Who is using welfare today? The Life on Welfare series examines aspects of the active TANF caseload in Maryland, including studies on the characteristics of families who are receiving benefits and whether and how the profile of active cases changes over time. The more recent reports in the series are based on administrative data from families who received TANF in Maryland during each state fiscal year.
Reports are free of charge, and may be downloaded from this page.
Click here for Life On Welfare Special Issues.
Life on Welfare: Temporary Cash Assistance Families & Recipients, 2023
(March 2024) Haley Smith, Lauren A. Hall, & Letitia Logan Passarella
This Life on Welfare update examines the families who received cash assistance in SFY 2023.
Temporary Cash Assistance: 2022 Jurisdictional Snapshots
(June 2023) Haley Smith & Letitia Logan Passarella
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This document includes individual snapshots for each of Maryland’s 24 jurisdictions as well as for the state. The front of each snapshot provides a brief look at every family in a jurisdiction who received TCA in state fiscal year (SFY) 2022. The back of each snapshot provides a summary of a sample of families who left TCA between July 2016 and December 2021. |
Life on Welfare, 2022: Temporary Cash Assistance in the Pandemic Recovery
(May 2023) Haley Smith & Letitia Logan Passarella
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This brief describes families who received cash assistance in state fiscal year 2022 as the state and country rebounded from the pandemic’s effects. Families' characteristics, as well as adult recipients' demographic characteristics and work histories, are the main focus. |
Temporary Cash Assistance: 2021 Jurisdictional Snapshots
(April 2022) Haley Smith & Letitia Logan Passarella
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This document includes individual snapshots for each of Maryland’s 24 jurisdictions as well as for the state. The front of each snapshot is based on the recent update of the annual Life on Welfare report and provides a brief look at every family in a jurisdiction who received TCA in state fiscal year (SFY) 2021. The back of each snapshot is based on the 2021 update of the annual Life after Welfare report and provides a summary of a sample of families who left TCA between July 2016 and December 2020. |
Life on Welfare, 2021: Temporary Cash Assistance during the COVID-19 Pandemic
(February 2022) Haley Smith & Letitia Logan Passarella
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This brief describes families who received cash assistance in state fiscal year 2021 as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to disrupt the economy. Families' characteristics, as well as adult recipients' demographic characteristics and work histories, are the main focus. |
Temporary Cash Assistance: 2020 Jurisdictional Snapshots
(April 2021) Haley Smith & Lauren A. Hall
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This document includes individual snapshots for each of Maryland’s 24 jurisdictions as well as for the state. The front of each snapshot is based on the recent update of the annual Life on Welfare report and provides a brief look at every family in a jurisdiction who received TCA in state fiscal year (SFY) 2020. The back of each snapshot is based on the 2020 update of the annual Life after Welfare report and provides a summary of a sample of families who left TCA between SFYs 2013 and 2019. |
Life on Welfare, 2020:Temporary Cash Assistance before & during the COVID-19 Pandemic
(February 2021) Letitia Logan Passarella & Haley Smith
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This report examines all cases that received Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA) in Maryland for at least one month during SFY 2020 by two cohorts: (1) pre-pandemic cohort—families who began receiving TCA between July 2019 and March 2020; and (2) pandemic cohort—families who began receiving TCA between April and June 2020. |
Life on Welfare: Temporary Cash Assistance Families & Recipients, 2019
(January 2020) Alyssa Gross & Letitia Passarella
| This brief describes families who received cash assistance in state fiscal year 2019. Families' characteristics, as well as adult recipients' demographic characteristics and work histories, are the main focus. |
Life on Welfare: Temporary Cash Assistance Families & Recipients, 2019 Summaries
(January 2020) Alyssa Gross & Letitia Passarella
| This document includes one-page summaries of families who received cash assistance in state fiscal year 2019 in each of Maryland's 24 jurisdictions. |
Life on Welfare: Temporary Cash Assistance Families & Recipients, 2016-2019 (March 2020)
| During each of the State Fiscal Years (SFYs) between 2016 and 2019, we will provide a jurisdictional summary of the adults who receive Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA). Six different jurisdictions will be highlighted in each year. |
Life on Welfare: Temporary Cash Assistance Families & Recipients, 2018
(February 2019) Rebecca McColl & Letitia Passarella
| This brief describes families who received cash assistance in state fiscal year 2018. Families' characteristics, as well as adult recipients' demographic characteristics and work histories, are the main focus. |
Life on Welfare: Temporary Cash Assistance Families & Recipients, 2018 Summaries
(February 2019) Rebecca McColl & Letitia Passarella
| This document includes one-page summaries of families who received cash assistance in state fiscal year 2018 in each of Maryland's 24 jurisdictions. |
Life on Welfare: Temporary Cash Assistance Families & Recipients, 2017
(April 2018) Rebecca McColl & Lisa Thiebaud Nicoli
