Welfare Reform in the States: Does the Percentage of Female Legislators in State Legislatures Affect Welfare Reform Policies?

Authors

Lee W. Payne, Ste phen F. Austin State University

Abstract

My research tests the proposal that female legislators have issue specific political agendas and that female representation may affect these issues. Welfare is an issue that affects women and children to a larger degree than it does men. To test this hypothesis I use three measures of welfare sanctions and one measure of overall welfare environment as dependent variables. Results indicate that the level of female legislators does not have the expected impact on two of the three sanction policies, but it does have the expected impact on the overall welfare environment.

Recommended Citation

Payne, Lee W. (2013) "Welfare Reform in the States: Does the Percentage of Female Legislators in State Legislatures Affect Welfare Reform Policies?," The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare: Vol. 40: Iss. 3, Article 4.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15453/0191-5096.3745
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol40/iss3/4