1997, 97pp.
By: DANIEL FLAMING AND MARK DRAYSE, ECONOMIC ROUNDTABLE
For most working age homeless people, steady employment is the
only feasible avenue to economic independence and a better life.
In addition to enabling economic self-sufficiency, work constitutes
the single most important link most individuals have with society,
offering a foundation for reconnection with the larger community.
Looking at homeless individuals in terms of their educational
and employment backgrounds and capabilities for work, as well
as identifying barriers to their reemployment, gives us a vantage
point on the often bleak and intractable phenomenon of homelessness
that is both hopeful and pragmatic.
In the absence of data that reliably enumerates Los Angeles County's
homeless population, this report analyzes data from four sources
to provide a partial profile of Los Angeles County's homeless
workers and their labor market connections:
Homeless Workers and the Labor Market
Defining characteristics that distinguish homeless workers 16
to 64 years of age from the general county population in the same
age range with work histories are that they are extremely poor,
more mobile, and much less likely to be married. In the year prior
to the census survey, 54 percent of homeless workers had incomes
below 26 percent of the poverty level (i.e., less than $1,613),
compared to 4 percent of all working age individuals in the county
with work histories.
Homeless workers were significantly younger than the Los Angeles
County population, much more likely to be African-American, and
less likely to be latino, white, or Asian. A majority of homeless
workers had obtained a high school degree, and a significant number
had some college experience or a college degree. One in three
homeless persons with a work history had been employed in service
or laborer occupations. Just over half of homeless workers had
been employed in professional services, retail, and construction
industries.
Seventy-six percent of homeless workers were employed in 1989
or 1990, or both years. The remaining 24 percent of homeless workers
can be considered "long term unemployed". Recent workers were
more likely to be latino, and less likely to be white, significantly
younger, and better educated than the long-term unemployed. Homeless
persons who worked in 1989 were employed for the most part in
low wage jobs. The average hourly earnings of homeless workers
in 1989 was $6.19, which is equivalent to an annual income of
under $12,400. While most homeless workers worked close to 40
hours per week in 1989, they worked an average of only 24 weeks.
Thus, like many of the "working poor", homeless persons were more
likely to have worked full-time than part-time hours, but in high
turnover, low-wage jobs.
Labor Market Disconnection
The pervasive reality of homeless workers is that they are losing,
or have lost, connection with regular employment and opportunities
to earn a livable income. The ratio of homeless workers moving
in a positive direction to workers moving in a negative direction
at the time of the census survey was roughly one to three; 22
percent were maintaining or increasing their labor market connection
while 78 percent were moving away from the labor market or had
no labor market connection at the time of the census survey.
If the total number of homeless individuals of working age are
added to these figures, 31 percent of whom have never worked,
it can be estimated that at a given point in time, roughly 15
percent of homeless individuals of working age are maintaining
or strengthening a work force connection. Similarly, looking at
the total population of working age homeless individuals, including
those with no work history, it can be estimated that 35 percent
are moving away from the labor market, working declining numbers
of hours or having lost all work in the past year, and 50 percent
are in a state of stagnant unemployment, having never worked at
all or experiencing long-term joblessness. These ratios represent
what is occurring at a given point in time rather than the total
balance of negative and positive outcomes among people who experience
homelessness at some time during the year.
Job Availability and Turnover
A frequently held image of the employment process is that individuals
find jobs, successfully adjust to work requirements and become
stably employed. This image is contradicted by Employment Development
Department data showing that 66 percent of the county's job openings
in low skill occupations (jobs requiring less than one year of
training) are the result of workers separating from their jobs
rather than job growth. The fact that two-thirds of low-skill
job openings result from separations means that employment in
this sector of the labor market is not a matter of finding and
keeping a job, but rather a matter of finding a succession of
jobs. Workers who are socially isolated and lack a family or social
network to assist them in finding reemployment are at a disadvantage.
The annual number of job openings projected for Los Angeles County
through 1999 by the Employment Development in low-skill occupations,
both from separations and industry growth, is 72,948; 48,374 from
separations and 24,614 new jobs from industry growth. The number
of new jobs is sparse compared to the large number of unemployed
and discouraged workers already in the county workforce and the
large number of welfare recipients who will be seeking jobs as
a result of welfare reform.
Homeless Job Seekers in Downtown Los Angeles
An analysis of agency records for 1,256 homeless job seekers in
downtown Los Angeles who participated in employment programs found
that most individuals had previously demonstrated their ability
to be contributing members of the economy. Three-quarters (77
percent) had held jobs that lasted longer than one year, over
half (54 percent) had held jobs that lasted longer than two years,
and nearly one-third (30 percent) had held jobs lasting longer
than five years.
Information about long-term employment outcomes of homeless job
seekers was obtained by linking Social Security numbers of clients
served by downtown agencies with records from the State Unemployment
Insurance data base maintained by the Employment Development Department
to obtain information on employment and earnings of these clients
one to two years after they had participated in an employment
program.
Information about long-term employment outcomes for homeless job
seekers is sobering. Once homeless, lasting employment is persistently
elusive. Fifty-nine percent earned nothing and 70% earned less
than $1,000 in annual income following their participation in
an employment program and search for a new job. Less than 9 percent
had annual earnings of $10,000 or more, which would reflect full-time
employment at minimum wage.
Surveys of People Living on the Streets
Homeless individuals identified the five factors that are most
important when choosing between staying on the street and trying
to enter a residential program: (1) protecting their sense of
dignity, (2) personal safety, (3) being with friends, (4) having
the freedom to do what they want, and (5) finding ways to make
money.
