The Obama administration's record on inequality and poverty has been disappointing to many on the Left (Press, 2016). In particular, hopes of a ‘transformational presidency’ that would set the US welfare state on a new trajectory have not materialized. This said, a case for modest yet substantial achievements can be made. The verdict on Obama's welfare legacy is that it is a mixed record. There has been some real progress in terms of antipoverty policy, in particular, with the Recovery Act and the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). These achievements are now under threat. The Trump administration and Congress are determined to undo the redistributive provisions of ‘Obamacare’ and to shrink the size of the federal government. Obama's achievements are going to look much better now that Americans rediscover what radical retrenchment looks like.

Congress enacted Obama's flagship social policies – the Recovery Act and the ACA – during the first two years of Obama's presidency. Divided government and systematic Republican obstruction characterized the remainder of Obama's two terms. Despite these obstacles, Obama's second term has been marked by a series of achievements, some big and some modest. A big achievement was the implementation of the ACA. Relatively modest achievements included the modernization of training and active labor market programs with the reauthorization of the Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Work Investment Opportunity Act in 2014. Table 5.1 provides an overview of the most important social policy initiatives during Obama's terms.

The antipoverty impact of the Recovery Act

The devastating effect of the Great Recession between 2007 and 2009 cannot be overstated. In 2010, the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) stated that more than one in six potential workers were either unemployed or underemployed. Long-term unemployment – measured by an unemployment spell of 12 months – had also grown. The unemployment rate for white people was 9.4% but it exceeded 16% for black people and was nearly 13% for Hispanics, mirroring the disproportionate impact of the recession on these ethnic groups in past recessions (CEA, 2010: 214–15). Moreover, the economic crisis accentuated a long-term decline in labor participation rates among prime-age males (aged 25–54).