IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp584.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Welfare to Temporary Work: Implications for Labor Market Outcomes

Author

Listed:
  • Heinrich, Carolyn J.

    (University of Texas at Austin)

  • Mueser, Peter R.

    (University of Missouri, Columbia)

  • Troske, Kenneth

    (University of Kentucky)

Abstract

Recent welfare reforms are prompting some state and local welfare agencies to use temporary help service firms to help place welfare recipients into jobs. Concerns have arisen that these jobs are more likely to pay low wages, provide fewer benefits, and offer less stability. We explore the effects of temporary help firms on the labor market outcomes of welfare recipients by looking at the characteristics of welfare recipients who go to work for temporary service firms and by examining their subsequent employment and welfare dynamics. We find that although welfare recipients who go to work for temporary help service firms have lower initial wages they experience faster subsequent wage growth. Two years later, their wages are only slightly below workers who initially had jobs in other sectors, and they are no more likely to be unemployed and are only slightly more likely to remain on welfare.

Suggested Citation

  • Heinrich, Carolyn J. & Mueser, Peter R. & Troske, Kenneth, 2002. "Welfare to Temporary Work: Implications for Labor Market Outcomes," IZA Discussion Papers 584, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp584
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp584.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Julia Lane & Kelly S. Mikelson & Pat Sharkey & Doug Wissoker, 2003. "Pathways to work for low-income workers: The effect of work in the temporary help industry," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(4), pages 581-598.
    2. Alison L. Booth & Marco Francesconi & Jeff Frank, 2002. "Temporary Jobs: Stepping Stones Or Dead Ends?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(480), pages 189-213, June.
    3. Michael D. S. Morris & Alexander Vekker, 2001. "An Alternative Look at Temporary Workers, Their Choices, and the Growth in Temporary Employment," Journal of Labor Research, Transaction Publishers, vol. 22(2), pages 373-390, April.
    4. LaDonna Pavetti & Michelle Derr & Jacquelyn Anderson & Carole Trippe & Sidnee Paschal, 2000. "The Role of Intermediaries in Linking TANF Recipients With Jobs," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 5f3004cdaef34d17a1f8de917, Mathematica Policy Research.
    5. Susan N. Houseman & Anne E. Polivka, 1999. "The Implications of Flexible Staffing Arrangements for Job Stability," Upjohn Working Papers 99-56, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    6. Lee, Lung-Fei, 1983. "Generalized Econometric Models with Selectivity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 51(2), pages 507-512, March.
    7. Gyourko, Joseph & Tracy, Joseph, 1988. "An Analysis of Public- and Private-Sector Wages Allowing for Endogenous Choices of Both Government and Union Status," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 6(2), pages 229-253, April.
    8. James Heckman & Hidehiko Ichimura & Jeffrey Smith & Petra Todd, 1998. "Characterizing Selection Bias Using Experimental Data," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 66(5), pages 1017-1098, September.
    9. Lewis M. Segal & Daniel G. Sullivan, 1997. "The Growth of Temporary Services Work," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 11(2), pages 117-136, Spring.
    10. Lewis M. Segal & Daniel G. Sullivan, 1997. "Temporary services employment durations: evidence from state UI data," Working Paper Series, Macroeconomic Issues WP-97-23, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
    11. Robert Kornfeld & Howard S. Bloom, 1997. "Measuring Program Impacts On Earnings and Employment," JCPR Working Papers 11, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
    12. V. J. Hotz & J. K. Scholz, "undated". "Measuring Employment and Income for Low-Income Populations with Administrative and Survey Data," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 1224-01, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty.
    13. Timothy J. Bartik, 1997. "Short-Term Employment Persistence for Welfare Recipients: The "Effects" of Wages, Industry, Occupation and Firm," Upjohn Working Papers 97-46, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    14. repec:mpr:mprres:2665 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. LaDonna Pavetti & Gregory Acs, 2001. "Moving Up, Moving Out, or Going Nowhere? A Study of the Employment Patterns of Young Women and the Implications for Welfare Mothers," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(4), pages 721-736.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sarah Hamersma & Carolyn Heinrich, 2008. "Temporary Help Service Firms' Use of Employer Tax Credits: Implications for Disadvantaged Workers' Labor Market Outcomes," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 74(4), pages 1123-1148, April.
