November 24, 2008
American Time Use Survey — 2007 Results
American Time Use Survey — 2007 Results
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today that in 2007:
* Twenty percent of employed persons did some or all of their work at home on days that they worked, and 87 percent did some or all of their work at their workplace.
* On an average day (which includes all 7 days of the week), 83 percent of women and 66 percent of men spent some time doing household activities, such as housework, cooking, lawn care, or financial and other household management.
* Watching TV was the leisure activity that occupied the most time, accounting for about half of leisure time, on average, for both men and women.
This annual release of American Time Use Survey (ATUS) data focuses on the average amount of time per day in 2007 that Americans worked, did house- hold activities, cared for household children, participated in educational activities, and engaged in leisure and sports activities. It also includes measures of the average time per day spent providing childcare–both as a primary (or main) activity and while doing other things–for the combined years 2003-07. Except for childcare, activities done simultaneously with primary activities were not collected.
Posted by ljridley at 02:56 PM | Comments (0)
November 19, 2008
Household Food Security in the United States, 2007
Household Food Security in the United States, 2007
By: Mark Nord, Margaret Andrews, and Steven Carlson
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service
Eighty-nine percent of American households were food secure throughout the entire year in 2007, meaning that they had access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members. The remaining households (11.1 percent) were food insecure at least some time during the year. About one-third of food insecure households (4.1 percent of all U.S. households) had very low food security—meaning that the food intake of one or more adults was reduced and their eating patterns were disrupted at times during the year because the household lacked money and other resources for food. Prevalence rates of food insecurity and very low food security were essentially unchanged from those in 2005 and 2006.
Posted by ljridley at 09:53 AM | Comments (0)
November 11, 2008
Still Working Hard, Still Falling Short
Still Working Hard, Still Falling Short
Source: The Working Poor Families Project
This report by the Working Poor Families Project provides new analysis of U.S. Census data and clearly highlights the major challenges facing America. Inside the report you'll find:
* State-by-state rankings on low-income working families;
* Myths and facts about low-income working families;
* A look at specific states and how they’re faring, and
*A call for stronger policies at the state and federal level.
The economic turmoil of 2008 is making it even more difficult for working families to achieve economic success. Federal and state governments must do a better job of supporting families seeking to work their way into the middle class and restore the promise of the American Dream.
Posted by ljridley at 09:44 AM | Comments (0)
November 06, 2008
Simulated Effects of Changes to State and Federal Asset Eligibility Policies for the Food Stamp Program
Simulated Effects of Changes to State and Federal Asset Eligibility Policies for the Food Stamp Program
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service
By: Karen Cunnyngham and James Ohls
This study uses a microsimulation model to assess the effect of changes to State-level Food Stamp Program (FSP) asset rules on household eligibility and on the benefits that eligible households would receive. The findings show that 7 percent of households eligible in 2006 were eligible only through expanded categorical eligibility rules that exempted the households from the standard Federal FSP asset rules and that 1 percent of eligible households were eligible because of State rules that counted fewer vehicle assets toward the asset limits. The number of eligible households would increase by about 3 percent if asset limits were raised by $2,000, by 22 percent if the asset test were eliminated, by 2 percent if retirement accounts were excluded, and by less than half of 1 percent if all vehicles were excluded. Eligibility across States varied widely, with 32 percent of households eligible in at least one State but not eligible in all States. The Food Stamp Program was renamed to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in October 2008.
Entire Report
Technical Appendix
Posted by ljridley at 10:19 AM | Comments (0)
World of Work Report 2008
Global income inequality gap is vast and growing
Source: International Labour Organization
Despite strong economic growth that produced millions of new jobs since the early 1990s, income inequality grew dramatically in most regions of the world and is expected to increase due to the current global financial crisis, according to a new study published today by the research arm of the International Labour Organization (ILO).
