2020 journal article
Who Pays for the Welfare State? Austerity Politics and the Origin of Pay-to-Stay Fees as Revenue Generation
SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES, 63(6), 921–938.
author keywords: monetary sanctions; welfare state; pay-to-stay fees; austerity
UN Sustainable Development Goal Categories
3. Good Health and Well-being
(Web of Science)
16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
(Web of Science; OpenAlex)
Source: Web Of Science
Added: January 19, 2021
Using a comparative historical analysis of legislative transcripts and primary and secondary historical documents in Illinois and Michigan, we trace the adoption of a largely understudied form of monetary sanction: pay-to-stay fees. Pay-to-stay fees are financial commitments imposed by the state on incarcerated individuals for the day-to-day cost of their incarceration. Our study identified two mutually constitutive bureaucratic motivations for the adoption of these fees—austerity as the primary rationale and deservingness as a secondary rationale. This analysis highlights an earlier conceptualization of monetary sanctions as a means of revenue generation than has previously been explored. Our findings suggest that pay-to-stay fees originated in these states from broader debates about who is ultimately fiscally responsible for the welfare state and the soaring costs of maintaining the rehabilitative ideal. During periods of fiscal crisis, state legislators have consistently looked toward this type of monetary sanction as a means to fund the correctional system.