Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Foundation Website
  • Journal Home
  • Issues
    • Current Issue
    • All Issues
    • Future Issues
  • For Authors and Editors
    • Overview of RSF & How to Propose an Issue
    • RSF Style and Submission Guidelines
    • Article Submission Checklist
    • Permission Request
    • Terms of Contributor Agreement Form and Transfer of Copyright
    • RSF Contributor Agreement Form
    • Issue Editors' Agreement Form
  • About the Journal
    • Mission Statement
    • Editorial Board
    • Comments and Replies Policy
    • Journal Code of Ethics
    • Current Calls for Articles
    • Closed Calls for Articles
    • Abstracting and Indexing
    • Privacy Policy
    • Copyright and ISSN Information
    • Terms of Use
    • Contact Us
  • Publications
    • rsf

User menu

  • Log in

Search

  • Advanced search
RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences
  • Publications
    • rsf
  • Log in
RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences

Advanced Search

  • Foundation Website
  • Journal Home
  • Issues
    • Current Issue
    • All Issues
    • Future Issues
  • For Authors and Editors
    • Overview of RSF & How to Propose an Issue
    • RSF Style and Submission Guidelines
    • Article Submission Checklist
    • Permission Request
    • Terms of Contributor Agreement Form and Transfer of Copyright
    • RSF Contributor Agreement Form
    • Issue Editors' Agreement Form
  • About the Journal
    • Mission Statement
    • Editorial Board
    • Comments and Replies Policy
    • Journal Code of Ethics
    • Current Calls for Articles
    • Closed Calls for Articles
    • Abstracting and Indexing
    • Privacy Policy
    • Copyright and ISSN Information
    • Terms of Use
    • Contact Us
  • Follow rsf on Twitter
  • Visit rsf on Facebook
  • Follow rsf on Google Plus
Research Article
Open Access

The Wait List as Redistributive Policy: Access and Burdens in the Subsidized Childcare System

Jennifer W. Bouek
RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences September 2023, 9 (5) 76-97; DOI: https://doi.org/10.7758/RSF.2023.9.5.04
Jennifer W. Bouek
aAssistant professor of social welfare and public sociology at the University of Delaware, United States
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • References
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