The new report, entitled World of Work Report 2008: Income inequalities in the age of financial globalization, produced by the ILO’s International Institute for Labour Studies also notes that a major share of the cost of the financial and economic crisis will be borne by hundreds of millions of people who haven’t shared in the benefits of recent growth.
Executive Summary; Full Report (PDF's)
Posted by ljridley at 10:01 AM | Comments (0)
Congressional Hearing on Family Poverty
Leave No Family Behind: How Can We Reduce the Rising Number of American Families Living in Poverty?
Source: U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee
Date: September 25, 2008
U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer and Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, Chairman and Vice Chair respectively of the Joint Economic Committee (JEC), held a hearing on poverty in the United States on Thursday, September 25, 2008 at 10:00 am in Room 562 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. The JEC hearing entitled, “Leave No Family Behind: How Can We Reduce the Rising Number of American Families Living in Poverty?”, featured Mayor David N. Cicilline and poverty experts who examined whether the outdated federal poverty measurements are preventing resources from reaching families and elderly Americans and what legislation may be appropriate to drastically reduce the number of U.S. families living in poverty. Since 2000, the number of Americans living in poverty jumped by 5.7 million to 37.3 million; and the poverty rate rose to 12.5 percent in 2007.
PDFs of Testimonies and Archived Videos
Posted by ljridley at 09:52 AM | Comments (0)
August 29, 2008
Brookings Report: Reversal of Fortune
Citation: Kneebone, E. & Berube, A. (2008). Reversal of Fortune: A New Look at Concentrated Poverty in the 2000s. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
An analysis of the changing geographic distribution of low-income workers and their families, measured by receipt of the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in tax years 1999 and 2005, nationwide and in 58 major metropolitan areas across the country.
Posted by yanfu at 02:57 PM | Comments (0)
July 29, 2008
Changes to the Food Stamp Program
Implementing New Changes to the Food Stamp Program: A Provision Analysis of the 2008 Farm Bill
Stacy Dean, Colleen Pawling, and Dottie Rosenbaum
Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
The 2008 Farm Bill makes numerous improvements to the Food Stamp Program that will help low-income Americans put food on the table in the face of rising food and fuel prices.[1] Over the 2009-2017 period, the Farm Bill will add $7.8 billion in new resources for the program, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The major food stamp provisions will:
* End years of erosion in the purchasing power of food stamps by raising and indexing for inflation the program’s standard deduction and minimum benefit. These changes will help about 11 million low-income people, including families with children, seniors, and people with disabilities. With these changes, food stamp rules will fully account for annual inflation for the first time since the program’s creation over 40 years ago, and food stamp households will stop losing food purchasing power each year.
* Support working-poor families by eliminating the cap on the dependent care deduction, reducing the chances that families will have to forgo food to pay for decent and safe child care.
* Promote saving by improving the program’s resource limits and excluding tax-preferred retirement accounts and education accounts from those limits.
* Simplify food stamp administration for participants and states by building on successful initiatives from the last (2002) Farm Bill.
* Rename and update the program, which will be called the “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program” (SNAP); food stamp coupons will be eliminated.
* Strengthen program operations, integrity, and oversight and modernize benefit delivery, for example by creating a state option for telephonic applications and by improving oversight of state modernization efforts.
Posted by ljridley at 10:54 AM | Comments (0)
July 28, 2008
Speech Patterns and Racial Wage Inequality
Speech Patterns and Racial Wage Inequality
Jeffrey Grogger
Source: Harris School of Public Policy Working Papers, University of Chicago
Speech patterns differ substantially between whites and African Americans. I collect and analyze data on speech patterns to understand the role they may play in explaining racial wage differences. Among blacks, speech patterns are highly correlated with measures of skill such as schooling and ASVAB scores. They are also highly correlated with the wages of young workers. Black speakers whose voices were distinctly identified as black by anonymous listeners earn about 10 percent less than whites with similar observable skills. Indistinctly identified blacks earn about 2 percent less than comparable whites. I discuss a number of models that may be consistent with these results and describe the data that one would need to distinguish among them.
