ABSTRACT

In the United States, race and racism are woven into the very fabric of the welfare state. Racial antipathy has undermined public support for benefits perceived as favoring African Americans and has resulted in significant cuts in programs for the poor. Recently, some studies have found that public discussion on immigration has linked attitudes toward Hispanics and illegal immigrants with preferences toward programs once overwhelmingly influenced by racial attitudes. Building on this literature, the present study assesses the effect of racial and ethnic attitudes on state policy outcomes. Specifically, we examine Medicaid eligibility criteria for four categories of beneficiaries, ranked by level of perceived deservingness. We find that eligibility limits are most generous for children, followed by pregnant women and parents. Benefits for “other adults” (low-income non-parents aged 18–64) are subject to more stringent eligibility criteria or entirely unavailable. In contrast with the limits for other groups, the primary attitudinal predictors of Medicaid eligibility limits for the “other adults” category are antipathy toward Blacks, Hispanics, and illegal immigrants. These results confirm that perceptions of deservingness are a central component of U.S. social policy and demonstrate that material policy outcomes – not just policy preferences – are substantially shaped by attitudes toward Hispanics and immigrants as well as African Americans.

摘要

在美国，种族和种族主义交织在福利国家的结构中。种族反感削弱了公众对被视为有利于非裔美国人的福利的支持，并导致针对穷人的计划大幅削减。最近，一些研究发现，关于移民的公开讨论将对西班牙裔和非法移民的态度与对曾经受种族态度压倒性影响的项目的偏好联系起来。在这些文献的基础上，本研究评估了种族和民族态度对国家政策结果的影响。具体来说，我们检查了四类受益人的医疗补助资格标准，按感知应得程度排列。我们发现，资格限制对儿童最为宽松，其次是孕妇和父母。“其他成年人”（18-64 岁的低收入非父母）的福利受更严格的资格标准限制或完全不可用。与其他群体的限制相比，“其他成年人”类别的医疗补助资格限制的主要态度预测因素是对黑人、西班牙裔和非法移民的反感。这些结果证实，对应得性的看法是美国社会政策的核心组成部分，并表明物质政策结果——不仅仅是政策偏好——在很大程度上受到对西班牙裔和移民以及非裔美国人的态度的影响。“其他成年人”类别的 Medicaid 资格限制的主要态度预测因素是对黑人、西班牙裔和非法移民的反感。这些结果证实，对应得性的看法是美国社会政策的核心组成部分，并表明物质政策结果——不仅仅是政策偏好——在很大程度上受到对西班牙裔和移民以及非裔美国人的态度的影响。“其他成年人”类别的 Medicaid 资格限制的主要态度预测因素是对黑人、西班牙裔和非法移民的反感。这些结果证实，对应得性的看法是美国社会政策的核心组成部分，并表明物质政策结果——不仅仅是政策偏好——在很大程度上受到对西班牙裔和移民以及非裔美国人的态度的影响。