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

In: The annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Band 586, S. 144-171

Abstract

As a result of the 1996 welfare reform -- Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) -- the number of welfare recipients enrolled in postsecondary education decreased dramatically. The new welfare law also gives states significant discretion to support & 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 & consequences of state variation in access to postsecondary education for disadvantaged individuals. Our cross-state comparison shows that competing ideas about welfare, work & the role of education in the lives of welfare recipients help structure & shape political debates, & 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; & the power of policy "signal" to drive state welfare reform. 1 Table, 48 References. [Copyright 2003 Sage Publications, Inc.]