In the 1990s, at a time of full employment, policymakers assumed that simply getting TANF recipients a job would put them on a path out of poverty. In 2019, the U.S. has a very different economy. Today, the percentage of jobs requiring at least some postsecondary education and training are at record highs, resulting in worker shortages in high-demand jobs. Indications are that the future of work will heighten these discrepancies, yet only 9 percent of federal and state TANF funds are used for work-related activities. An even smaller amount of these resources are available for education and training.
It is critical to change the thinking on this, and other poverty-alleviation laws, to focus on skills attainment, so both employers seeking workers and individuals seeking careers can benefit. Taking just any job, with no focus on skills development, is no longer enough for individuals who receive TANF benefits. These recipients, who encompass 1.4 million families, have been historically underrepresented in postsecondary education and high-demand industries. They are part of America’s untapped workforce, and will continue to be left behind in our economy if things do not change.