The Wait List as Redistributive Policy: Access and Burdens in the Subsidized Childcare System
This article theorizes the wait list as an underexamined vehicle of administrative burden. Wait lists are now common within the U.S. social safety net, yet little research has considered their administration. Drawing on a surprising case of Massachusetts’ declining wait list for subsidized childcare...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Russell Sage Foundation
2023-09-01
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| Series: | RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences |
| Subjects: |
| _version_ | 1797739930571505664 |
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| author | Jennifer W. Bouek |
| author_facet | Jennifer W. Bouek |
| author_sort | Jennifer W. Bouek |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article theorizes the wait list as an underexamined vehicle of administrative burden. Wait lists are now common within the U.S. social safety net, yet little research has considered their administration. Drawing on a surprising case of Massachusetts’ declining wait list for subsidized childcare, I find that administrative burdens were introduced to the list following state questioning of agency competence. The burdens have resulted in the ongoing deactivation of thousands of caseloads from the list per month and a 75 percent reduction in the total number of waiting families in just five years. My findings suggest wait lists as understudied but consequential sites of opaque policymaking that shape access to critical social services and the legibility of unmet need. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T14:04:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-eb592ee42d66444fadfde0c29a642937 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2377-8253 2377-8261 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T14:04:18Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | Russell Sage Foundation |
| record_format | Article |
| series | RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-eb592ee42d66444fadfde0c29a6429372023-08-21T15:53:28ZengRussell Sage FoundationRSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences2377-82532377-82612023-09-01957697https://doi.org/10.7758/RSF.2023.9.5.04The Wait List as Redistributive Policy: Access and Burdens in the Subsidized Childcare SystemJennifer W. Bouek0University of DelawareThis article theorizes the wait list as an underexamined vehicle of administrative burden. Wait lists are now common within the U.S. social safety net, yet little research has considered their administration. Drawing on a surprising case of Massachusetts’ declining wait list for subsidized childcare, I find that administrative burdens were introduced to the list following state questioning of agency competence. The burdens have resulted in the ongoing deactivation of thousands of caseloads from the list per month and a 75 percent reduction in the total number of waiting families in just five years. My findings suggest wait lists as understudied but consequential sites of opaque policymaking that shape access to critical social services and the legibility of unmet need.childcarewait listsinequalitysocial welfare |
| spellingShingle | Jennifer W. Bouek The Wait List as Redistributive Policy: Access and Burdens in the Subsidized Childcare System RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences childcare wait lists inequality social welfare |
| title | The Wait List as Redistributive Policy: Access and Burdens in the Subsidized Childcare System |
| title_full | The Wait List as Redistributive Policy: Access and Burdens in the Subsidized Childcare System |
| title_fullStr | The Wait List as Redistributive Policy: Access and Burdens in the Subsidized Childcare System |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Wait List as Redistributive Policy: Access and Burdens in the Subsidized Childcare System |
| title_short | The Wait List as Redistributive Policy: Access and Burdens in the Subsidized Childcare System |
| title_sort | wait list as redistributive policy access and burdens in the subsidized childcare system |
| topic | childcare wait lists inequality social welfare |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jenniferwbouek thewaitlistasredistributivepolicyaccessandburdensinthesubsidizedchildcaresystem AT jenniferwbouek waitlistasredistributivepolicyaccessandburdensinthesubsidizedchildcaresystem |