Research Brief: Employment Experiences of Colorado Works Recipients as Measured Using Administrative Data
April 2009
Colorado Department of Human Services
This issue brief provides analysis of employment and earnings outcomes of individuals who received welfare in Colorado since 2005, based on wage records from Colorado’s Unemployment Insurance Program. The brief is a part of a five-year evaluation of Colorado Works, the state's TANF program, that The Lewin Group and its partners, University of Colorado's Health Sciences Center, The Johns Hopkins University's Institute for Policy Studies, and Capital Research Corporation, are conducting for the Colorado Department of Human Services. The brief shows that between 2005 and 2008, about a third of Colorado Works participants worked while on welfare, and had relatively low earnings during that period. Those who left welfare worked at higher rates, but the consistency of their employment varied. Earnings increased overall in the two years following exit, though remained low. About 10 percent earned $20,000 or more in the first and second years after leaving Colorado Works. Among certain subgroups, including those with fewer months of welfare and those with older children, larger shares of individuals earned $20,000 or more.