Activation and Reform in the United States

Anderson, Theresa Dirndorfer; Kairys, Katharine; Wiseman, Michael

doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199773589.003.0005

Cited by 8 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…In order to maintain programme eligibility, social assistance recipients are expected to meet an increasingly strict set of requirements that compel labour market participation 31. While these measures have succeeded at increasing employment rates among social assistance recipients, their attachment to the labour market tends to be marginal, short-lived and involve the uptake of low paying, poorly protected jobs 32–35.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Government social assistance programmes are failing to protect the health of low-income populations: evidence from the USA and Canada (2003–2014)

Shahidi

Sod-Erdene

Ramraj

et al. 2018

J Epidemiol Community Health

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BackgroundSocial policies that improve the availability and distribution of key socioeconomic resources such as income, wealth and employment are believed to present the most promising avenue for reducing health inequalities. The present study aims to estimate the effect of social assistance recipiency on the health of low-income earners in the USA and Canada.MethodsDrawing on nationally representative survey data (National Health Interview Survey and the Canadian Community Health Survey), we employed propensity score matching to match recipients of social assistance to comparable sets of non-recipient ‘controls’. Using a variety of matching algorithms, we estimated the treatment effect of social assistance recipiency on self-rated health, chronic conditions, hypertension, obesity, smoking, binge drinking and physical inactivity.ResultsAfter accounting for underlying differences in the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of recipients and non-recipients, we found that social assistance recipiency was associated with worse health status or, at best, the absence of a clear health advantage. This finding was consistent across several different matching strategies and a diverse range of health outcomes.ConclusionsFrom a public health perspective, our findings suggest that interventions are warranted to improve the scope and generosity of existing social assistance programmes. This may include reversing welfare reforms implemented over the past several decades, increasing benefit levels and untethering benefit recipiency from stringent work conditionalities.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Government social assistance programmes are failing to protect the health of low-income populations: evidence from the USA and Canada (2003–2014)

Shahidi

Sod-Erdene

Ramraj

et al. 2018

J Epidemiol Community Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…See, for example, Falk (). A similar graph based on standard poverty counts and unadjusted for regional price variation appears in Anderson et al ().…”

mentioning

confidence: 66%

“…For an overview of TANF history, see Anderson, Kairys, and Wiseman (). For a delightful and informative review of the state of TANF as of late 2015 by “Peter the Citizen,” see Germanis ().…”

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confidence: 99%

Restoring the Entrails of Welfare Reform

Parolin

Wiseman

2017

Poverty &Amp; Public Policy

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The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 famously “ended welfare as we [knew] it” by replacing the state‐operated Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program with a revised funding scheme called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). In the summer of 2012, controversy erupted over a memorandum issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), concerning state options for TANF performance reporting. Opponents of the Obama administration claimed the policy initiative specified in the memorandum signaled a fundamental change in direction of the national welfare policy established by PRWORA—that it “gutted” welfare reform. The memorandum has not (as of 2016) been rescinded, and the issues raised in the ensuing controversy remain unresolved. We review the controversy. We argue that while there is some justification in criticism of the Obama administration's strategy, the initiative addressed an important problem: the inadequacy of the program's performance measure given the variation in resources available to states in meeting the program's goals. The ACF memo was in our judgment a responsible step toward finding methods for improving TANF performance and, as conducted, the guts debate retarded this search.

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“…The United States, Denmark and the Netherlands launched activation programmes and soon became trendsetters attracting the attention of policy-makers in different countries (Daguerre, 2007; Lodemel and Trickey, 2000). This context made the state of Wisconsin a Mecca of policy tourism (Anderson et al , 2011: 132).…”

Section: From International Policy Fashion To Local Change: the Transmentioning

confidence: 99%

Episodes of Translation and Network Resilience: Lessons from Israel's Attempted Institutionalisation of Workfare

Helman

Maron

2018

J. Soc. Pol.

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The translation perspective explores the travel of policy ideas, programmes and practices across international boundaries, focusing on the process through which interpretative agents introduce and adjust borrowed policy items to a new policy context. Current research emphasises the significance of local networks’ support for translation's efficacy. However, we know little about how such networks are maintained and stabilized over time or how changing configurations and capacities may affect translation's prospects. This paper explores the case of Israel's attempted institutionalisation of workfare – an enduring international policy fashion – from 1998 to the present day. We follow the stabilization and destabilization of the local translation network across different levels and sites of policy design and implementation, analysing emerging conflicts and agreements at each site. We use the metaphor ‘episodes of translation’ to explore translation's value as a concept accounting for local policy change. In order for translation-led policy change to maintain legitimacy and actualisation in contested domains, ongoing engagement of existing and emerging policy actors is essential. This case demonstrates how when networks become destabilized, translation-led policy change may come to a halt.

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Activation and Reform in the United States

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

Government social assistance programmes are failing to protect the health of low-income populations: evidence from the USA and Canada (2003–2014)

Government social assistance programmes are failing to protect the health of low-income populations: evidence from the USA and Canada (2003–2014)

Restoring the Entrails of Welfare Reform

Episodes of Translation and Network Resilience: Lessons from Israel's Attempted Institutionalisation of Workfare

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