The finding show that there are no significant differences in the quality or stability of the jobs obtained by women with substance use-related problems when compared to those without substance abuse-related problem. The jobs women obtained after leaving the welfare system were poorly paid and of short duration regardless of whether or not a substance use-related problem was present. Some factors such as education, work history, and family size consistently predicted transition from welfare to work and back again. The average work period for a welfare mother on average lasted 9 to 10 months. The study used Cox proportional hazard and logistic regression in a longitudinal study of California welfare mothers (n=419). The participants were first interviewed as they applied for aid in 2001 and were reinterviewed annually over a 4-year period. On average, the women were relatively young single parents with two or fewer children, had completed high school, had recent work experience, and most had received welfare at least once before. The study was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Tables, references, and appendix