Working First but Working Poor
Feature Story by Michelle Russell - 1/23/2002
Working First but Working Poor: The Need for Education & Training Following Welfare Reform, is a study conducted by the National Organization of Women Legal Defense and Education Fund and the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.Through interviews conducted with case managers and vocational counselors, the study found that jobs typically thought of as “female” had a 100% referral to women, while jobs generally considered more “masculine” boasted a 100% male referral. The majority of women getting off of welfare were steered toward customer service, child-care provider and patient care, while most men headed toward occupations such as truck driving and appliance technician. A clear pattern of gender segregation manifested itself.
The job training system was found to perpetuate this segregation. During a study of students involved in the job training process, more interest in nontraditional careers was found in women than is addressed by the job training counselors themselves. The study showed that 64% of women were interested in at least one nontraditional job, while 35% expressed interest in at least three nontraditional jobs.
As part of the job training system, vocational counselors and case workers were also researched in order to further trace the roots of sex segregation. Many students questioned expressed that they felt their caseworker/counselor had neglected to discuss wages and benefits associated with jobs differing from the traditional. Half of the case workers and counselors had never had women in nontraditional training.
However, when case workers and counselors were further studied, it was found that they had limited knowledge concerning the benefits of nontraditional employment. Also, it was discovered that older case workers and modestly educated case workers looked more favorably upon nontraditional training for women.
Taking all the information gathered, NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund and IWPR collaborated on policy recommendations to ameliorate the gender segregation observed as a result of their study. Among their many proposals, NOWLDEF and IWPR urge that systematic education of welfare case managers and vocational counselors needs to be increased, allowing them to provide amplified services to their clients. It is also recommended that access to vocational and technical training for girls in high school needs to be augmented, leading to interest in nontraditional jobs later.