REFERENCES

  1. ↵
    1. Aaronson, Stephanie, and
    2. Francisca Alba
    . 2021. “The Relationship Between School Closures and Female Labor Force Participation During the Pandemic.” Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institute.
  2. ↵
    1. Allard, Scott W
    . 2009. Out of Reach: Place, Poverty, and the New American Welfare State. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press.
  3. ↵
    1. Auyero, Javier
    . 2021. “Going Granular.” Qualitative Sociology 44: 473–77. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11133-021-09486-z.
    OpenUrl
  4. ↵
    1. Bjerregaard, Beth
    . 2000. “An Empirical Study of Stalking Victimization.” Violence and Victims 15(4): 389–406.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  5. ↵
    1. Blau, David M., and
    2. Philip K. Robins
    . 1989. “Fertility, Employment and Childcare Costs.” Demography 26(2): 287–99.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science
  6. ↵
    1. Bouek, Jennifer W
    . 2022. “From the State to the Street: The Segregated Loss of Childcare and the Institutional Origins of Organizational Deprivation.” American Journal of Sociology 128(2): 365–410.
    OpenUrl
  7. ↵
    1. Bourdieu, Pierre
    . 2000. Pascalian Meditations. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press.
  8. ↵
    1. Campbell, Fernanda Q., and
    2. Pratima A. Patil
    . 2019. “State of Early Education and Care in Boston: Supply, Demand, Affordability, and Quality.” Boston, Mass.: Boston Foundation.
  9. ↵
    1. Cassidy, Chris
    . 2013. “Robert A. DeLeo Vows Cleanup.” Boston Herald, April 11. Accessed December 22, 2022. https://www.bostonherald.com/2013/04/11/robert-a-deleo-vows-cleanup/.
  10. ↵
    1. Children’s Trust
    . 2016. “Speaker DeLeo Visits Children’s Trust Site.” Accessed October 1, 2022. https://www.childrenstrustma.org/about-us/news/speaker-deleo-visits-medford-family-center.
  11. ↵
    1. Cohen, Elizabeth F
    . 2018. The Political Value of Time: Citizenship, Duration, and Democratic Justice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  12. ↵
    1. Commonwealth of Massachusetts
    . 2012. “Historical Budget Levels.” Department of Early Education and Care, July 7. Accessed December 22, 2022. https://budget.digital.mass.gov/bb/gaa/fy2013/app_13/dpt_13/hheec.htm.
  13. ↵
    1. Cottom, Tressie McMillan
    . 2020. “The Hustle Economy.” Dissent Magazine, Fall. Accessed March 29, 2022. https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/the-hustle-economy.
  14. ↵
    1. DeLuca, Stefanie,
    2. Philip M. E. Garboden, and
    3. Peter Rosenblatt
    . 2013. “Segregating Shelter: How Housing Policies Shape the Residential Locations of Low-Income Minority Families.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 647(1): 268–99.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  15. ↵
    1. DeParle, Jason
    . 2021. “When Child Care Costs Twice as Much as the Mortgage.” New York Times, October 21. Accessed December 16, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/09/us/politics/child-care-costs-wages-legislation.html.
  16. ↵
    1. Desmond, Matthew
    . 2016. Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City. New York: Crown Publishing.
  17. ↵
    1. Edin, Kathryn J., and
    2. H. Luke Shaefer
    . 2015. $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
  18. ↵
    1. Edwards, Frank,
    2. Kelley Fong,
    3. Victoria Copeland,
    4. Mical Raz, and
    5. Alan Dettlaff
    . 2023. “Administrative Burdens in Child Welfare Systems.” RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences 9(5): 214–31. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7758/RSF.2023.9.5.09.
    OpenUrl
  19. ↵
    1. Espeland, Wendy Nelson, and
    2. Michael Sauder
    . 2007. “Rankings and Reactivity: How Public Measures Recreate Social Worlds.” American Journal of Sociology 113(1): 1–40.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  20. ↵
    1. Fischer, Will, and
    2. Barbara Sard
    . 2017. Chart Book: Federal Housing Spending Is Poorly Matched to Need. Washington, D.C.: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. https://www.cbpp.org/research/housing/chart-book-federal-housing-spending-is-poorly-matched-to-need.
  21. ↵
    1. Galewitz, Phil
    . 2021. “With Workers in Short Supply, Seniors Often Wait Months for Home Health Care.” NPR, June 30. Accessed December 16, 2022. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/06/30/1010328071/with-workers-in-short-supply-seniors-often-wait-months-for-home-health-care.
  22. ↵
    1. Gustafson, Kaaryn S
    . 2011. Cheating Welfare: Public Assistance and the Criminalization of Poverty. New York: New York University Press.
  23. ↵
    1. Hacker, Jacob
