Oral Presentations
Presentation Type
Presentation
Faculty Mentor’s Full Name
James Tuttle & Daisy Rooks
Faculty Mentor’s Department
Sociology
Abstract / Artist's Statement
Income and wealth inequality in the United States have skyrocketed since the 1970s, making the country increasingly unequal (Hout 2021; Lee 2023; Piketty and Saez 2014). Researchers disagree on whether overall support for redistribution in the United States has changed in the last several decades (Ashok et al. 2016; Lee 2023; Pittau et al. 2016) but recent studies suggest the country has seen a significant political realignment based on race and education. Education levels are increasingly becoming major determinants in this voter realignment (Kitschelt and Rehm 2019). Much of the literature on attitudes toward welfare exists in political science or economics and/or explores fewer dependent variables of race, gender, or education (Bullock 2020; Foster 2008; Inniss and Sittig 1996; Pittau et al. 2016).
This study takes a distinctly sociological approach by investigating the relationships between race, gender, education and American welfare attitudes over time. I explore trends in support for welfare-related questions in the General Social Survey (GSS) from 1972-2018. Using descriptive statistics, I analyze several variables centered around redistribution and welfare, examining differences in responses due to the recently racialized political meaning of the term “welfare” (Alesina and Glaser 2004; Foster 2008). This research will provide a much-needed sociological analysis, asking: how do intersecting identities interact with American attitudes toward welfare and redistribution over time?
Category
Social Sciences
Assessing American Attitudes: Welfare Perceptions Over Time by Race, Gender and Education
UC 327
Income and wealth inequality in the United States have skyrocketed since the 1970s, making the country increasingly unequal (Hout 2021; Lee 2023; Piketty and Saez 2014). Researchers disagree on whether overall support for redistribution in the United States has changed in the last several decades (Ashok et al. 2016; Lee 2023; Pittau et al. 2016) but recent studies suggest the country has seen a significant political realignment based on race and education. Education levels are increasingly becoming major determinants in this voter realignment (Kitschelt and Rehm 2019). Much of the literature on attitudes toward welfare exists in political science or economics and/or explores fewer dependent variables of race, gender, or education (Bullock 2020; Foster 2008; Inniss and Sittig 1996; Pittau et al. 2016).
This study takes a distinctly sociological approach by investigating the relationships between race, gender, education and American welfare attitudes over time. I explore trends in support for welfare-related questions in the General Social Survey (GSS) from 1972-2018. Using descriptive statistics, I analyze several variables centered around redistribution and welfare, examining differences in responses due to the recently racialized political meaning of the term “welfare” (Alesina and Glaser 2004; Foster 2008). This research will provide a much-needed sociological analysis, asking: how do intersecting identities interact with American attitudes toward welfare and redistribution over time?