Posted by ljridley at 12:12 PM | Comments (0)
World Economic and Social Survey 2008
Overcoming Economic Insecurity
Source: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
According to the 2008 World Economic and Social Survey, economic insecurity arises from the exposure of individuals, communities and countries to adverse events, and from their inability to cope with and recover from the downside losses. The risk and threats vary from community to community; in advanced countries, they have been associated with a significant rise in inequality, a hollowing out of middle-class lifestyles and reduced welfare protection. Elsewhere, economic shocks and premature deindustrialization have raised fears of an insufficiency of the formal sector jobs needed to accommodate an expanding urban population. In still other places, food insecurity has given rise to political discontent and increased levels of personal insecurity.
These local concerns have been compounded by new global threats. Unregulated financial markets and international capital flows are currently threatening economic livelihoods across the world economy. Climate change imposes the threat of greater local environmental damage and increasingly destructive natural disasters.
The attention brought to the presence of these heightened economic risks and compounded threats has often been met with the response that the forces behind them are autonomous and irresistible, and beyond our collective political control. The Survey offers a different perspective. What is needed is a strong "social contract" to help secure the spaces within which individuals, households and communities could pursue their day-to-day activities with a reasonable degree of predictability and stability, and with due regard for the aims and interests of others. This will require a more integrated and pragmatic approach to economic and social policy, one tailored to local threats and challenges, as well as more space for implementing counter-cyclical macroeconomic policies and greater international support for broader social protection schemes. It will also require a better link between approaches to local disaster management and development strategies, aimed particularly at the establishment of more diversified production structures for sustaining livelihoods in vulnerable countries. Dealing with economic insecurity in post-conflict situations requires radically different approaches to the provisioning of official development assistance and to the conduct of macroeconomic and social policies.
Full report (PDF); Download individual chapters
Posted by ljridley at 11:21 AM | Comments (0)
July 24, 2008
Wealth Without Health
What Good Is Wealth Without Health? The Effect of Health on the Marginal Utility of Consumption
Amy Finkelstein, Erzo F.P. Luttmer and Matthew J. Notowidigdo
Source: Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government Working Paper
We estimate how the marginal utility of consumption varies with health. To do so, we develop a simple model in which the impact of health on the marginal utility of consumption can be estimated from data on permanent income, health, and utility proxies. We estimate the model using the Health and Retirement Study’s panel data on the elderly and near-elderly, and proxy for utility with measures of subjective well-being. We find robust evidence that the marginal utility of consumption declines as health deteriorates. Our central estimate is that a one-standard¬deviation increase in the number of chronic diseases is associated with an 11 percent decline in the marginal utility of consumption relative to this marginal utility when the individual has no chronic diseases. The 95 percent confidence interval allows us to reject declines in marginal utility of less than 2 percent or more than 17 percent. Point estimates from a wide range of alternative specifications tend to lie within this confidence interval. We present some simple, illustrative calibration results that suggest that state dependence of the magnitude we estimate can have a substantial effect on important economic problems such as the optimal level of health insurance benefits and the optimal level of life-cycle savings.
Posted by ljridley at 09:06 AM | Comments (0)
July 22, 2008
Number of Jobs, Labor Market Activity and Earnings
Number of Jobs Held, Labor Market Activity, and Earnings Growth Among the Youngest Baby Boomers: Results From a Longitudinal Survey
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics New Release
The average person born in the later years of the baby boom held 10.8 jobs from age 18 to age 42, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. Nearly two-thirds of these jobs were held from ages 18 to 27.
These findings are from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, a survey of 9,964 men and women who were ages 14 to 22 when first interviewed in 1979 and ages 41 to 50 when interviewed most recently in 2006-07. These respondents were born in the years 1957 to 1964, the later years of the “baby boom” that occurred in the United States from 1946 to 1964. The survey spans more than a quar- ter century and provides information on work and nonwork experiences, training, schooling, income and assets, health conditions, and other characteristics. The information provided by respondents, who were interviewed annually from 1979 to 1994 and biennially since 1994, can be considered representative of all men and women born in the late 1950s and early 1960s and living in the United States when the survey began in 1979.
