chapter 17 social policy. three goals of american social policy: 1. help people deal with life’s...

Chapter 17

Social Policy

Social Policy

Social Policy

Three goals of American social policy:

1. Help people deal with life’s hazards when they are incapable of doing so on their own.

• Examples: Staying out of poverty during old age or short-term unemployment, remaining independent when disabled

2. Promote equality of opportunity• Primarily as means to long-term economic benefits to

entire society when more are educated, employed

3. Alleviate poverty

Social Policy

• Trace history of welfare state in the U.S.– Public programs designed to help the poor

• Identify how specific policies designed to promote equal opportunity– Education, health, housing

• Contributory and Noncontributory programs

The History of the Social Welfare System

Foundations of the Welfare State

• Social policy before New Deal (1935)• Limited and mostly local

– Charities central role

• Goal often to reform poor people– Make self-sustaining in some form if possible

• Little attention to the systemic causes of poverty (education and health in particular)

The Welfare State

• Early programs distinguished between “Deserving” vs. “Undeserving” poor

• Those perceived as unable to help themselves and those who were lazy

• Programs created to aid “deserving” poor– Orphanages, schools for the deaf and blind– “Mothers’ pensions” for widows with children– Veterans’ pensions for disabled veterans

• Indoor relief– Assistance provided to a recipient housed in an institution

(a settlement house, hospital, prison or police station, or poorhouse)

• Outdoor relief– Assistance provided to a recipient who lived independently

The Welfare State

The History of the Social Welfare System

The Welfare State

• Americanization programs• First large social programs were developed to benefit

waves of European immigrants• Designed to promote both good health and good

citizenship• Assistance was discriminatory.

– Black people found it impossible to receive assistance.– Asian immigrants were excluded.

• The Great Depression– National unemployment reaches 20 percent.– Scale far too large for charities to manage– Millions of able-bodied, intellectually able, skilled people

without jobs or savings. – Perceptions of “deserving” and “undeserving” poor

shattered, if not dramatically altered

The Welfare State


• Contributory programs: financed in whole or in part by taxes or other mandatory contributions by present or future recipients– Tend to be popular– People think of as earned benefits because they have paid

into these programs.• Social Security and Medicare

– Not to be confused with Medicaid

How Do We Pay for the Welfare State?


• For Social Security and Medicare (health insurance for the elderly), workers and their employers contribute equally from each paycheck.– Social Security benefits are tied to contributions.– Medicare benefits are equal for all; not tied to

contributions.

• Social Security benefits are indexed.– Amounts reflect cost of living and inflation.

• Otherwise, benefit would be depleted by those changes.– Each year, a cost-of-living adjustment is calculated.

• 2010 and 2011 no increases, resumed in 2012 though


• Noncontributory programs– Benefits based on demonstrated need rather than any

contributions made– Programs in this category widely called “welfare” or “public

assistance”

• Must demonstrate need via means tests– Federal poverty line determines whether individuals and

families qualify for such benefits.


• Medicaid– Health insurance for the poor– Federal government provides matching funds to states– Payments to health care providers are lower than what

they would receive from other insurers.• Note: doctors and hospitals do not have to take

Medicaid patients


• Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF)– Several benefits fall under TANF

• Income, education subsidies/discounts, job training programs, and others varied by states

• Role of states– Set additional standards for any additional state benefits

above and beyond the federal baseline


Welfare Caseload, 1976–2011

WHO ARE AMERICANS?

Who Benefits from Social Programs?

CHAPTER 17

WHO ARE AMERICANS?

Number of Recipients, 2009

* 2010 data

SOURCES: U.S. Census Bureau, 2012 Statistical Abstract; Office of Management and Budget, Fiscal Year 2013 Historical Tables.

CO

NT

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Y P

RO

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AM

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12.96 million Unemployment compensation

52.5 million Old-Age, Survivors, & Disability Insurance

46.6 million Medicare

(in millions)

WHO ARE AMERICANS?

