Punitive White Welfare Bureaucracies: Examining the Link between White Presence within Welfare Bureaucracies and Sanction Exits in the United States

Abstract

AbstractWhite presence within welfare bureaucracies in the United States has historically been associated with discriminatory practices against welfare recipients. Despite considerable qualitative evidence, there has been limited empirical work examining how the presence of white caseworkers actually affects recipient outcomes. This article takes a first step in addressing this question. By matching county-level data on eligibility workers in government programs with individual-level data on welfare recipients, I show that the racial composition of welfare bureaucracies does matter for recipients. First, when work requirements are involved, a stronger presence of white eligibility workers is associated with a higher probability of exiting welfare due to a sanction for all recipients. Second, in the case of nonwork requirements, the presence of white eligibility workers increases the likelihood of a sanction termination only for black recipients. I discuss how the racial gap in welfare attitudes and racial...