Full News Release (PDF)
Posted by ljridley at 02:32 PM | Comments (0)
July 17, 2008
Kids' Share 2008
Kids' Share 2008: How Children Fare in the Federal Budget
Authors: Adam Carasso, C. Eugene Steuerle, Gillian Reynolds, Tracy Vericker, Jennifer Ehrle Macomber
Source: The Urban Institute
Kids' Share 2008, a second annual report, looks comprehensively at trends in federal spending and tax expenditures on children. Key findings suggest that historically children have not been a budget priority. In 2007, this trend continued, as children's spending did not keep pace with GDP growth. Absent a policy change, children's spending will continue to be squeezed in the next decade.
Posted by ljridley at 10:30 AM | Comments (0)
States Take Action to Alleviate Child and Family Poverty
A National Governors Association Issue Brief Examines State Approaches to Reduce Poverty
Source: NGA Center for Best Practices
As families across the nation face financial hardships and economic insecurity, states continue to lead the way in developing solutions to help families ensure their economic well-being. These efforts are highlighted in a new Issue Brief from the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) titled State Strategies to Reduce Child and Family Poverty.
The brief examines the long-term social and economic costs of poverty for children and families, communities and states. In addition, State Strategies to Reduce Child and Family Poverty explores several policy and program options helping to reduce the negative consequences of poverty for children and increase opportunities for families to achieve economic success.
Press Release; Full Document (PDF)
Posted by ljridley at 10:11 AM | Comments (0)
July 03, 2008
Employment Characteristics of Families in 2007
Employment Characteristics of Families in 2007
News release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (May 30, 2008)
In 2007, the share of families with an unemployed member was 6.3 per-
cent, little changed from the prior year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The proportion of families with an unemployed member remained lower than the recent peak of 8.1 percent in 2003. Of the nation’s 77.9 million families, the proportion that had at least one employed member was little changed in 2007 at 82.6 percent.
These data on employment, unemployment, and family relationships are collected as part of the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly sample survey of approximately 60,000 households. Families include married-couple families, as well as families maintained by a man or woman with no spouse present.
Posted by ljridley at 10:30 AM | Comments (0)
June 24, 2008
Economy's Impact on Middle-Aged and Older Americans
The Economic Slowdown's Impact on Middle-Aged and Older Americans
Jeffrey Love and Gerard Rainville
Research Report from the AARP
AARP commissioned a nationwide survey to determine how people age 45 and older are responding to the current economic slowdown. The survey asked respondents for their assessments of the economy’s condition, whether they have taken actions in response to the changing economy, and if they felt enough was being done to address economic problems. This executive summary of the study reveals that a majority of those 45 or older believe the economy is in bad shape and that many have adapted their behaviors in response to the floundering economy.Survey findings include:
* Eighty-one percent say the economy is in fairly bad or very bad condition. A similar percentage (75%) feel the economy is getting worse.
* Over one-fourth of respondents said they are having trouble paying their mortgage or rent and one-third have stopped putting money into their retirement accounts. More than one-fourth (27%) of all workers 45+ have postponed plans to retire.
* As the economy slows and prices rise, most middle-aged and older respondents report that they are having difficulty paying for food, gas, utilities, and medicine, and are responding to the situation by cutting luxuries and postponing major purchases and travel.
* Respondents age 65 and over were less likely than those ages 45-64 to report having taken steps to cope with a slowing economy or increasing prices as a result of the recent economic slowdown. This does not indicate that the older population is better off financially. Rather, the data suggest that the 65 and over group had, even prior to the economic downturn, been forced to adjust their spending habits because of their work status, fixed income, and rising costs.
