Los Angeles Labor Market Action Plan: Opportunities for Residents of the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles to Obtain Sustaining Employment

Earnings of residents who were welfare-to-work participants grew from the fourth quarter of 1994 through the end of 1999.  In 1999 it became convincingly evident that earnings had risen above the highest level in these workers’ previous earnings histories.  This important news demonstrates that aided workers have made tangible progress toward self-sufficiency. Despite this progress, only 32 percent of residents who were in the labor market for five or more years had earnings above the poverty threshold of $13,424 for a single parent with two children.