Policy Press

Obama’s Welfare Legacy

An Assessment of US Anti-Poverty Policies

By Anne Daguerre

Published

Jul 10, 2017

Page count

176 pages

ISBN

978-1447338338

Dimensions

198 x 129 mm

Imprint

Policy Press

Published

Jul 10, 2017

Page count

176 pages

ISBN

978-1447338352

Dimensions

Imprint

Policy Press

Published

Jul 10, 2017

Page count

176 pages

ISBN

978-1447338369

Dimensions

Imprint

Policy Press
Obama’s Welfare Legacy

The election of Barack Obama in the midst of the 2008 economic downturn brought hope to millions and presented an opportunity for expanding socio-economic rights. But the Obama administration was consistently constrained by the challenges of divided government, and the now threatened Affordable Care Act (‘Obamacare’) remains the stand-out welfare reform of his Presidency.

Using new research, Anne Daguerre examines Obama’s legacy on welfare and antipoverty policies, focusing in particular on the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The book provides an up-to-date account of the contemporary politics of poverty and public entitlements in the US, comparing this with the Western European experience and its traditionally strong commitment to social welfare, to assess what lessons can be learned.

Anne Daguerre is Associate Professor in Work Employment and Welfare, Business School, Middlesex University, London, and an alumna of the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, Washington DC.

Introduction: Malaise in the American dream: Economy, Politics, Ideology;

Part 1: Setting the scene: welfare reform post 1996 and the Great Recession;

The American social contract at the crossroads;

The Obama administration vision: glass half full or half empty?;

Part 2: The paralysed presidency?;

Navigating the political backlash;

The politics of damage limitation;

Part 3: Assessing the Obama Presidency;

The Obama legacy;

Conclusion.