    . 2004. “Privatizing Risk Without Privatizing the Welfare State: The Hidden Politics of Social Policy Retrenchment in the United States.” American Political Science Review 98(2): 243–60.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
  24. ↵
    1. Hahn, Heather,
    2. Cary Lou,
    3. Julia B. Isaacs,
    4. Eleanor Lauderback,
    5. Hannah Daly, and
    6. C. Eugene Steuerle
    . 2021. Kids’ Share 2021: Report on Federal Expenditures on Children through 2020 and Future Projections. Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute. Accessed April 2, 2022. https://www.urban.org/research/publication/kids-share-2021-report-federal-expenditures-children-through-2020-and-future-projections.
  25. ↵
    1. Hasenfeld, Yeheskel, and
    2. Eve E. Garrow
    . 2012. “Nonprofit Human-Service Organizations, Social Rights, and Advocacy in a Neoliberal Welfare State.” Social Service Review 86(2): 295–322.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  26. ↵
    1. Heckman, James J
    . 2006. “Skill Formation and the Economics of Investing in Disadvantaged Children.” Science 312(5782): 1900–1902.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  27. ↵
    1. Heinrich, Carolyn, and
    2. Gerald Marschke
    . 2010. “Incentives and Their Dynamics in Public Sector Performance Management Systems.” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 29(1): 183–208.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
  28. ↵
    1. Heinrich, Carolyn J.,
    2. Sayil Camacho,
    3. Sarah Clark Henderson,
    4. Mónica Hernández, and
    5. Ela Joshi
    . 2022. “Consequences of Administrative Burden for Social Safety Nets That Support the Healthy Development of Children.” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 41(1): 11–44.
    OpenUrl
  29. ↵
    1. Herd, Pamela, and
    2. Donald P. Moynihan
    . 2018. Administrative Burdens: Policymaking by Other Means. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
  30. ↵
    1. Isaacs, Julia B.,
    2. Michael Katz,
    3. Sarah Minton, and
    4. Molly Michie
    . 2015. Review of Childcare Needs of Eligible Families in Massachusetts. Washington D.C.: Urban Institute. Accessed December 22, 2022. https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/45351/2000160-review-of-child-care-needs.pdf.
  31. ↵
    1. Jacob, Brian A., and
    2. Steven D. Levitt
    . 2003. “Rotten Apples: An Investigation of the Prevalence and Predictors of Teacher Cheating.” NBER working paper no. 9413. Cambridge, Mass.: National Bureau of Economic Research. Accessed December 22, 2022. https://www.nber.org/papers/w9413.
  32. ↵
    1. Johnson, Akilah
    . 2013. “Some Preschools’ Seat Empty After Freeze on State Aid.” Boston Globe, March 4. Accessed March 5, 2022. http://www.strategiesforchildren.org/news_articles/1303_Globe_EmptyPreschoolSeats.htm.
  33. ↵
    1. Keene, Danya E.,
    2. Alana Rosenberg,
    3. Penelope Schlesinger,
    4. Shannon Whittaker,
    5. Linda Niccolai, and
    6. Kim M. Blankenship
    . 2021. “‘The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Grease’: Rental Assistance Applicants’ Quests for a Rationed and Scarce Resource.” Social Problems spab035. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spab035.
  34. ↵
    1. Kelman, Brett, and
    2. Mike Reicher
    . 2019. “At Least 220,000 Tennessee Kids Faced Loss of Health Insurance Due to Lacking Paperwork.” Tennessean, July 14. Accessed April 15, 2022. https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/investigations/2019/07/14/tenncare-coverkids-medicaid-children-application-insurance-denied/1387769001/.
  35. ↵
    1. Landivar, Liana Christin,
    2. Leah Ruppanner,
    3. William J. Scarborough, and
    4. Caitlyn Collins
    . 2020. “Early Signs Indicate that COVID-19 Is Exacerbating Gender Inequality in the Labor Force.” Socius 6. Accessed December 22, 2022. DOI: 10.1177/2378023120947997.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  36. ↵
    1. Lara-Millán, Armando
    . 2021. Redistributing the Poor: Jails, Hospitals, and the Crisis of Law and Fiscal Austerity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  37. ↵
    1. Laster Pirtle, Whitney N., and
    2. Tashelle Wright
    . 2021. “Structural Gendered Racism Revealed in Pandemic Times: Intersectional Approaches to Understanding Race and Gender Health Inequities in COVID-19.” Gender and Society 35(2): 168–79.
    OpenUrl
  38. ↵
    1. LegUp
    . 2022. “This Is How Long Child Care Waitlists Really Are in Seattle.” Accessed December 22, 2022. https://www.legup.care/post/this-is-how-long-child-care-waitlists-really-are-in-seattle.
  39. ↵
    1. Leopold, Josh
    . 2012. “The Housing Needs of Rental Assistance Applicants.” Cityscape 14(2): 275–98.
    OpenUrl
  40. ↵
    1. Levenson, Michael
