ERIC Number: ED457298
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2001-Jul
Pages: 32
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Governmental Quality and Welfare Reform. Discussion Paper.
Mead, Lawrence M.
In the last decade, caseloads in Aid to Families with Dependent Children and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families have shifted dramatically up, then down. Existing studies do not explain the changes well or reveal policies behind the fluctuations or the important role of government quality in shaping welfare reform. This study uses cross-sectional models based on states, measuring welfare reform policies directly using program data, and relating these policies to background features of states' politics and government. The study measures work and child support enforcement pressures directly using program data, combining these variables with other policy terms and measures of the demographics of the caseloads and the labor market to construct accounts of caseload change. It also seeks to relate caseload change and its policy causes to background variables expressing governmental quality. Results show that grant levels, work and child support requirements, and sanctions are important reasons for caseload change, together with some demographic factors and unemployment. These policies are, in turn, tied to states' political opinion, political culture, and institutional capacity. (Contains 42 references.) (SM)
Descriptors: Child Support, Employment, Government Role, Law Enforcement, Political Influences, State Government, State Legislation, Welfare Services
For full text: http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/irp/.
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, Milwaukee, WI.; Annie E. Casey Foundation, Baltimore, MD.; John M. Olin Foundation, Inc., Alton, IL.
Authoring Institution: Wisconsin Univ., Madison. Inst. for Research on Poverty.
Identifiers - Laws, Policies, & Programs: Aid to Families with Dependent Children; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A