"Keeping Our Heads Above Water" Rethinking Need and Participation in Public Anti-poverty Programs.

Abstract

U.S. policy addresses poverty through more than a dozen independent programs, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), yet research has long noted that many eligible households do not claim benefits. This study explores how people make choices regarding participation in public anti-poverty programs.

Drawing on previous life experiences, future expectations, and comparisons to others, people construct their own "interpretations of need" -- complex narratives, describing not only the material resources necessary for survival but also less tangible resources (time, relationships, etc.) that enable people to think of themselves as good parents, community members, and contributors to society. Yet while distinctly individual, nearly all of these interpretations ultimately conform to the U.S.’s hegemonic poverty discourse, which connects poverty to concepts of personal responsibility, hard work, and a patriarchal moral code. People also recognize that accepting help from programs requires the acceptance of stigma, which, while symbolic, produces real consequences for daily life (poor treatment by public program administrators and society at large, the need to consciously “manage” or hide one’s participation in programs, and changes in self-perception).

This study proposes a new approach to measuring participation through the use of "participation profiles." This approach characterizes program use over time using the following five choice categories: using programs 1) as a regular source of income; 2) in a crisis; 3) as a long-term supplement to earned income; 4) for the benefit of children; and 5) as transitional support. Conceptualizing participation through profiles enables us to create new measures – both qualitative and quantitative – for future research.

The research presented here is based on in-depth interviews with 75 heads of low-income households who represent diversity in terms of race/ethnicity, education, income (ranging from less than $250 to more than $3,000 per month), and engagement with public anti-poverty programs. Initial respondents were recruited through Head Start programs in four distinct communities in southeast Michigan, with additional respondents who were not using Head Start accessed through snowball sampling. Each individual was interviewed twice, and analysis was conducted using interpretive methodologies.