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Friday November 20, 2009

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Welfare

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioSpending on Children and the Elderly

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

The United States spends 2.4 times as much on the elderly as on children, measured on a per capita basis, with the ratio rising to 7 to 1 if looking just at the federal budget, Julia Isaacs finds. She looks at expenditures on children and the elderly in the United States compared to other countries and, from a life-cycle perspective, asks whether these spending patterns makes sense for the long-term good of our country. Read More

Children & Families, Welfare, U.S. Poverty

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

California, Welfare, U.S. Poverty

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

Governance, Quality-of-Life Issues, Welfare, Social Norms

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

U.S. Economy, Welfare, Working Poor

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

Economic Mobility, Children & Families, Education, Federal Budget, Marriage and Family Formation

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.

Welfare, Social Issues, Unemployment

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

Concentrated Poverty, Unemployment, Children & Families, Earned Income Tax Credit, Economic Mobility

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

Working Poor, Labor, Children & Families, U.S. Poverty, Earned Income Tax Credit

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

Economic Mobility, Inequality, Fiscal Policy, U.S. Economic Growth, Welfare

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

Welfare, Race, Politics, Governance

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

U.S. Poverty, Unemployment, Welfare, Children & Families, Working Poor

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioHelping Disconnected Single Mothers

Rebecca M. Blank and Brian Kovak, May 07, 2008, Brookings Institution

Helping Disconnected Single MothersThere are a growing number of low-income single mothers who are long-term welfare recipients or are without steady employment. They tend to face more barriers to stable employment, with less education, younger children, higher rates of mental and physical health problems and substance abuse, and a history of domestic violence. In this brief, Rebecca Blank and Brian Kovak propose a new program to link these mothers to medical and economic support and give them greater assistance in securing employment. Read More

Welfare, U.S. Poverty, Unemployment, Children & Families, Working Poor

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioAssessing Federal Employment Accessibility Policy: An Analysis of the JARC Program

Thomas W. Sanchez and Lisa Schweitzer, February 21, 2008, The Brookings Institution

In this report, the authors review the past 40 years of federal policy toward transportation mobility for low-income workers, including the most recent Job Access and Reverse Commute (JARC) program, administered by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). Read More

Transportation, Welfare, Unemployment, U.S. Poverty

VIDEO

Save to My PortfolioAttacking Poverty and Inequality

Ron Haskins and Martha Raddatz, January 07, 2008

In the late 1990s, Congress and President Clinton collaborated on bi-partisan legislation that led to a substantial decline in child poverty in the United States – especially in African-American communities. Ron Haskins explains that the next president should reinvigorate the fight against poverty through increasing benefits while requiring more personal responsibility.

Economic Mobility, U.S. Poverty, Welfare, Inequality, Working Poor

PAST EVENT

Save to My PortfolioAntipoverty Policies: Incentives and Work Mandates for Young Men

Thursday, September 20, 2007
9:00 AM to 11:00 AM
Washington, DC

Reuters/Rebecca CookAlthough the nation is no longer achieving major reductions in poverty as it did during the 1960s, some gains have been made in recent years, especially among single mothers. But more progress is needed in focusing antipoverty efforts on men. Panelists at this event explored two sets of public policies – wage subsidies and work requirements – that hold promise for helping young men increase their employment and earnings. Read More

U.S. Poverty, Welfare

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?

Featured Experts

Isabel V. Sawhill

Isabel V. Sawhill

Senior Fellow, Economic Studies
The Cabot Family Chair

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.
Read More

Ron Haskins

Ron Haskins

Senior Fellow, Economic Studies

A former White House and congressional advisor on welfare issues, Ron Haskins co-directs the Brookings Center on Children and Families. An expert on preschool, foster care, and poverty—he was instrumental in the 1996 overhaul of national welfare policy.
Read More

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Spotlight

TopicEducation

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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.

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Research ProjectLatin America Initiative

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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.

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