IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/anname/v586y2003i1p144-171.html

Work-First or Work-Only: Welfare Reform, State Policy, and Access to Postsecondary Education

Author

Listed:
  • Christopher Mazzeo
  • Sara Rab
  • Susan Eachus

Abstract

As a result of the 1996 welfare reform—Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF)—the number of welfare recipients enrolled in postsecondary education has decreased dramatically. The new welfare law also gives states significant discretion to support and even promote postsecondary education for low-income adults; consequently, state policies regarding access vary widely. This study uses qualitative data from three states to examine the sources and consequences of state variation in access to postsecondary education for disadvantaged individuals. Our cross-state comparison shows that competing ideas about welfare, work and the role of education in the lives of welfare recipients help structure and shape political debates, and policy outcomes, in the each of the states. Ideas influenced policies via four key channels: the state human service agency; advocacy organizations; the persistence of the “work-first†idea within implementation processes; and the power of policy “signals†to drive state welfare reform.

Suggested Citation

  • Christopher Mazzeo & Sara Rab & Susan Eachus, 2003. "Work-First or Work-Only: Welfare Reform, State Policy, and Access to Postsecondary Education," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 586(1), pages 144-171, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:586:y:2003:i:1:p:144-171
    DOI: 10.1177/0095399702250212
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0095399702250212
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0095399702250212?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kane, Thomas J & Rouse, Cecilia Elena, 1995. "Labor-Market Returns to Two- and Four-Year College," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(3), pages 600-614, June.
    2. Michael R. Mills & Adrienne E. Hyle, 2001. "No Rookies on Rookies," The Journal of Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 72(4), pages 453-477, July.
    3. Levy, Frank & Murnane, Richard J, 1992. "U.S. Earnings Levels and Earnings Inequality: A Review of Recent Trends and Proposed Explanations," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 30(3), pages 1333-1381, September.
    4. Marcia K. Meyers & Janet C. Gornick & Laura R. Peck, 2001. "Packaging Support for Low-Income Families: Policy Variation across the United States," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(3), pages 457-483.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Richard J. Murnane & John B. Willett & Kathryn Parker Boudett, 1999. "Do Male Dropouts Benefit from Obtaining a GED, Postsecondary Education, and Training?," Evaluation Review, , vol. 23(5), pages 475-503, October.
    2. Linda Datcher Loury, 1997. "The Gender Earnings Gap among College-Educated Workers," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 50(4), pages 580-593, July.
    3. Dave E. Marcotte, 2019. "The Returns to Education at Community Colleges: New Evidence from the Education Longitudinal Survey," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 14(4), pages 523-547, Fall.
    4. Norton Grubb, W., 1997. "The returns to education in the sub-baccalaureate labor market, 1984-1990," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 231-245, June.
    5. Norton Grubb, W., 1995. "Postsecondary education and the sub-baccalaureate labor market: Corrections and extensions," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 285-299, September.
    6. Bruce, Donald J. & Carruthers, Celeste K., 2014. "Jackpot? The impact of lottery scholarships on enrollment in Tennessee," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 30-44.
    7. David Thacher, 2004. "The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Robbed: Inequality in U.S. Criminal Victimization, 1974–2000," Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 89-116, June.
    8. Rey, Sergio, 2015. "Bells in Space: The Spatial Dynamics of US Interpersonal and Interregional Income Inequality," MPRA Paper 69482, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Battisti, Michele & Gatto, Massimo Del & Parmeter, Christopher F., 2022. "Skill-biased technical change and labor market inefficiency," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    10. Slemrod, Joel, 1998. "Methodological Issues in Measuring and Interpreting Taxable Income Elasticities," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 51(n. 4), pages 773-88, December.
    11. Paul Contoyannis & John Wildman, 2007. "Using relative distributions to investigate the body mass index in England and Canada," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(9), pages 929-944, September.
    12. Attanasio, Orazio & Davis, Steven J, 1996. "Relative Wage Movements and the Distribution of Consumption," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(6), pages 1227-1262, December.
    13. Casanova, Luis. & Alejo, Javier., 2015. "El efecto de la negociación colectiva sobre la distribución de los ingresos laborales evidencia empírica para Argentina en los años dos mil," ILO Working Papers 994875473402676, International Labour Organization.
    14. Longmire, Jim, 1995. "Changing Structure and Location of Australian Agriculture," 1995 Conference (39th), February 14-16, 1995, Perth, Australia 148803, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    15. Wayne A. Grove & Andrew Hussey, 2011. "Returns To Field Of Study Versus School Quality: Mba Selection On Observed And Unobserved Heterogeneity," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 49(3), pages 730-749, July.
    16. Matthew Higgins & Daniel Levy & Andrew T. Young, 2003. "Growth and Convergence across the US: Evidence from County-Level Data," Working Papers 2003-03, Bar-Ilan University, Department of Economics.
    17. Alena Bicakova & Guido Matias Cortes & Kelly Foley & Jacopo Mazza & Peter McHenry, 2025. "Unpacking the Countercyclicality of Post-Secondary Enrollment in the United States," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp795, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    18. Gordon Jong & Deborah Graefe & Tanja St. Pierre, 2005. "Welfare reform and interstate migration of poor families," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 42(3), pages 469-496, August.
    19. Joseph Francois & Douglas R. Nelson, 2000. "Victims of Progress: Economic Integration, Specialization, and Wages for Unskilled Labor," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 00-065/2, Tinbergen Institute.
    20. Stenberg, Anders & Westerlund, Olle, 2016. "Flexibility at a cost – Should governments stimulate tertiary education for adults?," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 7(C), pages 69-86.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:586:y:2003:i:1:p:144-171. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.