The five problems homeless individuals identify as being most
important when asked why people go through programs for helping
them get off the streets, but still return to Skid Row are, in
rank order: (1) there is no money or place to go after people
complete programs, (2) people are dropped if they relapse, (3)
it is hard to get into residential drug rehabilitation programs,
(4) programs don't last long enough, (5) and programs don't offer
all the needed services.
Respondents indicated that programs need to last much longer than
the typical sixty to ninety days to really help people get off
the streets. Fourteen to fifteen months was the average program
duration identified as being needed to provide adequate support
for building a new life. In addition, nearly four out of five
respondents said programs should be located outside the downtown
area.
Life Stories of Homeless Individuals
A "job club" was organized to gain a clearer understanding of
life experiences, individual perceptions, and actual successes
and failures of homeless job seekers, as well as provide long-term
help to participants. Some of the common themes that emerge from
their life stories include:
1. By the time they were young adults six out of seven individuals
had made significant progress toward holding down jobs and becoming
economically self sufficient, the driving force being the energy
and optimism of youth. But liabilities carried forward from childhood
overtook and derailed this progress.
2. All experienced addiction to crack cocaine.
3. All have been socially isolated for most of their lives and
have not had the support of normal social networks in attempting
to solve problems of addiction and employment.
4. Nearly all have employment histories, and over half have skills
that qualify them for more than one occupation.
5. There are infrequent windows of opportunity when individuals
were ready to make a serious commitment to recover from addiction
and find a job. These intervals of high motivation followed bottoming-out
experiences such as incarceration. There were very few support
systems to help individuals hold onto the clear thinking they
did inside jail when they re-entered the daunting and lonely world
outside jail gates. Similarly, it was difficult for individuals
to gain admission to a residential drug rehabilitation programs
within the window of motivational opportunity if the bottoming-out
occurred while they were on the streets.
Conclusions and Recommendations
Many people who are homeless want to have jobs and have the ability
to work productively. A smaller number not only want work but
have summoned sufficient hope and commitment to make a serious
effort at rebuilding their lives and gaining stable housing, employment
and personal relationships. The operational implications of this
two-tier perspective are that basic opportunities to work and
earn survival resources should be available to all homeless individuals,
and in-depth support for recovery and for long-term employment
should be available if and when individuals are ready for a fundamental
commitment to making a new start in their life.
Tier I is local day-labor markets. More than four out of five
men and women living on downtown streets said they would accept
jobs at minimum wages cleaning up streets. The social costs of
failing to provide opportunities for gainful employment, and thereby
the dignity of demonstrating one's worth, are high. Research conducted
by California's Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs found
that the average drug and alcohol abuser costs society over $32,000
a year. Basic decency as well as an intelligent understanding
of our collective self interests leads us to provide jobs for
people who are willing to work. We recommend that local day-labor
markets be organized under public auspices to provide jobs for
anyone willing to show up at an early hour and meet prevailing
employment standards for sobriety and conscientious work efforts.
If no private employers need their services, individuals should
be entitled to public employment cleaning streets, parks, public
buildings, or other useful community services.
Based on the value of minimum-wage earnings, individuals should
have the opportunity to work for four or five hours per day, which
would entitle them to vouchers for a night's lodging in a single
room occupancy hotel or shelter that provides reasonable privacy
and security for possessions, three meals, and a small amount
of cash (perhaps $2.50 per day). Individuals who show up for jobs
five days a week and work acceptably should be entitled to lodging
in a room offering privacy and security for their belongings,
and three meals a day, for a week. By paying primarily in vouchers
rather than cash the demand for these jobs will largely be limited
to the homeless and taxpayers will be reassured they are not paying
for drugs or alcohol. Individuals who show themselves to be exceptionally
good workers should be rewarded by opportunities for better jobs,
more hours of work, training, or improved pay. This will enable
some individuals, particularly those who are first-time homeless
and cyclical homeless, to find a near-term exit from homelessness.
Similarly, individuals with significant rehabilitation needs who
demonstrate strong motivation should become candidates for Tier
II assistance.
Tier II is comprehensive rehabilitation and employment services
for strongly motivated individuals. Most beds in homeless shelters
and sleeping spots on streets are occupied by people whose passage
into homelessness and subsequent rootlessness and placelessness
has lasted longer than a year. Their journey into homelessness
has taken time, and similarly the journey out and the process
of extricating themselves from the damage done by homelessness
takes time. In order to effectively help chronically homeless
individuals, programs must offer adequate resources and duration
of service to rebuild lasting, stable ties to the larger community.
In addition, programs must become adept at recognizing, and acting
within, that narrow window of motivational opportunity when individuals
are strongly and purposefully determined to rebuild their lives.
The central challenge in overcoming homelessness is reconnection
of the individual with the larger community. This ultimately manifests
itself through success in creating viable, lasting connections
around work, housing and social relationships. Essential program
ingredients for helping chronically homeless people become stabilized
and productively employed include:
1. Comprehensive, timely support when there is a window of strong
commitment to making a serious effort at building a new life.
2. Integrated services offering shelter, food, legal help, drug
treatment, income maintenance, health services, personal counseling,
development of affirming personal relationships, skill development
(where necessary), and job placement.
3. Effective employment, training and job placement services that:
4. Innovative job creation strategies including public service,
entrepreneurial programs and worker-owned cooperatives that make
stable employment possible despite severe job shortages in the
region and high turnover rates in low-skill jobs.
5. Sustained help in the form of nine to twelve months of residential
enrollment as well as case management strategies that set high
standards for individuals yet maintain connections with them even
if they relapse.
6. Service delivery environments that replicate the strengths
of healthy families, foster honest communication, respect the
dignity of each individual and provide spiritual resources for
building a new life.