o Three out of every eight families that left welfare were economically better off than before. The parents in these families were working regularly and their wages increased every quarter. After two years of being off welfare, the typical parent in these families was earning $284 a week, just enough to lift a family of three above the federal poverty line.

o In three out of every eight families that left welfare, the parents had found employment but the work was not steady. All of the parents in this group had periods lasting at least 13 weeks without any recorded wages whatsoever. Over time, earnings by these parents tended to increase slowly. Two years after leaving welfare, the typical parent in this group was earning only $181 a week, about two-thirds of the federal poverty level for a family of three.

o Two out of every eight families that left welfare had no recorded employment-related earnings. Based on a telephone survey conducted by DPW, about half of this group had worked for wages at some time since leaving welfare, although for an employer that did not report those wages to regulatory authorities. The other half of this group hadn't worked at all for anyone. Among the reasons for not working, the most frequently noted were physical/mental illness or injury, wanting to stay home with children, and lack of childcare or transportation.

o Based on the telephone survey, overall 60 percent of the parents who left welfare were employed at any single point in time. Participation in publicly-funded support programs ranged from 83 percent with Medical Assistance to 56 percent with food stamps to only 30 percent in the subsidized child care program. Seventeen percent of the families that left welfare had experienced times when they were unable to buy needed food. There were two main reasons for leaving welfare: "got a job" and "too much hassle".