Ms. Mayor: The Impact of Female Leaders on Social Welfare Spending in Cities

Preferences toward spending on social welfare programs have long been thought to split along ideological lines. Despite claims from fiscal federalism proponents, such as political scientist Paul Peterson, that cities should refrain from funding redistributional programs and instead pursue developmental policies that maximize payoffs for the average taxpayer, cities on average have sustained high spending on social welfare programs. In 2007, cities spent over $48 billion on social welfare programs, up from the $33.3 billion spent in 1997 and the $37.2 billion spent in 2002. Why are cities continuing to fund public welfare, healthcare, and housing and community development programs in the face of research suggesting that cities should shy away from social welfare spending? New research suggests that gender may play a role in urban spending decisions.

Mirya Holman, in her article “Sex and the City: Female Leaders and Spending on Social Welfare Programs in U.S. Municipalities,” attributes continued high levels of spending on social welfare programs to the preferences of elected officials. Holman finds that the presence of a female mayor has a large, positive influence on participation in and funding for social welfare programs. This influence is compounded when significant female representation on a city council accompanies the presence of a female mayor.

To test the impact of a female mayor on social welfare spending, Holman constructs a random sample from a list of American cities from the U.S. Census Bureau. The 300 cities in the sample, which are scattered across 42 different states, all had a population of over 5,000 residents. Within the sample, Holman examines the 2008 budget of cities with male and female mayors (255 and 45 respectively) to determine the impact of female representation in 2007 on the level of social welfare spending in 2008. The author then tests the correlation between female mayors and female council members on social welfare spending.

Holman controls for the level of municipal autonomy, revenues raised per capita as well per capita grant revenue, the racial composition of the city, and the type of government (mayor-council versus council-mayor) to show that the presence of a female mayor is related to as much as a 12 percent increase in the likelihood of participation in social welfare programs. Further, according to the results of Holman’s analysis, the presence of female mayors is associated with a statistically significant increase of nearly 10 percent in the amount of monetary resources dedicated to social welfare programs. While the percentage of female city council members alone shows no substantive independent impact on participation, evidence suggests that in the presence of a female mayor, the percentage of women on a city council is a factor in spending. In cities with a female mayor, there was an average $7 per capita increase in social welfare spending when women comprised 20 percent of city council and a $10 increase when 30 percent of city council members were women.

The impact of female mayors and female city council members on social welfare spending holds important policy implications. While proponents of fiscal federalism argue that cities should pursue growth policies that offer increased marginal benefits to the average taxpayer, sustained high levels of spending on social welfare programs suggest that cities can pursue alternate policies that are in line with the preferences of city leaders. As Holman suggests, the position of a mayor in a mayor-council form of government holds substantial power in determining funding priorities. Further, the presence of a female mayor and her interaction with female city council members is associated with an increase in the probability of participation in social welfare programs and the level of social welfare spending. Theses findings suggest that gender plays a key role in spending patterns at the local level and should be taken into account in explanations of municipal policymaking.

Article Source: Mirya R. Holman, “Sex and the City: Female Leaders and Spending on Social Welfare Programs in U.S. Municipalities,” Journal of Urban Affairs (2013).

Feature Photo: cc/(Paul Johnson)