© 2015 Kasey Lansberry All Rights Reserved
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© 2015 KASEY LANSBERRY ALL RIGHTS RESERVED THE INTERSECTION OF GENDER, RACE, AND PLACE IN WELFARE PARTICIPATION: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF WELFARE-TO-WORK PROGRAMS IN OHIO AND NORTH CAROLINA COUNTIES A Dissertation Presented to The Graduate Faculty at the University of Akron In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Kasey D. Lansberry August, 2015 THE INTERSECTION OF GENDER, RACE, AND PLACE IN WELFARE PARTICIPATION: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF WELFARE-TO-WORK PROGRAMS IN OHIO AND NORTH CAROLINA COUNTIES Kasey Lansberry Dissertation Approved: Accepted: ________________________________ ____________________________________ Advisor Department Chair Dr. Tiffany Taylor Dr. Matthew Lee ________________________________ ____________________________________ Co-Advisor or Faculty Reader Dean of the College Dr. Kathryn Feltey Dr. Chand Midha ________________________________ ____________________________________ Committee Member Interim Dean of the Graduate School Dr. Adrianne Frech Dr. Chand Midha ________________________________ ____________________________________ Committee Member Date Dr. Janette Dill ________________________________ Committee Member Dr. Nicole Rousseau ________________________________ Committee Member Dr. Pamela Schulze ii ABSTRACT Welfare participation has been a longstanding issue of public debate for over the past 50 years, however participation remains largely understudied in welfare literature. Various public policies, racial discrimination, the war on poverty, fictitious political depictions of the “welfare queen”, and a call for more stringent eligibility requirements all led up to the passage of welfare reform in the 1990s creating the new Temporary Aid for Needy Families (TANF) program. Under the new welfare program, work requirements and time limits narrowed the field of eligibility. The purpose of this research is to examine the factors that influence US welfare participation rates among the eligible poor in 2010. By analyzing demographic data in all 100 counties in North Carolina and 88 counties in Ohio, I examine a number of factors associated with Welfare- to-work participation rates among those financially eligible. I include additional specified examinations focusing on predominantly White counties (OH n=24; NC n=10) in chapter 4, versus the more racially diverse counties (OH n=64; NC n=90) in chapter 3. I find that in each state (Ohio and North Carolina) there are different factors associated with participation rates among the eligible poor. The spatial inequalities between counties within states, and between states, vary in association with welfare-to-work participation. These findings have implications at the federal, state, and county level in regards to welfare policies that would be beneficial to truly providing aid to those in need at the local level. iii DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this dissertation to my sons, Justice and Kamdyn. This process would have never been so difficult or so beautifully simple without your love. I wouldn’t change a thing. Everything I do is for you both. Thank you for being my heart and constant motivation. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge and thank my advisor, Dr. Tiffany Taylor, for all of the time and support that she spent with me throughout this process. She has been supportive of me like no one else has. Tiffany’s excellent feedback on countless revisions, her words of encouragement, the kick in the butt I always needed, and even her willingness to watch my children so I could get some writing done are what truly helped get me through. This dissertation, very literally, would not have been possible without her guidance and support. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. ix LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................x CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................1 Statement of Problem........................................................................................1 Literature Review .................................................................................................4 Welfare Program Overview ..............................................................................5 Spatial Inequality and Welfare Participation ....................................................6 Intersectionality of Gender, Race, and Class ....................................................9 Labor Market Discrimination and Welfare Participation ...............................11 Gender and the Labor Market .........................................................................11 Racism and Labor Market Discrimination .....................................................13 Welfare Recipients Experience of the Paid Labor Market .............................14 Ruralness, Whiteness, and Welfare Participation ...........................................15 Research Design .................................................................................................16 Measures .........................................................................................................17 Analytic Strategy ............................................................................................21 II. A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF OHIO AND NORTH CAROLINA WELFARE-TO-WORK PARTICIPATION RATES ..............................................23 vi Introduction .....................................................................................................23 Literature Review ...............................................................................................25 The Gendered and Raced Aspects of Welfare-to-Work .................................27 Methods ..............................................................................................................30 Measures .........................................................................................................32 Analytic Strategy ............................................................................................38 Results .................................................................................................................39 Discussion ...........................................................................................................45 III. LABOR MARKET DISCRIMINATION AND WELFARE-TO-WORK PARTICIPATION ....................................................................................................51 Introduction .........................................................................................................51 Literature Review ...............................................................................................52 Spatial Inequality Theory ................................................................................53 Gender Inequalities and the Paid Labor Market .............................................54 Race and Labor Market Discrimination ..........................................................57 Spatial Inequality, Intersectionality, Welfare and Labor Market Discrimination .................................................................................................59 Methods .............................................................................................................60 Measures .........................................................................................................62 Analytic Strategy ............................................................................................70 Results .................................................................................................................73 Discussion ...........................................................................................................77 County-level Characteristics and Welfare Participation .................................78 Gendered and Raced Impacts on Welfare-to-Work Participation ..................80 vii IV. WELFARE-TO-WORK PARTICIPATION RATES IN THE CONTEXT OF WHITE, RURAL POVERTY ..................................................................................84 Introduction .........................................................................................................84 Literature Review ...............................................................................................85 Ruralness and Spatial Inequality Theory ........................................................86 White Othering, Poverty, and Welfare Stigma ...............................................89 Methods ..............................................................................................................91 Measures .........................................................................................................92 Analytic Strategy ..........................................................................................100 Results ...............................................................................................................100 Discussion .........................................................................................................107 V. CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................113 Chapter 2: A Comparative Analysis of Ohio and North Carolina Welfare- to-Work Participation Rates..............................................................................114