Posted by ljridley at 04:06 PM | Comments (0)
June 23, 2008
Food Stamps Buy Less
Food Stamps Buy Less, and Families Are Hit Hard
By LESLIE KAUFMAN
The prices of staples have risen sharply, but an increase in food stamp allocations will not take effect until October.
Source: New York Times, June 22, 2008
Posted by ljridley at 10:33 AM | Comments (0)
June 18, 2008
Costs of Child Poverty
State-by-State Costs of Child Poverty in the U.S.
Kelvin Pollard
Source: Population Reference Bureau
(May 2008) Research has shown that growing up in poverty leads to negative health, social, and economic consequences for children that often continue in adulthood. Compared with other children, children living below the poverty line are less healthy, have lower educational achievement, and are more likely to become involved with the criminal justice system. As adults, they are less likely to attend college or hold a steady job.
In 2006, an estimated 13.3 million U.S. children were living in poverty, and at risk for such lifelong problems. But the individual hardships brought by poverty also exact a staggering financial toll on broader society. One recent estimate has suggested that growing up in poverty costs the United States $500 billion annually in lost potential earnings, involvement with the criminal justice system, and the costs associated with poor health outcomes.1
Taking its cue from that cost estimate, as well as campaigns in some states designed to reduce poverty, the KIDS COUNT project in Washington state (affiliated with the University of Washington's Human Services Poverty Center) has produced state-level estimates of the costs of child poverty. By taking the national estimate of child poverty costs and applying it to the estimated the number of poor children in each state in the 2006 American Community Survey, the study estimates the amount that each state would save annually if child poverty were eliminated.
In 14 states, child poverty yielded an annual cost of more than $10 billion, according to the fact sheet issued by Washington KIDS COUNT. Not surprisingly, the most populous states tended to have the highest annual costs (see map)—mainly because they tend to have the largest numbers of children in poverty. California, with an estimated 1.7 million poor children in 2006, had the highest cost of $63.9 billion, followed by Texas at $57.5 billion and New York at $33.4 billion. Even in the smallest state, Wyoming, growing up poor yields an annual cost of about $500 million.
Posted by ljridley at 09:44 AM | Comments (0)
May 29, 2008
Mothers and Government Assistance
Participation of Mothers in Government Assistance Programs: 2004
By: Jane Lawler Dye
Source: U.S. Census, Household Economic Studies
Although participation in government assistance programs has risen somewhat in recent years among mothers with a birth in the last year, it is much lower than when welfare reform was enacted in 1996, according to a report released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The report, Participation of Mothers in Government Assistance Programs: 2004 [PDF], analyzes the socioeconomic characteristics of mothers participating in six different public assistance programs. These include Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF); food stamps; Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC); Medicaid; housing assistance; and other assistance. It shows that in 1996, 42 percent of mothers with a birth in the previous year were participants in at least one of these programs. The rate dipped to 29 percent in 2001 before climbing to 34 percent in 2004. The corresponding number, 1.6 million in 1996, dipped to 1.2 million in 2001 before rising to 1.4 million in 2004 .
Overall, 7.5 million mothers of childbearing age (15 to 44), or 22 percent, participated in one or more of these programs in 2004. Those with infants were more likely participants than those with older children (34 percent compared with 20 percent).
Mothers were also more likely to receive public assistance if they were younger than 25, living with either no other adult or with an unmarried partner, a minority, did not work in the past month, never attended college, or did not receive child support.
Posted by ljridley at 04:18 PM | Comments (0)
Economics and Early Childhood Policy
What Does Economics Tell Us About Early Childhood Policy?
By: M. Rebecca Kilburn, Lynn A. Karoly
RAND Research Brief
This research brief describes how insights from the field of economics — human capital theory and monetary payoffs — provide science-based guidance for early childhood policy.
