Barriers to Economic Self-Sufficiency of Low-Income Families: The Perspectives of Social Service Organizations

Background and Purpose

While public policy researchers continue monitoring the factors impacting low-income families’ economic self-sufficiency since COVID-19's onset, perceptions from social service organizations (SSOs) are lacking. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) describes a family as being economically self-sufficient when enough household income is earned to meet a family’s basic needs without public assistance. Struggling low-income families who are deemed ineligible for public cash assistance are often prevented from reaching economic self-sufficiency. The purpose of this study is to determine SSOs’ perceptions about low-income families’ financial security needs, their experiences applying for public benefits, and recommendations for health and human service policymakers in a post-pandemic context.

Methods

All 777 SSOs registered as food banks, shelters, or domestic violence services in Michigan were contacted by email and asked to complete an online questionnaire between August and December 2021. The research team utilized SPSS to conduct descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression analyses. With a 27.5% (n=214) response rate, this is one of the most comprehensive surveys of SSOs in Michigan, spanning food assistance (n=108, 50.5%), community outreach (n=66, 30.8%), and shelter (n=41, 19.2%) services.

Results

Findings indicate participants who work at a shelter SSO significantly impacts if they assist clients in accessing TANF benefits (f(20,99)=2.28, p=.004). Shelter workers are almost a third more likely to help clients access TANF benefits (b=-0.28, t=-2.71, p=.008). Moreover, those reporting how clients’ financial security changed post-pandemic significantly impacts how SSOs address social safety net gaps (f(2,159)=11.84, p<.001). If a participant identifies their clients’ financial security changed during COVID-19, their SSOs are a third more likely to have higher service demands (b=-0.37, t=-4.64, p<.001).

Participants report all levels of government responded insufficiently to clients’ financial needs during the pandemic (n=64, 56.1%). Participants have several recommendations for public policy improvements to facilitate economic self-sufficiency with vulnerable families. Refining a user-friendly online TANF portal to complete applications and submit documentation electronically (n=45, 43%), conducting telephone interviews for benefit eligibility (n=31, 30%), and automatically recertifying TANF benefits (n=15, 14.3%) are the most consistent recommendations to remove policy and procedural barriers to economic self-sufficiency. Moreover, participants report the most important policy proposal improvement for addressing equity in TANF is to reduce TANF applications’ processing time (n=24, 24%).

Discussion and Implications

Findings suggest shelters are an important source of support for families applying to TANF. Future research should identify and explain shelter SSOs’ TANF benefit assistance procedures to improve direct client services in all other types of SSOs. Although participants report the governments’ responses did not properly address the financial security of vulnerable people during COVID-19, their recommendations for public policy improvements are crucial to removing barriers to equity and economic self-sufficiency amongst TANF applicants. Particularly important in a technologically dependent post-pandemic world, improving the online portal for TANF applicants will simplify the process for clients, TANF caseworkers, and direct service workers assisting clients in accessing their benefits.