209.19 Unemployment of Principal Wage Earner SR 96-14, 05/96 (FAM-A)

A child is deprived of parental support or care when the principal wage earner (PWE) in a two-parent household becomes unemployed.

The following criteria determine who is the PWE:

• The PWE is the parent who earned the highest income in the 24-month period preceding the month of application.

• Consider the earnings of both parents for the full 24 months in determining the PWE regardless of when their relationship began.

• If parents had identical income for the 24-month period, the household designates the PWE.

• Once one of the parents has been designated as the PWE, that parent remains the PWE for the purposes of determining deprivation due to unemployment. However, if the family files a new application after a break in eligibility, redetermine PWE status.