This report summarizes the results of a telephone survey of 800 Maryland residents, age 18 and older, conducted in November 2000. Respondents believe that the strong economy has left people behind, and they wonder whether welfare reform has fulfilled its promise. Moreover, Marylanders say, if many new workers are not earning enough to rise out of poverty, the state should make a concerted effort to help them become economically self-sufficient. A majority of them agreed that such state action would yield broad benefits: for people working toward family-sustaining incomes, for employers needing qualified workers, and for a state seeking to sustain prosperity.
The survey was conducted on behalf of Jobs for the Future, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and the Open Society Institute-Baltimore.