Life After Welfare

This report, which includes a chapter on child support, examines outcomes of Maryland families who left cash assistance, focusing on their characteristics, employment and earnings outcomes, and the receipt of other public benefits.  The main findings indicate that families’ financial situations improved after exiting Maryland’s Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA) program, compared with their circumstances before they came onto the program. Nonetheless, these families struggle to rise above poverty and maintain independence from cash assistance.

Among families who had a current support order for child support, 71% received a payment in the year after exit. These families received just under $1,800, representing an approximate 20% increase in median earnings ($8,154) however only 40% of families had an order for current support in the year after exit.