Social Distrust and Immigrant Access to Welfare Programs in the American States

Abstract

Social trust ameliorates collective action problems by allowing multicultural societies to adopt more inclusive and equitable public policies directed toward newly arriving immigrants. However, existing research warns that increasing ethnic diversity from immigrant populations can undermine levels of social trust, hindering mass support for redistributive policies that empower low‐income minority populations. This article examines the relationship between U.S. state‐level social trust and immigrant access to social welfare programs using multilevel regression with post‐stratification to estimate state‐level attitudes of distrust. Distrust is found to be associated with reduced immigrant access to redistributive social programs, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Supplemental Security Income, and Medicaid. Interestingly, patterns of distrust and strict immigrant welfare exclusion are more pronounced among low immigrant Southern states, while high immigrant states exhibit relatively inclusive and accommodative policies.Related Articles Turner, Robert C., and William Sharry. 2012. “.” Politics & Policy 40 (): 983–1018. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2012.00392.x/abstract Byrne, Jennifer, and Gregory C. Dixon. 2013. “.” Politics & Policy 41 (): 83–116. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/polp.12002/abstract Wagle, Udaya R. 2013. “.” Politics & Policy 41 (): 947–984. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/polp.12053/abstract Related Media . 2015. “” January 15. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/have‐the‐danes‐really‐found‐the‐secret‐formula‐to‐contentment‐9978699.html Gelman, Andrew. 2014. “.” Statistical Modeling, Causal Interference, and Social Science. November 11. http://andrewgelman.com/2014/11/11/history‐mrp‐highlights‐differences‐political‐science‐epidemiology/ . 2014. “.” November 18. http://www.nationaljournal.com/next‐america/population‐2043/how‐california‐is‐making‐life‐easier‐for‐undocumented‐immigrants‐20141118