The Program for Reintegrating Lone Parents in the Labor Market: Resources and Barriers to Work
By Netta Achdut
The Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
This article examines the impact of a welfare-to-work program upon single mothers in Israel. More specifically, it seeks to identify the barriers and resources associated with human capital and background variables that affect the integration of single mothers into the labor market. The study is based on a model of human capital that can be used to explain the link between various human capital resources and background variables of the individual on the one hand, and employment on the other hand. This model claims that the more the individual invests in human capital –including education, work skills, work experience and adequate (physical and psychological)health – the greater the chances to find a stable, high-paying job. Certain background variables (such as age of the mother, the number of children and their ages) increase the likelihood of the individual's being employed. Furthermore, the conditions of the local labor market and the level of demand for labor affect the likelihood of the individual's being employed.
The participants in the study were sampled by a probabilistic method, and included 2,500 single parents entitled to participate in the program. In the sample the proportion of women in work was 50.3%, the proportion of those who had worked at the time of the program but had left their jobs was 14.1%, while 35.5% of the women did not work at all during the program period. The findings of the study indicate that all the human capital variables examined were linked to integration into work. The higher the level of education and the richer the work experience (each separately),the more likely it was for women to be integrated into work. Additionally the level of physical health and of psychological well-being was higher among women currently working than among those who were not working. Several background variables were also found to be connected to integration into work. These included the number of children, he age of the youngest child and the number of years living in Israel. The fewer children in the family, the older the youngest child and the shorter the period of living in Israel (each separately),the more likely it was for the women to be integrated into work. Finally, the characteristic of the local labor market was found to be connected to integration into work. Integration into the labor market was linked to residence in areas with a lower unemployment rate.
The findings of this study are consistent with empirical evidence from other research with the regard to the role of human capital resources. They underline the import of improving the human capital of benefit recipients, particularly single mothers, in order to enable them to move from dependence to economic and social self-sufficiency. This can be achieved by adopting a strategy of human capital development, which includes expanding education and vocational training programs, designing programs that integrate training with the job, such as on-the-job training, in order to enable benefit recipients to accumulate work experience or enrich their existing experience, and adopting programs suited to the demands of the local labor market. Programs that offer general education or training are not effective in improving the employment potential of benefit recipients. It is therefore important to select specific fields of vocational training and to create contacts with potential employers in the local labor market so as to avoid situations whereby these programs provide training but no work is available. Additionally, it is crucial to enable mothers of young children to opt for work, by subsidizing child-care centers which will increase the economic profitability of the move from welfare to work.