Determinants of Child Care Subsidy Policies in the American States: A Mixed-Method Investigation in the Era of COVID-19

This mixed-method dissertation investigates policy variation in states’ administration of the federal child care subsidy program (CCDF). The quantitative chapters draw on a 50-state, ten-year dataset to examine associations between state characteristics and CCDF policy outcomes. These analyses conclude that state-level drivers of CCDF policy are distinct from drivers identified in the cash welfare literature, and that drivers vary across dimensions of CCDF policy. The qualitative chapters report results from a comparative case study examining CCDF policy in New Mexico and Nevada from 2010 to 2022. These analyses conclude that the departmental placement of the CCDF program within state government is consequential for policy outcomes. Qualitative analyses further conclude that when they occur together, available resources for the subsidy program and universalistic construction of subsidy recipients are sufficient conditions for states to set expansive income eligibility criteria for the program. Implications for policy and research are discussed.