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More, Less, or More of the Same? Trends in State Social Welfare Policy in the 1990s

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  • Marcia K. Meyers
  • Janet C. Gornick
  • Laura R. Peck

Abstract

Major reforms to cash assistance and other welfare programs in the 1990s raise questions about whether states gained new flexibility in setting social policies, and, if so, how they exercised this flexibility. We extend prior research on state social policy by examining trends during the middle to late 1990s in five areas of cash or near-cash policy affecting the economic security of low-income families. We find evidence of substantial change in the generosity and the availability of these benefits between 1994 and 1999, along with evidence of greater divergence or cross-state variation in policy choices. By considering several forms of assistance simultaneously, we also find evidence that states constricted traditional welfare-based assistance while expanding some forms of non-welfare support for the working poor. Copyright 2002, Oxford University Press.

Suggested Citation

  • Marcia K. Meyers & Janet C. Gornick & Laura R. Peck, 2002. "More, Less, or More of the Same? Trends in State Social Welfare Policy in the 1990s," Publius: The Journal of Federalism, CSF Associates Inc., vol. 32(4), pages 91-108, Fall.
  • Handle: RePEc:oup:publus:v:32:y:2002:i:4:p:91-108
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    Cited by:

    1. Jade Marcus Jenkins, 2014. "Early Childhood Development as Economic Development," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 28(2), pages 147-165, May.
    2. Minas, Renate & Bäckman, Olof & Jakobsen, Vibeke & Korpi, Tomas & Lorentzen, Thomas & Kauppinen, Timo, 2014. "Rescaling inequality? Welfare reform and local variation in social assistance payments," Working Paper Series 1/2014, Stockholm University, Swedish Institute for Social Research.
    3. Megan M. Reynolds & Ashley M. Fox & Yvette Young, 2021. "State‐level social safety nets for families coping with job loss," Poverty & Public Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(2), pages 121-138, June.
    4. Wagmiller, Robert L. & Lee, Kristen Schultz & Su, Jessica Houston, 2020. "The role of welfare in family income inequality: 1968–2016," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).

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