Saturday, 15 January 2005 - 2:00 PM

This presentation is part of: Asian Americans: No Model Minority

The Impact of Welfare Benefits Loss on Asian American Families

Purpose

Asian American immigrants in general, and Southeast Asians in particular, use higher rates of public assistance than the general population (Office of refugee Resettlement, 2000; U.S. Census, 2000). With the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996, welfare recipients are faced with new work requirements and sanctions, including a five-year lifetime time limit of the receipt of benefits. Due to difficulties inherent in adjustment to a new society, Asian American immigrants may experience difficulty transitioning from welfare to work (Asian Pacific American Legal Center, 2001). Among the first cohort of recipients who reached the five-year lifetime limit in the San Francisco Bay Area in early 2003, over 70% were Asian Americans. Yet little research has been conducted to identify these challenges. The purpose of this exploratory study was to assess the impact of the five-year time limit and the effects of welfare benefit termination on Asian American immigrant families.

Method

A mixed research method was used including 1) An in-depth literature review from academic and other sources on issues related to welfare use among immigrants and refugee Asian American populations, 2) Selected key informant interviews with community leaders, service providers, and county Department of Social Services in California, and 3) Four separate focus groups with a total of 36 current and former Cambodian, Chinese, Pilipino, and Vietnamese American welfare recipients in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Results

Consistent with the literature, findings from the study suggested that Asian American immigrants faced a number of barriers to successfully transitioning from welfare to work. In addition to barriers such as confusion over new welfare rules and requirements, which were commonly faced and applicable to welfare recipients in general, there were unique barriers Asian American recipients identified due to their immigrant and refugee status. Specifically, their mental health problems, low English language proficiency, lack of U.S. labor force experience, and low levels of formal education impeded the transition from welfare to work. Asian American immigrants also reported difficulties accessing linguistically and culturally appropriate welfare-to-work services, as they were typically only available in English. Moreover, Asian American immigrants who were aware of the five-year time limit were worried and frightened of what will happen when they reached that limit. Although participants uniformly expressed a strong desire for work, their main frustration was the lack of job opportunities, turning their desire into despair. Those who have reached the five-year time limit described financial hardship and stress as a result of losing their cash assistance.

Implications

Practice and policy implications of these findings include 1) Welfare to work programs should increase access to services and information for Asian American public assistance recipients through the use of bilingual workers, translation of written materials and culturally competent services that address the unique barriers facing this population, and 2) Rather than facilitating employment, the five-year time limit was associated with fear, stress and financial hardship, suggesting the need for policy reforms concerning the five-year time limit for the immigrant population.

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