Viewed in isolation, this would be confusing to many
The economy has actually created a few McJobs, yes. They are exactly the sort of jobs that can't be outsourced…they can't manufacture a hamburger in China and still get it to you warm.
Despite the Sluggish Economy, Welfare Rolls Actually Shrank
By ROBERT PEAR
WASHINGTON, March 21 — In a trend that has surprised many experts, the federal welfare rolls have declined over the last three years, even as unemployment, poverty and the number of food stamp recipients have surged in a weak economy.
After Congress overhauled the nation's welfare system in 1996, the number of families receiving benefits dropped much faster than federal and state officials had expected. Even more remarkable, officials say, the rolls did not grow during the recession of 2001 or the sluggish economy since.
In fact, in the last three years, the number of families on welfare has declined slightly, to two million, which is less than half the number receiving public assistance when President Bill Clinton signed the welfare law in August 1996.
Experts suggest many reasons. People work harder to find jobs before seeking public assistance. Welfare recipients have learned job skills and a work ethic. States provide child care and other noncash help so they can keep jobs after leaving welfare. And, some experts say, new rules and requirements may intimidate poor people from seeking welfare.
Mark H. Greenberg, a lawyer at the Center for Law and Social Policy, a research and advocacy group, said, "One of the great mysteries of social policy in the last few years is why welfare caseloads have stayed essentially flat or declined in much of the country, despite the economic downturn."
In past recessions, newly hired welfare recipients and other low-skilled workers were among the first to lose their jobs. But that was apparently not the case with the most recent recession.
"Former welfare recipients were entrenched in the work force," said Marva Arnold, a senior official at the Human Services Department in Illinois, where the number of families on welfare has plunged 45 percent since January 2001, to 38,276. "They have gained real work experience, including the skills needed to maintain employment."