| This brief describes families who received cash assistance in state fiscal year 2017. Families' characteristics, as well as adult recipients' demographic characteristics and work histories, are the main focus. |
Life on Welfare: Temporary Cash Assistance Families & Recipients, 2017 Summaries
(April 2018) Rebecca McColl & Lisa Thiebaud Nicoli
| This document includes one-page summaries of families who received cash assistance in state fiscal year 2017 in each of Maryland's 24 jurisdictions. |
Life on Welfare: Temporary Cash Assistance Families & Recipients, 2015 & 2016
(March 2017) Lisa Thiebaud Nicoli & Letitia Logan Passarella
| This brief profiles families who received cash assistance in state fiscal years 2015 and 2016. In particular, the brief provides information about case characteristics as well as adult recipients' demographics and work histories. |
Life on Welfare: Temporary Cash Assistance Families & Recipients, 2016 Profiles
(March 2017) Natalie Demyan & Lisa Thiebaud Nicoli
| This document includes one-page profiles of families who received cash assistance in state fiscal year 2016 in each of Maryland's 24 jurisdictions. |
Life on Welfare: Trends in the 2014 TCA Caseload
(February, 2016) Lauren A. Hall and Letitia Logan Passarella
| This report profiles cases that received Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA, Maryland's TANF program) in October 2014. In addition to providing information about clients' demographic characteristics, past participation in TCA, and employment histories, we examine trends in the TCA caseload between October 2010 and October 2014. |
Life on Welfare: Trends in the 2013 TCA Caseload
(May, 2015) Lisa Thiebaud Nicoli and Kari O'Donnell
| This report profiles cases that received Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA, Maryland's TANF program) in October 2013. We provide information about clients' demographic characteristics, past participation in TCA, and employment histories. Furthermore, we also examine how these characteristics have changed since October 2009. |
Life on Welfare: Trends in the 2012 TCA Caseload
(May 2014) Elizabeth Gleason, Lisa Nicoli, & Catherine E. Born
| This installment of the Life on Welfare series describes the October 2012 TCA caseload. In addition to providing information about clients' demographic characteristics, program participation, and employment histories, we examine trends in the TCA caseload between 2008 and 2012. |
Oct 2011 - Life on Welfare: Trends in the TCA Caseload since the Great Recession
(November, 2012) Lisa Thiebaud Nicoli, Letitia Logan Passarella, Catherine E. Born
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This report provides a profile of the cases that were receiving Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA, Maryland's TANF program) in October 2011. The authors also document trends in the caseload throughout the Great Recession and its sluggish recovery. |
Oct 2009 - Life on Welfare: Characteristics of Maryland's TCA Caseload Since DRA
(October 2010) Sarah Williamson, Correne Saunders, Catherine E. Born
| This report seeks to provide both a profile of the active Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA, Maryland's TANF program) caseload in October 2009, as well as an analysis of how the caseload has changed over time, beginning in October 2006, when the DRA was implemented. |
October 2008 - Life on Welfare: TANF Entrants
(March 2010) Correne Saunders, Danielle Young, Catherine E. Born
| This report provides a snapshot of TANF entrants who began receiving TCA in October 2008, approximately 11 months into the economic recession. |
October 2007 - Life on Welfare: A Comparisonof Work Participation Groups
(January 2010) Correne Saunders, Danielle Young, Catherine E. Born
| This report provides a snapshot of the October 2007 Maryland cash assistance caseload, comparing the characteristics of caseheads and cases who would have been included in the denominator or baseline calculation of the state's work participation rate versus those who would have been excluded. |
Oct 2006 - Life On Welfare: Characteristics and Outcomes of Maryland's TCA Cases
(April 2009) Correne Saunders, Nick Kolupanowich, Catherine E. Born
| This report provides a snapshot of the October 2006 Maryland cash assistance caseload, a vital month that marks the effective date of many of the DRA requirements and the 10th anniversary of PRWORA. |
Oct 2005 - Life On Welfare: A Snapshot of the Active TCA Caseload in Oct 2005
(December 2006) Correne Saunders, Pamela C. Ovwigho, Catherine E. Born
| For states to meet the new challenges resulting from the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA), they must be able to accurately assess their caseload, identify which strategies and programs are most appropriate for customers' different situations, and where possible, quickly move families into appropriate activities.Understanding the characteristics and circumstances of the welfare caseload and its different subpopulations is an excellent starting point for these efforts. To that end, this report, the third bi-annual report in the University of Maryland School of Social Work's Life on Welfare series, presents a profile of Maryland's TANF caseload. |
Oct 2003 - Life On Welfare: A Snapshot of the Active TCA Caseload in Oct 2003
(April 2005) Andrea Hetling, Correne Saunders, Catherine E. Born
| A follow-up to the Snapshot from October 2001. |
Oct 2001 - Life On Welfare: A Snapshot of the Active TCA Caseload in Oct 2001
(April 2003) Catherine E. Born, Andrea Hetling-Wernyj, Darren Lacey, Kirk Tracy
| There is widespread belief that today's on-welfare families are "hard-to-serve." This study indicates that today's caseload is more likely "different to serve" in some respects. |