[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-1-en-105":3,"doc-seo-305183-105":53,"doc-detail-305183-en":126},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,14,19,24,29,34,39,44,49],{"id":8,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":11,"show_sort_weight":12,"slug":13},11,1,"Template","Presentations",90,"presentations",{"id":15,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":16,"show_sort_weight":17,"slug":18},12,"Resumes",80,"resumes",{"id":20,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":21,"show_sort_weight":22,"slug":23},14,"Invoices",70,"invoices",{"id":25,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":26,"show_sort_weight":27,"slug":28},15,"Posters",60,"posters",{"id":30,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":31,"show_sort_weight":32,"slug":33},16,"Social Media",50,"social-media",{"id":35,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":36,"show_sort_weight":37,"slug":38},17,"Forms",40,"forms",{"id":40,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":41,"show_sort_weight":42,"slug":43},18,"Letters",30,"letters",{"id":45,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":46,"show_sort_weight":47,"slug":48},21,"Paper Templates",5,"papers-templates",{"id":50,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":51,"show_sort_weight":4,"slug":52},158,"General","general-158",{"code":4,"msg":54,"data":55},"ok",{"site_id":56,"language":57,"slug":58,"title":59,"keywords":60,"description":61,"schema_data":62,"social_meta":119,"head_meta":121,"extra_data":123,"updated_unix":125},105,"en","northwestern-journal-of-law-social-policy-issue-1-article-7","Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy - Issue 1 - Article 7","","This article examines low take-up rates of publicly funded work supports among low-wage workers and low-income families. It analyzes common barriers such as limited information about eligibility, complicated application steps, and the need to visit local welfare offices. The article focuses on technological innovations that enable out-of-office benefit enrollment, including online tools that let applicants apply remotely and easing enrollment through more accessible processes.",{"@graph":63,"@context":118},[64,80,101],{"@type":65,"itemListElement":66},"BreadcrumbList",[67,71,74,77],{"item":68,"name":69,"@type":70,"position":9},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":72,"name":10,"@type":70,"position":73},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/",2,{"item":75,"name":36,"@type":70,"position":76},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/forms/",3,{"item":78,"name":59,"@type":70,"position":79},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/northwestern-journal-of-law-social-policy-issue-1-article-7/305183/",4,{"url":78,"name":59,"@type":81,"image":82,"author":87,"headline":59,"publisher":90,"fileFormat":93,"inLanguage":57,"description":61,"dateModified":94,"datePublished":95,"encodingFormat":93,"isAccessibleForFree":96,"interactionStatistic":97},"DigitalDocument",{"url":83,"@type":84,"width":85,"height":86},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/northwestern-journal-of-law-social-policy-issue-1-article-7/305183.png","ImageObject",442,249,{"name":88,"@type":89},"Ethan Miller","Person",{"url":68,"name":91,"@type":92},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-17","2026-09-19",true,{"@type":98,"interactionType":99,"userInteractionCount":9},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":100},"ViewAction",{"@type":102,"mainEntity":103},"FAQPage",[104,110,114],{"name":105,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":107},"Why do low-wage workers often fail to receive public work supports they qualify for?","Question",{"text":108,"@type":109},"Low take-up rates are linked to limited information about eligibility and application procedures, along with the practical hassles of applying, especially having to visit local welfare offices.","Answer",{"name":111,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":112},"What kinds of work supports are discussed as ways to help low-income families make ends meet?",{"text":113,"@type":109},"The article highlights food stamps, public health insurance, and child care subsidies, which can supplement income, reduce expenses, and improve access to preventive care.",{"name":115,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How does technology affect benefit enrollment in this article?",{"text":117,"@type":109},"It focuses on technological innovations that allow out-of-office application for benefits, supported by easier state development and improved applicant access to internet tools.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":78,"og:type":120,"og:title":59,"og:site_name":91,"og:description":61},"article",{"robots":122,"canonical":78},"index,follow",{"doc_id":124,"site_id":56},305183,1792214507,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":127},{"doc_id":124,"user_id":128,"nickname":88,"user_avatar":129,"doc_module":9,"category_id":35,"category_name":36,"doc_title":59,"doc_description":61,"doc_content":130,"file_id":131,"file_url":132,"file_type":133,"file_size":134,"view_count":9,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":9,"is_downloadable":9,"audit_status":9,"page_count":45,"language":135,"language_code":57,"site_id":56,"html_lang":57,"table_of_contents":136,"faqs":137,"seo_title":138,"seo_description":61,"update_tm":139,"read_time":140},687207017582,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_994ba38a5ba835b3df7d355c54d3ed8d","Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy  \n\n| Volume 4 | Issue 1 | Article 7 |\n| --- | --- |\n| Winter 2009\u003Cbr>Applying Online: Using Technology to Enroll Lowwage Workers in Public Benefits\u003Cbr>Liz Schott |  |\n\nRecommended Citation  \nLiz Schott, Applying Online: Using Technology to Enroll Low-wage Workers in Public Benefits, 4 Nw. J. L. & Soc. Pol'y. 116 (2009).  \n[http://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/njlsp/vol4/iss1/7](http://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/njlsp/vol4/iss1/7)  \nThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy by an authorized administrator of Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons.  \nApplying Online: Using Technology to Enroll Low-wage Workers in Public Benefits  \nLiz Schott∗  \nI. INTRODUCTION  \n¶1 Many workers in this country do not earn enough to make ends meet, especially if they are supporting a family. Low-income working families face a gap between basic needs and their earnings. Publicly-funded work supports such as food stamps, public health insurance, and child care subsidies can help these families make ends meet. Yet low-wage workers often do not receive publicly-funded work supports for which they qualify. The reasons for and responses to these low take-up rates have received a great deal of attention in the wake of welfare reform.  \n¶2 Reasons identified for the low take-up rates include lack of information about eligibility and how to apply, as well as the hassles of applying, particularly going to the local welfare office to access benefits. Some responses include initiatives to increase knowledge, such as outreach and education efforts, including employer-based efforts and online benefit screeners to test eligibility and potential benefit amounts. Other responses focus on easing the enrollment process by simplifying application forms or procedures, including allowing families to enroll in benefits without making a trip—or multiple trips  \n—to the welfare office. This Article looks at one response to the hassles of applying for benefits: using technological innovations to allow for “out-of-office” application for benefits. Recent technological changes make it easier for states to develop and for applicants to access internet technology to apply for benefits from outside of the welfare office.  \nII. PUBLIC BENEFIT PROGRAMS AS WORK SUPPORTS  \n¶3 Work supports can help families with low wages make ends meet. 1 Food stamps  \nand Federal and State Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC) can add income to the family household. Public health insurance and child care subsidies can reduce expenses that otherwise might be incurred. A number of studies indicate that child care subsidies in particular can improve employment outcomes, including increased employment  \n∗ Liz Schott is a Senior Fellow working on national welfare reform issues for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington, D.C. She has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Seattle University Law School, teaching a course in Public Benefits. She worked for nearly twenty years as an attorney in Washington State at Evergreen Legal Services, and its successor Columbia Legal Services, serving for nearly ten of those years as statewide coordinator on public benefits issues. She has been a frequent trainer and presenter at local and national conferences and has written extensively on benefit programs serving low and moderate-income persons. She received her law degree from Boston University School of Law.  \n1 See, e.g., NANCY K. CAUTHEN, ECON. POLICY INST., IMPROVING WORK SUPPORTS: CLOSING THE FINANCIAL GAP FOR LOW-WAGE WORKERS AND THEIR FAMILIES 4–5 tbl.2 (2007) (illustrating the gap between family income and expenses that work supports can fill) .  \nVol. 4:1] Liz Schott  \nretention.2 Public health insurance can also increase access to primary and preventative he","cbCaiajmAazoT1zQ","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiajmAazoT1zQ","pdf",291189,"English","# Introduction\n## Public Benefit Programs as Work Supports","[{\"question\":\"Why do low-wage workers often fail to receive public work supports they qualify for?\",\"answer\":\"Low take-up rates are linked to limited information about eligibility and application procedures, along with the practical hassles of applying, especially having to visit local welfare offices.\"},{\"question\":\"What kinds of work supports are discussed as ways to help low-income families make ends meet?\",\"answer\":\"The article highlights food stamps, public health insurance, and child care subsidies, which can supplement income, reduce expenses, and improve access to preventive care.\"},{\"question\":\"How does technology affect benefit enrollment in this article?\",\"answer\":\"It focuses on technological innovations that allow out-of-office application for benefits, supported by easier state development and improved applicant access to internet tools.\"}]","Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy - Issue 1 - Article 7 | PDF",1789822696,7]