WORKFARE IN OHIO - POLITICAL AND SOCIOECONOMIC CLIMATE AND PROGRAM IMPACT

The purpose of this paper is to shed new light on the welfare debate in two ways: (a) to provide new evidence on the effectiveness of long-term workfare programs; and (b) to examine in what contexts the programs were most effective. The study examines welfare trends between 1981 and 1990 for counties in Ohio. A quasiexperimental design is used to compare 26 counties that experimented with workfare with Ohio's remaining counties. The findings indicate that workfare lowered caseloads significantly, particularly for the two-parent (AFDC-U)population. The findings also indicate that the effectiveness of the program increased in counties with lower unemployment rates and smaller urban populations. The programs appeared to be more effective in more conservative counties, but these findings are mixed.