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Wednesday February 10, 2010

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Welfare

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

Children & Families, Welfare

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interested in the fate of the 1996 reforms, getting an understanding of the reforms that seem the most likely to be repealed or modified before the reauthorization debate begins will provide the basis for both intellectual and lobbying action for or against the possible changes.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

Welfare, Children & Families, U.S. Economy, U.S. Poverty

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

Welfare, Social Issues, U.S. Economy, U.S. Poverty

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

Children & Families, U.S. Economy, Welfare, U.S. Poverty

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

Children & Families, Welfare, U.S. Poverty, Intergenerational Equity

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

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

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 ProjectAfrica Growth Initiative

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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.

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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.

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