State-Level Perspectives on Welfare Reform and Women?s Poverty.

Autor: Elliott, Diana B.
Předmět:
Zdroj: Conference Papers - American Sociological Association; 2004 Annual Meeting, San Francisco, p1-20, 22p, 4 Charts
Abstrakt: With the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) in 1996, states gained greater latitude in administering welfare policies. While some federal guidelines remained, states created their own policies, budgets, and programs resulting in considerable variation from state to state. Despite these dramatic state-level changes, few researchers have investigated how these state-level policies may be linked to variations in poverty rates. In this paper, I analyze two research questions related to state policy variations and women?s poverty. First, does the strictness of state-level welfare policies exacerbate women?s poverty? Second, which policies matter most for women?s poverty? By employing hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) techniques, I found that states with stricter policies on work requirements and financial incentives to work had significantly higher rates of women?s poverty. The strictness of state policies on time limits was not significantly related to greater rates of women?s poverty. The findings in this paper suggest a very real and detrimental effect of the strictness of state level welfare policies upon women?s poverty rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Databáze: Supplemental Index