Holes in the Safety Net
Federalism and Poverty

An overview of the role played by federalism in anti-poverty policy and in poverty law.

Ezra Rosser (Edited by)

9781108468848, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 20 August 2020

272 pages
23 x 15.3 x 5.5 cm, 0.48 kg

'This exploration of the intersection of federalism and poverty policy includes informative, timely essays that speak to critical questions of how best to formulate policy … Overall the collection is critical of how US poverty programs have evolved, but it does offer hope and guidance to those working on poverty policy. This collection offers a lot to like.' N. K. Mitchell, Choice

While the United States continues to recover from the 2008 Great Recession, the country still faces unprecedented inequality as increasing numbers of poor families struggle to get by with little assistance from the government. Holes in the Safety Net: Federalism and Poverty offers a grounded look at how states and the federal government provide assistance to poor people. With chapters covering everything from welfare reform to recent efforts by states to impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients, the book avoids unnecessary jargon and instead focuses on how programs operate in practice. This timely work should be read by anyone who cares about poverty, rising inequality, and the relationship between state, local, and federal levels of government.

Introduction Ezra Rosser
Part I. Welfare and Federalism: 1. The tools in the battle: federalism, entitlement, and punishment across the US social welfare state Wendy Bach
2. Laboratories of suffering: toward democratic welfare governance Monica Bell, Andrea Taverna, Dhruv Aggarwal and Isra Syed
3. The difference in being poor in red states versus blue states Michelle Gilman
Part II. States, Federalism, and Anti-Poverty Efforts: 4. States' rights and state wrongs: SNAP and Medicaid work requirements in rural America Rebecca H. Williams and Lisa Pruitt
5. State and local tax takeaways Francine Lipman
6. Early childhood development and the replication of poverty Clare Huntington
7. States diverting funds from the poor Daniel Hatcher
8. States' evolving role in SNAP David Super
Part III. Advocacy: 9. Federalism in health care reform Nicole Huberfeld
10. Poverty lawyering in the states Andrew Hammond
11. Conclusion. A way forward Peter Edelman.

Subject Areas: Constitutional & administrative law [LND], Politics & government [JP]