    . 2013. “House $33.8b Budget Rejects Governor Deval Patrick’s Push for Early Education Expansion.” Boston.com, April 10. Accessed December 22, 2022. https://www.boston.com/uncategorized/noprimarytagmatch/2013/04/10/house-33–8b-budget-rejects-governor-deval-patricks-push-for-early-education-expansion/.
  41. ↵
    1. Levine, Judith A
    . 2013. Ain’t No Trust: How Bosses, Boyfriends and Bureaucrats Fail Low-Income Mothers and Why It Matters. Berkeley: University of California Press.
  42. ↵
    1. Lipsky, Michael
    . 1984. Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the Individual in Public Services. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
  43. ↵
    1. Lopez, German
    . 2015. “The VA Scandal of 2014, Explained.” Vox, May 13. Accessed March 30, 2022. https://www.vox.com/2014/9/26/18080592/va-scandal-explained.
  44. ↵
    1. MADCA
    . 2017. “MADCA Recognizes House Speaker DeLeo.” Accessed October 1, 2022. http://www.madca.org/2017/02/28/madca-recognizes-house-speaker-deleo/.
  45. ↵
    1. Manson, Steven,
    2. Jonathan Schroeder,
    3. David Van Riper,
    4. Tracy Kugler, and
    5. Steven Ruggles
    . 2022. “IPUMS National Historical Geographic Information System: Version 17.0 [dataset].” Minneapolis, Minn.: IPUMS. DOI: http://doi.org/10.18128/D050.V17.0.
  46. ↵
    1. Michener, Jamila
    . 2018. Fragmented Democracy: Medicaid, Federalism, and Unequal Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  47. ↵
    1. Mohan, Anitha
    . 2017. Fewer Children, Fewer Providers: Trends in CCDBG Participation. Washington, D.C.: Center for Law and Social Policy.
  48. ↵
    1. Moffitt, Robert
    . 2015. “The Deserving Poor, the Family, and the U.S. Welfare System.” Demography 52(3): 729–49.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  49. ↵
    1. Moynihan, Donald P
    . 2008. The Dynamics of Performance Management: Constructing Information and Reform. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press.
  50. ↵
    1. Moynihan, Donald P
    . 2009. “Through a Glass, Darkly: Understanding the Effects of Performance Regimes.” Public Performance and Management Review 32(4): 592–603.
    OpenUrl
  51. ↵
    1. Moynihan, Donald P
    . 2014. “Op-ed: The Problem at the VA: ‘Performance Perversity.’” Los Angeles Times, June 1. Accessed April 15, 2022. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-moynihan-va-scandal-performance-perversity-20140602-story.html.
  52. ↵
    1. Moynihan, Donald PO.,
    2. Julie Gerzina, and
    3. Pamela Herd
    . 2021. “Kafka’s Bureaucracy: Immigration Administrative Burdens in the Trump Era.” Perspectives on Public Management and Governance 5(1): 22–35. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ppmgov/gvab025.
    OpenUrl
  53. ↵
    1. Moynihan, Donald P.,
    2. Pamela Herd, and
    3. Hope Harvey
    . 2015. “Administrative Burden: Learning, Psychological, and Compliance Costs in Citizen-State Interactions.” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 25(1): 43–69.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  54. ↵
    1. Nguyen, Janet
    . 2021. “Why Are the Waitlists for Child Care So Long?” Marketplace, August 19. Accessed December 22, 2022. https://www.marketplace.org/2021/08/19/why-are-the-waitlists-for-child-care-so-long/.
  55. ↵
    1. The Patrick Administration Education Action Agenda
    . 2008. “Ready for 21st Century Success: The New Promise of Public Education.” The Commonwealth of Massachusetts: Executive Office of Education.
  56. ↵
    1. Patrick, Deval
    . 2013. “State of the State.” January 16. https://www.governing.com/archive/massachusetts-patrick-2013-speech.html.
  57. ↵
    1. Pierce, Stephanie Casey, and
    2. Stephanie Moulton
    . 2023. “The Effects of Administrative Burden on Program Equity and Performance: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in a Foreclosure Prevention Program.” RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences 9(5): 146–78. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7758/RSF.2023.9.5.07.
    OpenUrl
  58. ↵
    1. Porter, Theodore
    . 1995. Trust in Numbers: The Pursuit of Objectivity in Science and Public Life. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
  59. ↵
    1. Presser, Harriet B., and
    2. Wendy Baldwin
    . 1980. “Child Care as a Constraint on Employment: Prevalence, Correlates, and Bearing on the Work and Fertility Nexus.” American Journal of Sociology 85(5): 1202–13.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  60. ↵
    1. Radey, Melissa and
    2. Karin L. Brewster
    . 2007. “The Influence of Race/Ethnicity on Disadvantaged Mothers’ Child Care Arrangements.” Early Childhood Research Quarterly 22(3): 379–93.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  61. ↵
    1. Sackett, Blair, and
    2. Annette Lareau