    2. Carolyn J. Heinrich & Peter R. Mueser & Kenneth R. Troske, 2009. "The Role of Temporary Help Employment in Low-Wage Worker Advancement," NBER Chapters, in: Studies of Labor Market Intermediation, pages 399-436, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. John T. Addison & Christopher J. Surfield, 2008. "Atypical Work and Employment Continuity," Working Paper series 12_08, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis, revised Jan 2008.
    4. Judith A. Cook & Jane K. Burke-Miller & Dennis D. Grey, 2015. "Impact of Contingent Work on Subsequent Labor Force Participation and Wages of Workers with Psychiatric Disabilities," Mathematica Policy Research Reports dc9fe635fb3940d6a5740964f, Mathematica Policy Research.
    5. Gail Pacheco & Bill Cochrane, 2015. "Decomposing the temporary-permanent wage gap in New Zealand," Working Papers 2015-07, Auckland University of Technology, Department of Economics.
    6. Engellandt, Axel & Riphahn, Regina T., 2005. "Temporary contracts and employee effort," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 281-299, June.
    7. Okudaira, Hiroko & Ohtake, Fumio & Kume, Koichi & Tsuru, Kotaro, 2013. "What does a temporary help service job offer? Empirical suggestions from a Japanese survey," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 37-68.
    8. Chris Forde & Gary Slater, 2005. "Agency Working in Britain: Character, Consequences and Regulation," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 43(2), pages 249-271, June.
    9. John T. Addison & Chad D. Cotti & Christopher J. Surfield, 2015. "Atypical Jobs: Stepping Stones or Dead Ends? Evidence from the NLSY79," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 83(1), pages 17-55, January.
    10. Jahn, Elke J. & Rosholm, Michael, 2010. "Looking beyond the bridge: How temporary agency employment affects labor market outcomes," IAB-Discussion Paper 201009, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    11. Michael Kvasnicka, 2005. "Does Temporary Agency Work Provide a Stepping Stone to Regular Employment?," Labor and Demography 0510005, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. J. T. Addison & C. J. Surfield, 2009. "Does atypical work help the jobless? Evidence from a CAEAS/CPS cohort analysis," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(9), pages 1077-1087.
    13. David H. Autor & Susan N. Houseman, 2010. "Do Temporary-Help Jobs Improve Labor Market Outcomes for Low-Skilled Workers? Evidence from "Work First"," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 96-128, July.
    14. Addison, John T. & Surfield, Christopher J., 2005. "‘Atypical Work’ and Compensation," IZA Discussion Papers 1477, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Carolyn J. Heinrich & Rachel Gordon, 2002. "Is a Family-focused Program More Effective in Helping Low-Income Parents Enter the Workforce? Insights from a Multimethod Evaluation of the Jobs for Youth/Full Family Partnership Demonstration," JCPR Working Papers 271, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
    16. Jahn, Elke & Pozzoli, Dario, 2011. "Does the Sector Experience Affect the Pay Gap for Temporary Agency Workers?," Working Papers 11-9, University of Aarhus, Aarhus School of Business, Department of Economics.
    17. Rocio Bonet & Cristina Cruz & Daniel Fernández Kranz & Rachida Justo, 2013. "Temporary Contracts and Work—Family Balance in a Dual Labor Market," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 66(1), pages 55-87, January.
    18. Jahn, Elke J. & Rosholm, Michael, 2014. "Looking beyond the bridge: The effect of temporary agency employment on labor market outcomes," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 108-125.
    19. David H. Autor, 2000. "Outsourcing at Will: Unjust Dismissal Doctrine and the Growth of Temporary Help Employment," NBER Working Papers 7557, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Michael Kvasnicka, 2009. "Does Temporary Help Work Provide a Stepping Stone to Regular Employment?," NBER Chapters, in: Studies of Labor Market Intermediation, pages 335-372, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    welfare; temporary help;

    JEL classification:

    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty
    • J0 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General
    • J4 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp584. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.