This paper reports the results of research and analysis undertaken by U.S. Census Bureau staff. It has undergone more limited review than official publications and was released to inform interested parties of ongoing research and to encourage discussion of work in progress. Any views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the U.S. Census Bureau.

In the wake of welfare reform and the recent recession, there has been increased interest in identifying and assessing the well-being of disconnected families (those having no earnings and receiving no TANF or SSI). I use the 2001, 2004 and 2008 Panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation to examine disconnectedness by sex over the last decade. Findings suggest that women were more likely to be disconnected in the 2001 and 2004 Panels but that the odds of being disconnected increased for men over the course of the recession. Results from discrete-time hazard models reveal sex differences in disconnection. Among men, younger men with less exposure to or interaction with the labor market are vulnerable to becoming disconnected; among women, single mothers heading households remain vulnerable to becoming disconnected. Different policy levers may be necessary to reduce the risk of disconnection by sex.