    . 2023. “Institutional Entanglements: How Institutional Knots and Reverberating Consequences Burden Refugee Families.” RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences 9(4): 114–32. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7758/RSF.2023.9.4.05.
    OpenUrl
  62. ↵
    1. Schulman, Karen, and
    2. Helen Blank
    . 2016. “Red Light Green Light, State Childcare Assistance Policies 2016.” Washington, D.C.: National Women’s Law Center.
  63. ↵
    1. Seim, Josh
    . 2017. “The Ambulance: Toward a Labor Theory of Poverty Governance.” American Sociological Review 82(3): 451–75.
    OpenUrl
  64. ↵
    1. Simpson, Neal
    . 2014. “A Long List of Families Waiting for Child Care Help.” The Patriot Ledger, March 27. Accessed April 2, 2022. https://www.patriotledger.com/story/lifestyle/family/2014/03/27/a-long-list-families-waiting/37982264007/.
    1. Soss, Joe,
    2. Richard Fording, and
    3. Sanford Schram
    . 2011. Disciplining the Poor: Neoliberal Paternalism and the Persistent Power of Race. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  65. ↵
    1. Stuckey, Alex
    . 2022. “Faced with Two-Decade Wait, These Families Had to Leave Texas to Receive Services.” Houston Chronicle, August 10. Accessed October 5, 2022. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/investigations/article/Faced-with-a-two-decade-wait-these-families-had-17358895.php.
  66. ↵
    1. Ullrich, Rebecca,
    2. Stephanie Schmidt, and
    3. Ruth Cosse
    . 2019. Inequitable Access to Childcare Subsidies. Washington, D.C.: CLASP. Accessed December 22, 2022. https://www.clasp.org/publications/report/brief/inequitable-access-child-care-subsidies/.
  67. ↵
    1. Vest, Joshua R.,
    2. Tegan K. Catlin,
    3. John J. Chen, and
    4. Ross C. Brownson
    . 2002. “Multistate Analysis of Factors Associated with Intimate Partner Violence.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine 22(3): 156–64.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science
  68. ↵
    1. Waller, Allyson
    . 2018. “Over a Million Texas Children Could Qualify for Subsidized Child Care—But Less than 10 Percent of Them Receive It.” Texas Tribute, October 31. https://www.texastribune.org/2018/10/31/texas-subsidized-child-care/.
  69. ↵
    1. Weber, Thomas L
    . 2019. Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care: Financial Assistance Policy Guide. Boston: MassLegalServices. Accessed December 22, 2022. https://www.masslegalservices.org/system/files/library/financial-assistance-policy-guide.pdf.
  70. ↵
    1. Women’s Bureau
    . 2020. “Women’s Labor Force Participation Rates by Age of Youngest Child.” Washington: U.S. Department of Labor. Accessed December 22, 2022. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/wb/data/mothers-families/Laborforceparticipationrates-women-ageyoungestchild.
  71. ↵
    1. Yu, Lilly
    . 2023. “Third-Party Brokers: How Administrative Burdens on Nonprofit Attorneys Worsen Immigrant Legal Inequality.” RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences 9(4): 133–53. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7758/RSF.2023.9.4.06.
    OpenUrl
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences: 9 (5)
RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences
Vol. 9, Issue 5
1 Sep 2023
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • Cover (PDF)
  • Index by author
  • Front Matter (PDF)
Print
Download PDF
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
The Wait List as Redistributive Policy: Access and Burdens in the Subsidized Childcare System
(Your Name) has sent you a message from RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
3 + 4 =
Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. E.g. for 1+3, enter 4.
Citation Tools
The Wait List as Redistributive Policy: Access and Burdens in the Subsidized Childcare System
Jennifer W. Bouek
RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences Sep 2023, 9 (5) 76-97; DOI: 10.7758/RSF.2023.9.5.04

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Share
The Wait List as Redistributive Policy: Access and Burdens in the Subsidized Childcare System
Jennifer W. Bouek
RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences Sep 2023, 9 (5) 76-97; DOI: 10.7758/RSF.2023.9.5.04
del.icio.us logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • BACKGROUND
    • BURDENS AND THE POLITICAL SALIENCE OF THE WAIT LIST
    • POLICY SETTING
    • DATA AND METHODS
    • RESULTS
    • IMPLICATIONS FOR ACCESSIBILITY
    • DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
    • FOOTNOTES
    • REFERENCES
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

Similar Articles

Keywords

  • childcare
  • wait lists
  • inequality
  • social welfare

© 2025 RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences

Powered by HighWire