Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-nr4z6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-01T15:25:07.026Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

President Obama, poverty, and the scope and limits of social policy change

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2020

Alex Waddan
Alex Waddan*
Affiliation:
School of History, Politics and International Relations, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
*
CONTACT Alex Waddan Aw148@leicester.ac.uk School of History, Politics and International Relations, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

There has been a growing discussion in recent years about rising inequality in the U.S. Yet, this discourse, in focusing on the fortunes of the top 1%, distracted attention from the design of policy initiatives aimed at improving socio-economic conditions for the poor. This paper examines the development of anti-poverty politics and policy in the US during the Obama era. It analyses how effective the strategies and programmes adopted were and asks how they fit with models of policy change. The paper illustrates that the Obama administration did adopt an array of anti-poverty measures in the stimulus bill, but these built on existing programmes rather than create new ones and much of the effort was stymied by institutional obstacles. The expansion of the Medicaid program, which was part of the ACA, was also muted by institutional opposition, but it was a more path breaking reform than is often appreciated.

Keywords

United StatesObamapoverty policygreat recessionMedicaid expansion
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy , Volume 35 , Issue 1: SI: Recent Social Policy in Canada and the United States , February 2019 , pp. 96 - 111
Copyright
Copyright © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

AEI/Brookings Working Group on Poverty and Opportunity. (2015). Opportunity, responsibility and security: A consensus plan for reducing poverty and restoring the American dream. The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research and the Brookings Institution. Retrieved from http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/reports/2015/12/aei-brookings-poverty-report/full-report.pdfGoogle Scholar
Allard, S. (2007). The changing face of welfare during the bush administration. Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 37(3), 304–332.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bane, M. J., & Ellwood, D. (1994). Welfare realities: From rhetoric to reform. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Bartels, L. (2016). Unequal democracy: The political economy of the new gilded age (2nd ed.). New York and Princeton, NJ: Russell Sage Foundation and Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Béland, D., Rocco, P., & Waddan, A. (2016). Obamacare wars: Federalism, state politics, and the affordable care act. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.Google Scholar
Béland, D., & Waddan, A. (2017). Why are there no universal social programs in the United States? A historical institutionalist comparison with Canada. World Affairs Journal, 180(1), 64–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blank, R. (2002). Evaluating welfare reform in the United States. Journal of Economic Literature, 40(4), 1105–1166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blank, R. (2008). Presidential address: How to improve poverty measurement in the United States. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 27(2), 233–254.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradley, K., & Rector, R. (2009). Stimulus bill abolishes welfare reform and adds new welfare spending. Washington, D.C.: The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved from https://www.heritage.org/welfare/report/stimulus-bill-abolishes-welfare-reform-and-adds-new-welfare-spendingGoogle Scholar
Campbell, A. L. (2003). How policies make citizens: Senior political activism and the American welfare state. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Capano, G. (2009). Understanding policy change as an epistemological and theoretical problem.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Council of Economic Advisors. (2014). The war on poverty 50 years later: A progress report. Retrieved from https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/docs/50th_anniversary_cea_report_-_final_post_embargo.pdfGoogle Scholar
Daguerre, A. (2008). The second phase of US welfare reform: Blaming the poor again?’ Social Policy and Administration, 42(4), 362–378.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daguerre, A. (2011). US social policy in the 21st century: The difficulties of comprehensive social reform. Social Policy and Administration, 45(4), 389–407.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daguerre, A. (2017). Obama's welfare legacy. Bristol: Policy Press.Google Scholar
Danziger, S. (2010). The decline of cash welfare and implications for social policy and poverty. Annual Review of Sociology, 36, 523–545.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dean, S., & Rosenbaum, D. (2013). SNAP benefits will be cut for nearly all participants in November 2013. Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. Retrieved from https://www.cbpp.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/2-8-13fa.pdfGoogle Scholar
DeParle, J., & Gebeloff, R. (2009, November 29). Food stamp use soars, and stigma fades. The New York Times.Google Scholar