Posted by ljridley at 04:09 PM | Comments (0)
May 23, 2008
Life After Lockup
Life After Lockup: Improving Reentry from Jail to the Community
Amy L. Solomon, Jenny W.L. Osborne, Stefan F. LoBuglio, Jeff Mellow, and Debbie A. Mukamal
Source: Source: Bureau of Justice Assistance/Urban Institute/John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Since 1998, criminal justice policymakers, practitioners, and researchers have focused substantial attention on the issue of prisoner reentry, people released from state and federal prisons. For a variety of reasons, until recently the policy discussion largely ignored the reentry issues of the millions released from local jails. Through the efforts of many in the field, that is no longer the case, and interest and activity in jail reentry has grown remarkably in the past several years. Though jail reentry can build on many of the ideas and approaches of prisoner reentry, the distinct differences in the nature of the operations and the status of the jail population require a new set of strategies.
In an effort to build knowledge on the topic, in 2005, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance invested in the Jail Reentry Roundtable Initiative, a joint project of the Urban Institute, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and the Montgomery County (Maryland) Department of Correction and Rehabilitation. Over the past two years, we have commissioned seven papers, convened a Jail Reentry Roundtable and two national advisory meetings, conducted a “scan of practice,” and interviewed dozens of practitioners around the country. This report aims to synthesize what we have learned through these efforts.
Posted by ljridley at 11:26 AM | Comments (0)
Older Americans and Poverty
More Older Americans are Poor than the Official Measure Suggests
Sheila R. Zedlewski, Barbara Butrica
Source: The Urban Institute
Abstract
The number of poor adults age 65 and older has declined dramatically since the official poverty rate was designed back in the 1960s. Today the federal government considers fewer than 1 in 10 older adults to be poor, compared with about 1 in 3 in the 1960s. These estimates show the share of people with insufficient income to meet basic living expenses, such as food and housing. However, substantial research shows that the official poverty measure no longer reflects the true resources or needs of older adults.
The lack of an accurate poverty measure for older adults hampers efforts to reform Medicare and Social Security, which face significant revenue shortfalls. Reform proposals often aim to reduce costs by combining benefit cuts with increased cost sharing for older adults. To target any cuts or increased costs to older adults with the greatest ability to pay, an accurate measure of economic well-being is critical.
Posted by ljridley at 10:09 AM | Comments (0)
Inequalities in U.S. Death Rates
Widening of Socioeconomic Inequalities in U.S. Death Rates, 1993–2001
Ahmedin Jemal1, Elizabeth Ward, Robert N. Anderson, Taylor Murray, Michael J. Thun
Source: PLoS ONE
Socioeconomic inequalities in death rates from all causes combined widened from 1960 until 1990 in the U.S., largely because cardiovascular death rates decreased more slowly in lower than in higher socioeconomic groups. However, no studies have examined trends in inequalities using recent US national data.
Posted by ljridley at 10:01 AM | Comments (0)
May 15, 2008
Engines of Inequality: Class, Race, and Family Structure
Engines of Inequality: Class, Race, and Family Structure (PDF)
Amy L. Wax, University of Pennsylvania Law School
ABSTRACT:
The past 30 years have witnessed a dramatic divergence in family structure by social class, income, education, and race. This article reviews the data on these trends, explores their significance, and assesses social scientists’ recent attempts to explain them. The article concludes that society-wide changes in economic conditions or social expectations cannot account for these patterns. Rather, for reasons that are poorly understood, cultural disparities have emerged by class and race in attitudes and behaviors surrounding family, sexuality, and reproduction. These disparities will likely fuel social and economic inequality and contribute to disparities in children’s life prospects for decades to come.
Posted by ljridley at 01:51 PM | Comments (0)
The Growing Divide: Income Inequality and Its Effects on Florida’s Families
The Growing Divide: Income Inequality and Its Effects on Florida’s Families (PDF)
Emily Eisenhauer, Marcos Feldman, Bruce Nissen, and Yue Zhang
Source: Research Institute on Social and Economic Policy, Florida International University
The gap between the wealthiest and the poorest families in Florida is widening, impacting housing and health care coverage. Over the last fifteen years the average income of the top 5% of families have increased by more than 55%. Upper income families are over two and a half times as likely as low-income families to own their own homes, and 22% more likely to have every household member covered by health insurance.