Number of Recipients, 2009

(in millions)

* 2010 data

SOURCES: U.S. Census Bureau, 2012 Statistical Abstract; Office of Management and Budget, Fiscal Year 2013 Historical Tables.

NO

NC

ON

TR

IBU

TO

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PR

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MS7.7 million Supplementary Security Income

(for aged, blind, disabled)

33.5 million SNAP (Food Stamps)

7.7 million State Children’s Health Insurance Program*

61.825 million Medicaid

31.3 million School Lunch Program

4.193 million Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)

3.9 million Veterans Benefits Payments

WHO ARE AMERICANS?

Public Welfare Programs, 2011

SOURCES: Congressional Budget Office, “Trends in the Distribution of Household Income between 1979 and 2007,” October 25, 2011, www.cbo.gov/publication/42729; Jon Bajika, et al., “Jobs and Income Growth of Top Earners and the Causes of Changing Income Inequality,” 2012, http://web.williams.edu/Economics/wp/BakijaColeHeimJobsIncomeGrowthTopEarners.pdf (both accessed 5/23/12).

(in billions)

$724.174 billion Retirement and disability insurance benefits

$913.038 billion Medical Payments

WHO ARE AMERICANS?

Public Welfare Programs, 2011

SOURCES: Congressional Budget Office, “Trends in the Distribution of Household Income between 1979 and 2007,” October 25, 2011, www.cbo.gov/publication/42729; Jon Bajika, et al., “Jobs and Income Growth of Top Earners and the Causes of Changing Income Inequality,” 2012, http://web.williams.edu/Economics/wp/BakijaColeHeimJobsIncomeGrowthTopEarners.pdf (both accessed 5/23/12).

(in billions)

$188.405 billionIncome maintenance benefits

$118.607 billionUnemployment insurance benefits

$107.776 billionVeterans benefits

$58.565 billionFederal education and training assistance

$2.8 billion Other

WHO ARE AMERICANS?


• AFDC/TANF unpopular among voters, elected officials, and those who do not receive it

• 1996 Welfare reform changes– Five-year lifetime limit (not more than two years at a time)– Work or education/training requirement for adults

• Entire household can lose funds if kids skip school– Less cash assistance: 70%+ of TANF funds are *not* cash

or direct payments to recipients)

Note: above practices have been in place over 15 years now.


• Most expenses for the welfare state come from increases in Social Security and Medicare.– Both programs for the elderly– 57 percent of the federal budget is spent on entitlement

programs


Opening Opportunity

• Additional programs and policies designed to promote equality of opportunity (not outcome)- Education - Health

- Housing - Employment

• Path to economic prosperity– Grew out of depression-era focus on targeting factors

causally related to poverty

• Funds most often support, not cover, entire costs for these efforts

Opening Opportunity

• Education– Public education intended to provide workforce with solid

foundation of skills and knowledge– Traditionally funded by states and local districts– Federal government still spends billions on education:

financial aid, research grants, supporting programs in K–12 and college/universities

Education Policies

Opening Opportunity

• Goals of employment and training programs1. Prepare or retrain workers to fill openings

2. Create work when private sector cannot

• United States funds these programs at a lower rate relative to education spending– Schools generally viewed as the locus for training, and

job placement– Government monies for such programs often filtered into

schools

The American Health Care Systemin Comparison

Public Health

• Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act (2010)– Covers Americans without existing insurance– Three components:

• State-based insurance exchanges, can’t deny coverage• Requires uninsured to purchase health insurance• Subsidies for small businesses and low-income people

– Gradual phase in, full implementation by 2020– 2012 Supreme Court upholds PPAHCA

Public Health

• Other health-related institutions providing benefits, grants, programs, other support in medical research, services and information:– National Institutes of Health (NIH)– Centers for Disease Control (CDC)– Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

• Local health inspectors monitor restaurants and grocery stores to ensure sanitary conditions.