Draplin, D. (2015, September 27). Jeb Bush Defends Comments on Poverty, Says The Left Takes Things Out of Context. The Daily Caller. Retrieved from http://dailycaller.com/2015/09/27/jeb-bush-defends-comments-on-poverty-says-the-left-takes-things-out-of-context/#ixzz41eHibG9lGoogle Scholar
Epstein, R. (2014, February 12). Obama signs minimum wage order. Politico. Retrieved from https://www.politico.com/story/2014/02/miniumum-wage-executive-order-barack-obama-103450Google Scholar
Falk, G., & Crandall-Hollick, M. (2016). The earned income tax credit (EITC): An overview. Congressional Research service. Retrieved from https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43805.pdfGoogle Scholar
Floyd, I., Pavetti, L., & Schott, L. (2017). TANF reaching few poor families. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Retrieved from https://www.cbpp.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/6-16-15tanf.pdfGoogle Scholar
Fording, R., & Smith, J. (2012). Barack Obama's “fight” to end poverty: Rhetoric and reality. Social Science Quarterly, 93(5), 1161–1184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fox, L., Garfinkel, I., Kaushal, N., Waldfogel, J., & Wimer, C. (2014). Waging war on poverty: Historical trends in poverty using the supplemental poverty measure. National Bureau of Economic Research, NBER Working Paper No. 19789, JEL No. I32. Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/papers/w19789.pdfCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garfield, R., & Damico, A. (2017). The coverage gap: Uninsured poor adults in states that do not expand medicaid. Kaiser family Foundation. Retrieved from https://www.kff.org/uninsured/issue-brief/the-coverage-gap-uninsured-poor-adults-in-states-that-do-not-expand-medicaid/Google Scholar
Gilder, G. (1981). Wealth and poverty. New York, NY: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Gilens, M. (1999). Why Americans hate welfare: Race, media and the politics of anti poverty policy. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gitterman, D. (2015). The politics of supporting low-wage workers and families. In Beland, D., Howard, C., & Morgan, K. (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of U.S. Social policy (pp. 373–392). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hacker, J. (2004). Privatizing risk without privatizing the Welfare State: The hidden politics of social policy retrenchment in the United States. American Political Science Review, 98, 243–260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, P. (1993). Policy paradigms, social learning and the state: The case of economic policymaking in Britain. Comparative Politics, 25(3), 275–296.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haveman, R., Blank, R., Moffitt, R., Smeeding, T., & Wallace, G. (2015). The war on poverty: Measurement, trends and policy. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 34(3), 593–638.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holt, S. (2006). The earned income tax credit at 30: What we know. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution.Google Scholar
Howard, C. (1997). The hidden welfare state: Tax expenditures and social policy in the United States. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Jacobs, L., & Skocpol, T. (2010). Health care reform and American politics: What everyone needs to know. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. (2013). Medicaid: A primer. Retrieved from https://kaiserfamilyfoundation.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/7334-05.pdfGoogle Scholar
Kaiser Family Foundation. (2018). State health facts: Medicaid expansion enrollment. Retrieved from https://www.kff.org/health-reform/state-indicator/medicaid-expansion-enrollment/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7DGoogle Scholar
Leibenluft, J. (2015, December 22). The budget agreement permanently expands important tax credits for working families. The White House blog. Retrieved from https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/12/22/tax-agreement-makes-permanent-expansions-important-tax-credits-working-familiesGoogle Scholar
Levitin, M. (2015, June 10th). The triumph of occupy Wall Street. The Atlantic. Retriev ed from https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/06/the-triumph-of-occupy-wall-street/395408/Google Scholar
Mahoney, J., & Thelen, K. (2009). A theory of gradual institutional change. In Mahoney, J. & Thelen, K. (Eds.), Explaining institutional change: Ambiguity, agency and power (pp. 1–37). Oxford: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mead, L. (1988). Beyond entitlement: The social obligations of citizenship. New York, NY: The Free Press.Google Scholar
Mead, L. (2007). Why welfare reform succeeded. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 26(2), 370–374.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mettler, S. (2011). The submerged state: How invisible government policies undermine American democracy. Chicago, IL: Chicago University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murray, C. (1984). Losing ground: American social policy, 1950–1980. New York, NY: The Free Press.Google Scholar
Myles, J., & Pierson, P. (1997). Friedman's revenge: The reform of ‘liberal’ welfare states in Canada and the United States. Politics and Society, 25(4), 443–472.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Obama, B. (2014, January 8). Statement by the president on the 50th Anniversary of the War on Poverty, The White House, Office of the Press Secretary. Retrieved from https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2014/01/08/statement-president-50th-anniversary-war-povertyGoogle Scholar
