According to a report issued by USA Today, 20 percent of welfare recipients forced to take low-paying jobs are back on welfare within three to six months. The report also found that in Iowa, 49 percent of former welfare recipients who were employed had less income after losing their welfare checks. In Indiana and South Carolina, people forced off welfare rolls are finding it difficult to find work because of a lack of child care resources, and in South Carolina and Tennessee a loss of welfare caused an increase in housing, hunger and health-care problems. Three Maryland children whose families lost welfare are now in foster care.
The study reported that five states have cut welfare rolls by more than 50 percent and that states have cut welfare by an average of 30 percent overall.
