Programs for the Poor

POSC 459 — Social Welfare Politics and Policy
Week 6 · Monday, September 28

Campbell chs. 1–3 · Howard ch. 5 · Desmond ch. 5

Today

  1. Which of these is welfare?
  2. Campbell: one family, two tiers
  3. Howard: favorite sons, political orphans
  4. Desmond: the welfare we don't call welfare
  5. Paper 2: the question, the rules, your thesis
  6. Wednesday: no class, an exercise instead

This week
Wed 9/30 No class. At-home exercise, due 11:59 p.m.
Thu 10/1 No office hour. Email me.
Fri 10/2 Paper 2 due 11:59 p.m.

Which of these is welfare?

SNAP (food stamps)

The EITC (a tax credit for low-wage workers)

The mortgage interest deduction

Tax-free employer health insurance

Pell Grants

Dave and Marcella

  • Campbell's brother and sister-in-law
  • Married 2010, Northern California
  • Dave: shop manager, $39,000, no health insurance (p. 3)
  • 2012: an accident. Marcella paralyzed, son born early
  • Overnight: the bottom tier (p. 2)

Down the rabbit hole

The rule What it meant
Income: keep $2,100 of $3,250 a month "a 100 percent tax on Dave's earnings" (p. 16)
Assets: $3,150, total No savings, no 401(k), no college fund (p. 17)
Family help A gift counts as income (p. 16)

"Dave and Marcella must stay poor, forever." (p. 16)

Campbell's tiers (ch. 3)

Tier Examples
Private: employer benefits, tax-subsidized Health insurance, pensions
Social insurance Social Security, SSDI, Medicare
Social assistance: means-tested Medicaid, SSI, SNAP, TANF

"Which protections we enjoy depends on whether we work, and for whom." (p. 31)

Same injury, three tiers

If the person hurt were Tier Monthly support
Marcella Social assistance SSI + Medi-Cal, $3,150 asset cap
Dave Social insurance SSDI, $1,267 (p. 50)
Campbell Private + social insurance 60% of salary (SSDI + employer plan) + $864 (p. 52)

Same loss, different program

A husband leaves → AFDC/TANF

A husband dies → Social Security survivors' benefits

Joe Soss, quoted in Campbell, p. 56

Is that deservingness, or design?

1981: who took the cuts

Program Cut by 1984
Social Security 1.5%
AFDC (welfare) 16%
Food Stamps 19%

Means-tested programs: under 15% of the budget, 70% of the cuts

Howard, pp. 92–93

Then the EITC took off

1985 1990 2000
Families (millions) 7.4 12.5 19.3
Cost (billions, 2000 $) — < 10 > 32

"No other U.S. social program grew faster" (p. 99)

Two kinds of means-tested program

Favorite sons Political orphans
Medicaid AFDC (welfare)
EITC Food Stamps
Housing, job training

Howard, p. 92

Why? What Howard rules out

  • The policy tool (grant vs. tax credit)
  • Cash vs. services
  • Who delivers it
  • Which agency runs it
  • Divided government

pp. 100–101

Why? What holds up

  • Hidden in giant budget bills
    "You can't hit what you can't see" (p. 101)
  • Sweeteners in deficit deals
  • Champions inside Congress (Waxman)
  • Framing: "anything except welfare" (p. 103)

Howard's recipe (p. 107)

  1. Change things a little at a time
  2. Avoid the spotlight
  3. Say it is not welfare
  4. Pitch it differently to different audiences

His caveat: "two formulas for success, not one"

The case that breaks the recipe

Head Start serves young children.

It did not grow like the EITC.

"What's not to like? There must be something" (p. 108)

Desmond: the poor avoid welfare

Program Eligible people who take it
TANF about 1 in 4 families apply
SNAP, older adults 48%
EITC 1 in 5 don't claim it: $17.3 billion a year

Unclaimed aid, five programs: nearly $142 billion a year (p. 90)

"The American poor are terrible at being welfare dependent." (p. 90)

Who gets the most help?

2020
Homeowner tax subsidies $193 billion
Direct housing aid, low-income families $53 billion

Mortgage interest deduction, by income (p. 101):

Under $20,000 Over $200,000
$4 million $15.5 billion

Why doesn't it feel like welfare?

Desmond's three answers:

  1. It's invisible. A tax break doesn't arrive as a check
  2. "They deserve it." He rejects this one (p. 99)
  3. "We like it." (p. 101)

Back to the start: which of these is welfare?

Program Share of Americans
SNAP 14%
EITC 19%
Employer health insurance, tax-free almost half

"We're all on the dole." (p. 92)

Paper 2

Is "deservingness" an explanation, or a label for the outcome?

The prompt, in plain terms

Deservingness: the idea that some people have earned help (workers, children, the old, the disabled) and others have not

Pick one:

  • It explains. Then it predicts something. Say what, and test it on a case.
  • It doesn't. Then something else does the work. Name it.

The readings for Paper 2

  • Howard, ch. 5
  • Campbell, chs. 1–3
  • Desmond, ch. 5

Use at least one. Gitterman is optional.

The rules
Length About 600 words
Evidence One specific claim from a reading, with a page number
Position Take a side. Both sides = partial credit
Citation (Howard, 2007, p. 103). No title page, no reference list
AI Yellow. Last sentence: what tool, what for
Due Fri 10/2, 11:59 p.m., Canvas file upload

What cost points on Paper 1

  • No page number
  • A reading claim stated in general terms
  • Never answering the question asked
  • Summary instead of a position

Pairs: write one sentence

Deservingness does / does not explain ______,

because ______ (Author, year, p. __).

10 minutes · then three pairs read theirs

Wednesday: run a household through the safety net

  • No class. Click through the Week 6 Wednesday slides on Canvas
  • Run one hypothetical household through two benefit screeners
  • Screenshots + 150–250 words
  • 10 points (participation) · due Wed 11:59 p.m.
Last name Household
A–H A: single parent, two kids
I–R B: married couple, one child
S–Z C: full-time CSUF student

By 2:15 you should be able to say

Programs for the poor can thrive: the EITC did.

Friday's question: does deservingness explain that, or just name it?