Oberlander, J., & Weaver, R. K. (2015). Unraveling from within? The affordable care act and self-undermining policy feedbacks. The Forum, 13(1), 37–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olson, L. K. (2010). The politics of Medicaid. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parrott, S., & Sherman, A. (2007). TANF's results are more mixed than is often understood. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 26(2), 374–381.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
PBS News Now. (2008, July 25). A transcript: John Edwards’ war on poverty. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/429/transcript.htmlGoogle Scholar
Picketty, T. (2014). Capital in the twenty first century. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quadagno, J., & Street, D. (2006). Recent trends in U.S. Social welfare policy: Minor retrenchment of major transformation. Research on Aging, 28(3), 303–316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reagan, R. (1986, February 15). Radio address to the nation on welfare reform. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. Retrieved from http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=36875Google Scholar
Remnick, D. (2014, January 27). Going the distance: On and off the road with Barack Obama. New Yorker. Retrieved from http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/01/27/going-the-distance-david-remnickGoogle Scholar
Rubin, R., & Morath, E. (2016, February 2). Obama, Ryan See Potential for a Tax-Policy Compromise. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://www.wsj.com/articles/obama-ryan-see-potential-for-a-tax-policy-compromise-1454417318Google Scholar
Sherman, A. (2011a). The 2009 recovery act – Even better in preventing poverty than we thought. Washington, DC: Center on Budget and Policy priorities. Retrieved from http://www.cbpp.org/blog/the-2009-recovery-act-even-better-in-preventing-poverty-than-we-thoughtGoogle Scholar
Sherman, A. (2011b). Poverty and financial distress would have been substantially worse in 2010 without government action, census data show. Washington, DC: Center on Budget and Policy priorities. Retrieved from https://www.cbpp.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/11-7-11pov.pdfGoogle Scholar
Sherman, A. (2016). Obama's, and the safety net's, anti-poverty achievement. Retrieved from https://www.cbpp.org/blog/obamas-and-the-safety-nets-anti-poverty-achievementGoogle Scholar
Skocpol, T., & Jacobs, L. (2011). Reaching for a new deal. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Social Security Administration. (2005). Annual statistical supplement, 2005. Retrieved from https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/supplement/2005/9g.htmlGoogle Scholar
Spar, K., & Falk, G. (2016). Federal benefits and services for people with low income: Overview of spending trends, FY 2008-FY2015, Congressional Research Service.Google Scholar
Starr, P. (2018). Achievement without credit. In Zelizer, J. (Ed.), The presidency of Barack Obama: A first historical assessment (pp. 45–61). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Steinmo, S., & Watts, J. (1995). It's the institutions stupid: Why the United States can't pass comprehensive national health insurance. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 20(2), 329–372.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sykes, J., Kriz, K., Edin, K., & Helpern-Meekin, S. (2015). Dignity and dreams: What the earned income tax credit (EITC) means to low-income families. American Sociological Review, 80(2), 243–267.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, D. (2016, September 26). Thanks, Obama. The Atlantic. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/09/obamas-war-on-inequality/501620/Google Scholar
U.S. Census Bureau. (2012). What is the supplemental poverty measure and how does it differ from the official measure? Retrieved from http://blogs.census.gov/2012/11/08/what-is-the-supplemental-poverty-measure-and-how-does-it-differ-from-the-official-measure/Google Scholar
U.S Census Bureau. (2017) Historical poverty tables – People, poverty status by family relationship, race and Hispanic Origin, 2017. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/historical-poverty-people.htmlGoogle Scholar
Waddan, A. (2013). Health care reform after the supreme court: Even more known unknowns. Health Economics, Policy and Law, 8(1), 139–143.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weaver, R. K. (2000). Ending welfare as we know It. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.Google Scholar
Weinberg, J. (2013). The great recession and its aftermath. Federal Reserve History. Retrieved from https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/great_recession_and_its_aftermathGoogle Scholar
White House. (2012, May 1). The Obama administration and community health centers. The White House. Retrieved from https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/05-01-12_community_health_center_report.pdfGoogle Scholar
White House. (2016, January 16). FACT SHEET: Improving Economic Security by Strengthening and Modernizing the Unemployment Insurance System. The White House, Office of the Press Secretary. Retrieved from https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/01/16/fact-sheet-improving-economic-security-strengthening-and-modernizingGoogle Scholar
Zedlewski, S., Clark, S., Meier, E., & Watson, K. (1996). Potential effects of congressional welfare reform legislation on family incomes. The Urban Institute. Retrieved from https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/67221/406622-Potential-Effects-of-Congressional-Welfare-Reform-Legislation-on-Family-Incomes.pdfGoogle Scholar