Connection: Welfare Rolls Shrink Across Region

Washington and Idaho have seen dramatic drops in their welfare rolls in the two years since welfare reforms were enacted in the states.

During that time, the economies of both states have been strong. But the unemployment rates have not dropped as precipitously as the welfare rolls, state officials say.

“Idaho’s economy has been chugging along throughout the ‘90s,” said Bill Walker, a spokesman for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.

In July 1997, when the state’s welfare reform, Temporary Assistance for Families in Idaho, replaced Aid to Families with Dependent Children, there were 9,173 families receiving cash assistance.

At the end of April, the last month for which statistics are available, there were 1,340 families on TAFI.

During that time, the unemployment rate has fluctuated between 5.3 percent and 4.7 percent.

In Washington, the percentage drop isn’t as dramatic, but the numbers are larger.

The state had 88,221 welfare “cases” - a term that typically covers two or more people receiving aid - in August 1997 when the state’s WorkFirst took effect. By this April, the number had dropped by 30 percent, to 62,123.

During that time, the unemployment rate has fluctuated between 4.8 percent and 4.3 percent.

A strong economy helps, said Mike Masten, director of the WorkFirst Division of the Department of Social and Health Services. But equally important are new state laws that allow former welfare recipients to keep some benefits, such as medical insurance for their children if they get starting jobs without health coverage.

The economy is stronger in the Puget Sound than in Spokane, but the rate of welfare recipients finding jobs is higher in Spokane, he said.

“It’s not just the economy,” Masten said.