Quality. Independence. Impact.

Home | Contact Us | Media Resources

Wednesday February 10, 2010

Welcome   |   Register   |   Log in

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioThe Effects of the Recession on Child Poverty

Julia B. Isaacs, January 04, 2010, The Brookings Institution

Already high child poverty rates are expected to increase with the recession. In 2008, on average, nearly one in five children lived in poverty, but some states, particularly those in the South, had rates as high as 30 percent. Julia Isaacs uses increases in the use of the food assistance program to predict that child poverty rates in 2009 will be particularly high in nine states in the South and Southwest. Read More

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioThe 2010 Reauthorization of Welfare Reform Could Result in Important Changes

Ron Haskins, December 18, 2009, The Brookings Institution

Ron Haskins discusses the future of the welfare reform law of 1996, stating that it is impossible to know what will happen during reauthorization, but for politicians, advocates, reporters, and scholars interested in the fate of the 1996 reforms, getting an understanding of the reforms that seem the most likely to be repealed or modified before the reauthorization debate begins will provide the basis for both intellectual and lobbying action for or against the possible changes. Read More

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioThe Future of Welfare to Work

Ron Haskins, December 09, 2009, House Budget Committee

Ron Haskins testified before the House Committee on the Budget on the issue of how far social policy should go in demanding work. Haskins argued that the current economic situation requires a determination of what changes in federal and state policy would allow states to respond more quickly and completely during the next recession, but without any permanent loosening of the current work requirements. Read More

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioChildren and the Elderly: Not Children or the Elderly

Henry J. Aaron, December 01, 2009, The Brookings Institution

Henry Aaron responds to “Spending on Children and the Elderly: An Issue Brief," arguing that pitting the interests of the elderly and disabled against those of children is politically short-sighted because advocates of public outlays for children and for the elderly have been - and should remain - allies against those who believe that the role of government should be limited to providing for defense and public safety, and little else. Read More

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioSpending on Children and the Elderly

Julia B. Isaacs, November 05, 2009, The Brookings Institution

According to Julia Isaacs, the United States spends 2.4 times as much per capita on the elderly as on children, with the ratio rising to 7 to 1 if only the federal budget is taken into account. Isaacs compares expenditures on children and the elderly in the United States to that of other countries, and asks whether these spending patterns make sense for the country's long-term welfare from a life-cycle perspective. Read More

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioCalifornia’s Work-to-Welfare Policy

Ron Haskins, October 16, 2009, The Brookings Institution

California’s Work-to-Welfare PolicyRon Haskins argues that California's recent decision to allow a substantial number of its welfare recipients to avoid work requirements will reverse nearly a decade and a half of hard-won progress against parental idleness and child poverty. Read More

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioTarget Compliance: The Final Frontier of Policy Implementation

R. Kent Weaver, September 30, 2009, The Brookings Institution

Target Compliance: The Final Frontier of Policy ImplementationVoters elect governments to solve social problems and governments design and implement an array of programs to ensure the public good. However, little theoretical attention has been devoted to the final step of the implementation chain: explanations of why the targets of public policies do or do not “comply” with those policies. Kent Weaver focuses on why program “targets” frequently fail to act in the way that program designers intended and wanted, even when it appears to be in their self-interest to do so. Read More

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioThe Threat to Work

Ron Haskins, September 22, 2009, The Brookings Institution

The Threat to WorkRon Haskins states that one of the few government strategies that has proven successful in reducing poverty is encouraging or demanding that adults on welfare work, even at low wage jobs, and then subsidizing their earnings but with employment, income, and earnings stagnant or in decline for nearly a decade now, it is time to worry. Read More

BOOK

Save to My PortfolioCreating an Opportunity Society

Ron Haskins and Isabel V. Sawhill, September 15, 2009

Creating an Opportunity Society examines economic opportunity in the United States and explores how to create more of it, particularly for those on the bottom rungs of the economic ladder. Read More

VIDEO

Save to My PortfolioWelfare Benefits and Drug Use

Ron Haskins, April 01, 2009

Many states are considering legislation that would take benefits away from welfare, food stamp and unemployment benefit recipients who test positive for drug use. Senior Fellow Ron Haskins examines the proposed legislation and says in most cases taking away benefits would be counterproductive.

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioHow to Reverse the Trend of Concentrated Poverty

Alan Berube, December 28, 2008, Cleveland Plain Dealer

Alan Berube urges policy-makers to evaluate short-term opportunities and set long-term strategies in order to help Cleveland’s next generation of residents overcome the challenges of concentrated poverty. Read More

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioMaking Work Pay – Again

Ron Haskins, September 15, 2008, First Focus

Ron Haskins offers ways policymakers could create an entitlement to housing assistance that would more fairly distribute housing benefits and convert housing into a more effective element in the nation’s work support system. The goal of reform would be to get the most out of the resources now devoted to housing by providing at least some benefit to all eligible families that want a housing subsidy. Read More

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioEconomic Stimulus Act: Hard to Kill Two Birds with One Stone

Ron Haskins, August 08, 2008, Pathways Magazine

Economic Stimulus Act: Hard to Kill Two Birds with One StoneThe bipartisan economic stimulus package was a straightforward application of Keynesian fiscal policy: Spend your way out of recession. However, some might wonder if it’s possible to design a stimulus package that could also reduce inequality. In this paper, Ron Haskins explains why targeted stimulus may reduce poverty in the short run but cannot substitute for investments that will reduce inequality in the long run. Read More