Posted by ljridley at 11:31 AM | Comments (0)
May 14, 2008
State Programs Add Safety Net for Low Income Workers
State Programs Add Safety Net for the Poorest
RACHEL L. SWARNS | NY TIMES
May 12, 2008
At least a dozen states are giving monthly payments to low-income workers, hoping to keep them off welfare rolls.
Posted by ljridley at 01:50 PM | Comments (0)
May 07, 2008
"Squeezed: How Costs for Insuring Families are Outpacing Income A State-By-State Analysis
This article reveals how the cost of family health insurance nationwide is increasing dramatically for employees without anywhere near an equivalent increase in family income. If this trend continues, more workers are likely to become uninsured because of the expense.
http://www.rwjf.org/files/research/042508ctuwfinalembargoed.pdf
Posted by sbriske at 03:34 PM | Comments (0)
April 23, 2008
How does GDP and income affect subjective well-being?
Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers re-examine the 'Easterlin Paradox,' which suggests there is no link between economic development of a society and the happiness of its members.
Posted by nebarr at 07:52 AM | Comments (0)
April 03, 2008
Social exclusion and the gender gap in education
Source: World Bank Policy Research Working Papers
By: Maureen Lewis and Marlaine Lockheed
Despite a sharp increase in the share of girls who enroll in, attend, and complete various levels of schooling, an educational gender gap remains in some countries. This paper argues that one explanation for this gender gap is the degree of social exclusion within these countries, as indicated by ethno-linguistic heterogeneity, which triggers both economic and psycho-social mechanisms to limit girls' schooling. Ethno-linguistic heterogeneity initially was applied to explaining lagging economic growth, but has emerged in the literature more recently to explain both civil conflict and public goods. This paper is a first application of the concept to explain gender gaps in education. The paper discusses the importance of female education for economic and social development, reviews the evidence regarding gender and ethnic differences in schooling, reviews the theoretical perspectives of various social science disciplines that seek to explain such differences, and tests the relevance of ethnic and linguistic heterogeneity in explaining cross-country differences in school attainment and learning. The study indicates that within-country ethnic and linguistic heterogeneity partly explains both national female primary school completion rates and gender differences in these rates, but only explains average national learning outcomes when national income measures are excluded.Full Text (PDF)
Posted by ljridley at 11:03 AM | Comments (0)
Food Stamps and Obesity: What Do We Know?
Food Stamps and Obesity: What Do We Know?
By Michele Ver Ploeg and Katherine Ralston
Economic Information Bulletin
Results from reviewed studies indicate that for most participants in the Food Stamp Program—children, nonelderly men, and the elderly—use of food stamp benefits does not result in an increase in either Body Mass Index (BMI) or the likelihood of being overweight or obese. However, for nonelderly women, who account for 28 percent of the food stamp caseload, some evidence suggests that participation in the Food Stamp Program may increase BMI and the probability of obesity. Different results for age and sex subgroups remain unexplained. Further, because food stamp benefits are issued to households, not individuals, mixed results across age and sex subgroups make it difficult to target policy alternatives to address potential weight gain among some participants while not affecting others in the household.Summary Report (PDF) Full Report (PDF)
Posted by ljridley at 10:53 AM | Comments (0)
Poverty, Programs, and Prices
Poverty, Programs, and Prices: How Adjusting for Costs of Living Would Affect Federal Benefit Eligibility
Source: Brookings Institution
Authors: Leah Beth Curran, Kimberly Furdell, Edward W. Hill, Hal Wolman
Regional cost of living affects the quality of life that individuals and families experience in different places. The national median household income for a family of four ($46,242 in 2005), for instance, purchases a much higher standard of living in Wichita, KS than in New York City, NY.2 Yet, policymakers rarely consider the impact of cost of living differences on quality of life or factor these differences into decisions about the allocation of federal resources for working families.