Health Care Reform

Housing Policies

Housing Policies

• Housing policy: spending focus on promoting homeownership, not housing for poor– Low down payment terms (3 percent)

– Generous repayment terms (30 years+)

– Favorable interest rates

– Home mortgage interest tax deduction

• Section 8 housing vouchers: discounts rent– Alternative to public housing projects

• Projects far more expensive to build, maintain, and manage

Who Gets What from Social Policy?

• The elderly and the middle class receive far more in benefits per person than do the poor or children.

• Groups and social policy, public spending- Elderly - Middle class

- Working poor - Unemployed poor

- Minorities, women, and children

(Of course, minorities and women fall into all of the above categories as well)


• The elderly– Social Security and Medicaid

• Have lifted many of the elderly out of poverty– In 1959, 35 percent of elderly were poor.– In 2008, 9.7 percent were poor.

• Medicaid is extremely good medical insurance.


• Why are programs for the elderly so strong?– Seen as deserving – Contributory– Vote in very high percentages– Powerful lobbying arm in AARP


• The middle class– Elderly can receive government benefits even if their

children can afford to pay for the benefits on the private market.

– “Shadow welfare state”• Tax expenditures for employer-provided benefits• Mortgage interest deductions

The Working Poor


• The working poor– Earn too much to qualify for welfare programs– Highly unlikely to own a home– The jobs they hold provide very limited, if any, health care

or retirement plan options.• Part-time jobs, even if they hold several of them, most

often do not make such benefits available or affordable.– Two programs may apply to this group:

• Earned Income Tax Credit, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps)


• Not working poor (and some working poor)– Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF)– SNAP– Medicaid– Programs typically aimed at helping children

Many working poor who earn very little qualify for the above benefits.


• Federal poverty definitions (2010)– One parent, two children, annual income <$18k– Two adults, two children, annual income < $22k

• 2010 Census: poverty by household type– 32% of all single-mother households in poverty– 16% of all single-father households in poverty– 6% of all two-adult households in poverty

• 22% of all children are poor

• Poverty rates by race/ethnicity (2010 Census)– 10% of all whites in the U.S. are poor– 12% of all Asian Americans in the U.S. are poor– 27% of all Latinos in the U.S. are poor– 27% of all African Americans in the U.S. are poor

More data on poverty and demographics: www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/


• The welfare to work dilemma– Child care is often more expensive per hour than the

wages workers earn.– Good social policy design makes recipients better off by

working.


Public Opinion Poll

Should public schools at the K–12 level remain publicly

funded through state and local taxes? Or, should public

schools be eliminated such that all students/families

pay tuition to the school of their choice (and price

range)?

a) Keep K–12 public education funded by taxpayers

b) End public education funding; all students/families pay tuition to attend school K–12

Public Opinion Poll

Should welfare benefits—in terms of programs and

direct payments to recipients—be the same in all

states?

a) Yes, all states should address poverty in the same way, using only federal funds and programs.

b) No, states should be able to address poverty in a manner they think is appropriate, adding state-level programs and funds if they wish to do so.

Public Opinion Poll

Should people who decide not to buy health insurance

still receive medical treatment in the event of an

emergency?

a) Yes, people without insurance should still get medical care in the event of an emergency.

b) No, people who decide not to pay for insurance should not get medical services.

Public Opinion Poll

Should the federal government spend more to make

college education more affordable?

a) Yes, government should spend more on college education to make it more affordable.

b) No, keep spending as is, no increase or decrease.

c) Government should cut spending on college education, cutting current levels.

Public Opinion Poll

Should the federal government encourage marriage as

a means to reduce poverty?

a) Yes, the government should encourage marriage to diminish national poverty rates.

b) The government should stay out of such personal matters and should neither encourage or discourage marriage

Chapter 17: Social Policy

• Quizzes• Flashcards• Outlines• Exercises

wwnorton.com/we-the-people

http://www.wwnorton.com/college/polisci/we-the-people8/texas/ch/17/studyplan.aspx

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Health Policy

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