While welfare caseloads have declined nationally in the past several years, the decline has not been uniform across states and cities.
Using unique administrative data for the Detroit area over the 1992-2000 period, this study shows that two of the most important factors influencing welfare-to-work outcomes - client characteristics and proximity to jobs - vary considerably even within metropolitan areas. Many of the harder-to-serve households remain concentrated in the city of Detroit, where earnings rates for adult participants are lower than for suburban clients. Moreover, the greater distance between recipients and job opportunities in the eastern half of the region leads to lower rates of work there than in the western suburbs. The paper concludes with recommendations for how welfare policy could better address the spatial realities of caseload dynamics and metropolitan labor markets.
Thanks to Brookings Institution
FULL STORY: Place, Race and Work

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
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Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
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Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power
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MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns
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Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant
A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.
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