Posted by ljridley at 10:32 AM | Comments (0)
April 02, 2008
Food Stamp Use Nears Record
As Jobs Vanish and Prices Rise, Food Stamp Use Nears Record
Erik Eckholm
March 31, 2008
Driven by a painful mix of layoffs and rising food and fuel prices, the number of Americans receiving food stamps is projected to reach 28 million in the coming year, the highest level since the aid program began in the 1960s.
For more information see:
USDA Food Stamp Program Data & Statistics
Posted by ljridley at 11:53 AM | Comments (0)
March 27, 2008
Behavioral Economics [Housing]
Be it Ever so Illogical: Homeowners who won't cut the price
David Leonhardt | NY TIMES
March 26, 2008
For both economic and psychological reasons, there is no asset more conducive to hopeful overvaluation than real estate.
Posted by lisan at 12:30 PM | Comments (0)
March 25, 2008
Population Reference Bureau webcast
"How Older Women Can Shield Themselves From Poverty."
Posted by nebarr at 08:39 AM | Comments (0)
March 21, 2008
Dropout Data: How is it Measured?
States' Data Obscure How Few Finish High School
by Sam Dillon
March 20, 2008
NY Times
Federal figures gathered under the No Child Left Behind law hide a severe dropout epidemic, researchers say.
Posted by lisan at 11:48 AM | Comments (0)
Measuring Innovation
Read the report from the Measuring Innovation in the 21st Century Advisory Committee.
http://www.innovationmetrics.gov/
Posted by lisan at 11:43 AM | Comments (0)
Home Equity data
The following are links to data and reports with information on home
equity.
Residential Finance Survey, 2001
Home Equity Lines of Credit: Who Uses this source of credit? [Census 2000 Brief]
based on the 2001 Residential Finance Survey
http://www.census.gov/prod/2007pubs/c2kbr-37.pdf07
Posted by lisan at 11:26 AM | Comments (0)
March 18, 2008
Employer Costs for Employee Compensation
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Employer costs for employee compensation for civilian workers averaged $28.11 per hour worked in December 2007, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.
Posted by yanfu at 08:58 AM | Comments (0)
March 11, 2008
Maternity Leave and Employment Patterns of First-Time Mothers 1961-2003
The Feburary report uses SIPP data to examine employment patterns of mothers who gave birth to a first child between 1961 and 2003. The report is part of the Census Bureau’s Current Population Reports Household Economic Studies series.
Posted by yanfu at 09:56 AM | Comments (0)
March 05, 2008
Real time data vs data from surveys
The Buck Has Stopped
Gretchen Morgenson
March 2, 2008
The NY Times reports on TrimTabs Investment Research. This company produces a Consumer Spendables Indicator based on real time data as opposed to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Presumably, the contemporaneous data give more insight into what is happening in the economy as we experience it.
The TrimTabs website has links to articles that describe why their methodology is superior to the BLS Employment Survey.
Posted by lisan at 12:37 PM | Comments (0)
March 04, 2008
One in 100: Behind Bars in America 2008
A new report by Pew's Public Safety Performance Project details how, for the first time in history, more than one in every 100 adults in America are in jail or prison—a fact that significantly impacts state budgets without delivering a clear return on public safety.
Posted by ljridley at 04:17 PM | Comments (0)
March 03, 2008
From Work to Retirement: Tracking Changes in Women’s Poverty Status
Source: AARP Policy & Research
Women are nearly twice as likely to be poor as men as they reach pre-retirement and retirement ages, according to a new report by AARP’s Public Policy Institute.
Posted by yanfu at 02:56 PM | Comments (0)
Health and Prisoner Reentry
from Urban Institute
Author(s): Kamala Mallik-Kane, Christy Visher
More than 8 in 10 returning prisoners have chronic physical, mental, or substance abuse conditions. This research report demonstrates how each of these health conditions is associated with distinct reentry challenges and service needs.
Posted by yanfu at 02:55 PM | Comments (0)