Since the welfare reform in 1996, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) research has been centered on the debate with
respect to whether states given more independence to make their own choices after 1996, have engaged in a competitive "race to the bottom"
to reduce benefits for needy people. Despite the mixed empirical findings, the race to the bottom (RTB) debate in TANF is still a popular
subject due to the states’ adoption of more severe sanctions, more stringent eligibility, and the overall decline in TANF caseloads. While
discussing the race to the bottom in TANF, little attention was given to the impact of the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of 2005, which
caused significant changes in policy related to implementing TANF. Studies have not been undertaken to determine how states responded to
the DRA, not only to meet the tougher requirements but also to serve an increasing number of needy people who were the least likely to be
assisted through TANF, were it not for states’ strategic plans (e.g., creating solely state funded programs and creating/extending worker
supplement programs). This study seeks to test the impact of states’ policy responses to the DRA on the TANF work participation rates, an
official performance indicator of TANF. In order to empirically test this, a multivariate model is introduced to reveal the differences in
TANF performances between states that actively responded to the DRA by adopting programs for more lenient coverage (i.e., worker
supplement programs and solely state funded programs) and implementing severe sanctions for noncompliance with work requirements, and
those that did not. The dataset is a balanced panel, consisting of fifty states over a 7-year period (2007-2013). The test results show
that states implementing worker supplement programs achieve higher TANF performance than states without them. Also, we find that sanction
effects may be much larger than we have known given that states sanctioning entire families and/or imposing harsh disqualification on SNAP
for failure to comply with TANF work requirements are more likely to show higher performance in TANF work participation rates. Unlike our
expectation, states’ generous stance in welfare programs does not affect achieving higher TANF performance. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Public Administration and Policy in partial fulfillment
of the Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester 2016. / October 4, 2016. / Includes bibliographical references. / Frances S. Berry, Professor Directing Dissertation; Carol Weissert, Committee Member; Kaifeng
Yang, Committee Member; Keon-Hyung Lee, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_405591 |
| Contributors | Kim, Na Yeon (authoraut), Berry, Frances Stokes (professor directing dissertation), Weissert, Carol S. (committee member), Yang, Kaifeng (committee member), Lee, Keon-Hyung (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Social Sciences and Public Policy (degree granting college), School of Public Administration and Policy (degree granting departmentdgg) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource (105 pages), computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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