

Welfare recipients face a number of obstacles to making the transition from welfare to work. One is their geographical separation from employment opportunities: many welfare recipients live in 'job-poor' neighbourhoods far from employment for which they are qualified. Combining administrative data on welfare recipients and employment in Los Angeles with data from the 1990 decennial census, we show that greater access to local jobs in low-wage firms increases the likelihood that welfare recipients find employment in neighbourhood jobs. Moreover, welfare recipients who have long commutes earn less than those who find work closer to home, contrary to the pattern for most workers. These findings demonstrate that proximity to low-wage jobs benefits welfare recipients through reduced commuting expenses and increased earnings.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Ong & Evelyn Blumenberg, 1998. "Job Access, Commute and Travel Burden among Welfare Recipients," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 35(1), pages 77-93, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:35:y:1998:i:1:p:77-93
    DOI: 10.1080/0042098985087
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Holzer Harry J. & Ihlanfeldt Keith R. & Sjoquist David L., 1994. "Work, Search, and Travel among White and Black Youth," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 320-345, May.
    2. Goldin, Claudia, 1992. "Understanding the Gender Gap: An Economic History of American Women," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195072709.
    3. Harry J. Holzer, 1991. "The Spatial Mismatch Hypothesis: What Has the Evidence Shown?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 28(1), pages 105-122, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Raphael, Steven & Rice, Lorien, 2002. "Car ownership, employment, and earnings," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 109-130, July.
    2. Xueming (Jimmy) Chen, 2018. "Review of the Transit Accessibility Concept: A Case Study of Richmond, Virginia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-19, December.
    3. Samuel L. Myers & Chanjin Chung & Lisa Saunders, 2001. "Racial Differences in Transportation Access to Employment in Chicago and Los Angeles, 1980 and 1990," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(2), pages 174-177, May.
    4. Harry J. Holzer & Michael A. Stoll, 2003. "Employer Demand for Welfare Recipients by Race," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 21(1), pages 210-241, January.
    5. Jen-Jia Lin & Chi-Hau Chen & Tsung-Yu Hsieh, 2016. "Job accessibility and ethnic minority employment in urban and rural areas in Taiwan," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 95(2), pages 363-382, June.
    6. Ong, Paul M., 2002. "Car Access and Welfare-To-Work," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt5002g5gm, University of California Transportation Center.
    7. Gurley, Tami & Bruce, Donald, 2005. "The effects of car access on employment outcomes for welfare recipients," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 250-272, September.
    8. Jessica Holmes & Jonathan Isham & Jessica Wasilewski, 2002. "Overcoming Information Asymmetries in Low-Income Lending: Lessons from the "Working Wheels" Program," Middlebury College Working Paper Series 0244, Middlebury College, Department of Economics.
    9. Hu, Lingqian & Schneider, Robert J., 2017. "Different ways to get to the same workplace: How does workplace location relate to commuting by different income groups?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 106-115.
    10. James X. Sullivan, 2006. "Welfare Reform, Saving, and Vehicle Ownership: Do Asset Limits and Vehicle Exemptions Matter?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 41(1).
    11. Sylvie Fol & Gabriel Dupuy & Olivier Coutard, 2007. "Transport Policy and the Car Divide in the UK, the US and France: Beyond the Environmental Debate," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 802-818, December.
    12. Golub, Aaron & Martens, Karel, 2014. "Using principles of justice to assess the modal equity of regional transportation plans," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 10-20.
    13. Laurent Gobillon & Harris Selod & Yves Zenou, 2002. "Spatial Mismatch : From the Hypothesis of the Theories," Working Papers 2002-57, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.
    14. Latreille, Paul L. & Blackaby, David H. & Murphy, Philip D. & O'Leary, Nigel C. & Sloane, Peter J., 2006. "How Far and For How Much? Evidence on Wages and Potential Travel-to-Work Distances from a Survey of the Economically Inactive," IZA Discussion Papers 1976, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Thomas W. Sanchez, 2002. "The Impact of Public Transport on US Metropolitan Wage Inequality," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 39(3), pages 423-436, March.

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