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioSharing a Passion for Getting the Policy Right

Alice M. Rivlin, May 08, 2008, The American Academy of Political and Social Science

The following remarks were delivered by Alice Rivlin upon accepting the Inaugural Daniel Patrick Moynihan Prize on May 8th, 2008 at the The American Academy of Political and Social Science.  In addition to speaking about her relationship with Moynihan, Rivlin spoke about the issues of welfare and race. Read More

PAST EVENT

Save to My PortfolioHelping Disconnected and Hard-to-Employ Single Mothers

Wednesday, May 07, 2008
9:00 AM to 11:15 AM
Washington, DC

The Center on Children and Families and the National Poverty Center at the University of Michigan's Ford School of Public Policy held a forum to discuss the policy challenges posed by single mothers who have not been able to find stable employment and who may have used up their Temporary Assistance for Needy Families eligibility or face sanctions. These women head the families that are most vulnerable to the current economic downswing. Read More

In Brief

The 1996 welfare reform law replaced a U.S. system of cash assistance to poor single parents with new measures to encourage work. The reforms include job training, tax credits to supplement low wages, and time limit s on benefits. Welfare rolls have dropped dramatically. What policies will continue to promote the transition from welfare to work?

My Portfolio

My New Content

View suggested content based on items you have saved to your Portfolio.
Log in or register now

Policy CenterCenter on Children and Families

The Center on Children and Families studies policies on the well-being of America's children and their parents and seeks a more effective means of addressing poverty, inequality and lack of opportunity in the United States.

ExpertDomenico Lombardi

As president of the Oxford Institute for Economic Policy, Domenico Lombardi’s work at Brookings focuses on the international financial crisis and the reform of the IMF and the World Bank. He is an expert on G-20 and G8 Summits.

ExpertVanda Felbab-Brown

Vanda Felbab-Brown focuses on the national security implications of illicit economies and strategies for managing them. She is an adjunct professor in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

ExpertSuzanne Maloney

Suzanne Maloney studies Iran, the political economy of the Persian Gulf and Middle East energy policy. A former U.S. State Department policy advisor, she has also counseled private companies on Middle East issues.

Research ProjectAfrica Growth Initiative

The Africa Growth Initiative conducts high-quality policy research and analysis focused on attaining sustainable economic development and prosperity in Africa, while amplifying the voice of African researchers in policy-making and planning.

Research ProjectLatin America Initiative

The Latin America Initiative provides high-quality, in-depth, and independent research across a range of economic and political issues, and offers policy recommendations aimed at U.S. and Latin American policymakers.

ExpertIsabel V. Sawhill

A nationally known budget expert, Isabel Sawhill focuses on domestic poverty and federal fiscal policy. She is also co-director of the Center on Children and Families at Brookings.

ExpertAmy Liu

Amy Liu is deputy director of the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program. Her policy studies include economic competitiveness, metropolitan growth and development, governance reforms, urban reinvestment, and social equity.

ExpertRichard C. Bush III

Richard Bush is the director of the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies. His public service career spans Congress, the intelligence community and the U.S. State Department. He currently focuses on China-Taiwan and U.S.-China relations, the Korean peninsula and Japan’s security.

Policy CenterCenter for Northeast Asian Policy Studies

CNAPS conducts research, analysis, and outreach designed to enhance policy development and understanding on the pressing political, economic, and security issues facing Northeast Asia.

Policy CenterUrban-Brookings Tax Policy Center

The Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution, is comprised of nationally recognized experts in tax, budget and social policy who have served at the highest levels of government.

TopicEducation

The economic and political well-being of any society requires a well-educated citizenry. Brookings’s work extends beyond the K-12 bookends to include pre-school interventions, higher education and the challenges of education in developing countries.

ExpertMark McClellan

Mark McClellan works on promoting high-quality, innovative and affordable health care. Once commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Dr. McClellan now directs the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform.

ExpertMwangi S. Kimenyi

Mwangi S. Kimenyi is a senior fellow with the Africa Growth Initiative. He focuses on Africa's development, including institutions for economic growth, the political economy, and private sector development.

Research ProjectArms Control Initiative

Few problems pose greater challenges to U.S. national security than controlling, reducing and countering the proliferation of nuclear arms. The Brookings Arms Control Initiative brings the Institution’s multidisciplinary strengths to bear on the critical challenges of arms control and non-proliferation.

Research ProjectBrookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement

The Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement monitors displacement problems worldwide, works with governments, regional bodies, international organizations and civil society to create more effective policies and institutional arrangements for Internally Displaed Persons.

ExpertTed Gayer

Ted Gayer is the co-director of the Economic Studies program and the Joseph A. Pechman Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. He conducts research on a variety of economic issues, focusing particularly on public finance, environmental and energy economics, housing, and regulatory policy.

TopicHealth Care

Brookings is committed to producing innovative policy solutions to our nation’s most difficult challenges. The country may face no more important domestic policy challenge than the much-needed reform of our health care system. Through an institution-wide effort, Brookings delivers new ideas and offers policy solutions to improve health care both at home and globally.