DRAFT CPCP WEB PAGE UNDER “RESEARCH”
RESEARCH AREA AND WEB PAGE TITLE: Changing Poverty, Changing Policies
Text under title:
Poverty declined significantly in the decade after Lyndon Johnson’s 1964 declaration of ―War on
Poverty.‖ Dramatically increased federal funding for education and training programs, social
security benefits, other income support program, and a growing economy reduced poverty and
raised expectations that income poverty could be eliminated within a generation. Yet the official
U.S. poverty rate has never fallen below its 1973 level and remains higher than the rates in many
other advanced economies. Conducting and disseminating multidisciplinary research to further
understanding of the changing nature of poverty and to inform effective policymaking lies at the
heart of IRP’s mission.
In May 2008, to assess our current state of knowledge, IRP sponsored a national conference at
which experts in various areas presented papers on poverty trends and on particular issues such
as economic changes, demographic changes, and trends in poverty; mobility and its
consequences; the evolution and scope of antipoverty policies; and the politics of poverty and its
meaning in a rich country. Papers presented at the conference are summarized in the Fall 2009
issue of Focus; revised papers, which expand upon the effects of the then-deepening recession,
were published in a volume in fall 2009, Changing Poverty, Changing Policies, co-edited by
Maria Cancian and Sheldon Danziger, and available from the Russell Sage Foundation.
Changing Poverty, Changing Policies is the latest in a distinguished series of volumes compiled
by the Institute for Research on Poverty that periodically examine antipoverty policies in the
United States.
Related IRP Publications
Introduction to Changing Poverty, Changing Policies / Full Text of Two Conference Papers
/ Changing Poverty, Changing Policies Chapter Abstracts / Suggested Supplementary
Readings
Introduction to Changing Poverty, Changing Policies
―Changing Poverty and Changing Antipoverty Policies,‖ Maria Cancian and Sheldon Danziger
(Also published as introduction to conference volume, Changing Poverty, Changing Policies)
Full Text: DP 1364-09
Since the early 1970s, dramatic changes in the economy, demographic composition of the
population, and in public policies have combined to reduce the antipoverty effects of economic
growth. Because economic growth is now necessary, but not sufficient, to significantly reduce
poverty, antipoverty policies must be expanded and reformed, especially in the aftermath of the
severe recession that began in late 2007.
The authors review three cross-cutting factors that shape the extent and nature of poverty and
prospects for reducing poverty: the changing role of race and ethnicity in the labor market and
society; changing gender roles that influence both trends in labor force participation of women
and patterns of family formation and childbearing; and the recent history of social welfare
programs and policies. They conclude by recommending a set of high priority antipoverty
policies that are consistent with current trends in work effort, patterns of family formation, and
continuing changes in how the globalized economy affects the employment and earnings
prospects of less-educated workers. These policies focus on making work pay, helping parents
balance work and family responsibilities, and raising the educational attainment of disadvantaged
children. The authors also briefly summarize the other chapters in the forthcoming Changing
Poverty volume.
Full Text of Two Conference Papers
―Trends in Income Support,‖ John Karl Scholz, Robert Moffitt, and Benjamin Cowan
(Full text—differs from book chapter in Changing Poverty, Changing Policies)
Full Text: DP 1350-08
Antipoverty programs are designed to mitigate the most pernicious aspects of market-based
economic outcomes—unemployment, disability, low earnings, and other material hardship.
These programs compose society's "safety net" and each has different eligibility standards and
benefit formulas. While they can be aggregated and categorized to summarize trends in coverage
and generosity, a consequence of their patchwork nature is that the safety net may appear
different to a family in one set of circumstances than it does to a family in another.
The authors have three primary goals in this paper. First, they provide updated information on
expenditures and recipients for a range of antipoverty programs, describing the evolution of the
safety net over the past thirty-five years. Second, they use data from the Survey of Income and
Program Participation (SIPP) to calculate the antipoverty effectiveness of federal programs for
families and individuals in different circumstances. Third, they explore changes in the
characteristics of recipients of means-tested transfers, tax credits and social insurance.
―Immigration and Poverty in the United States,‖ Steven Raphael and Eugene Smolensky
(Full text—differs from book chapter in Changing Poverty, Changing Policies)
Full Text: DP 1347-08
In this paper, the authors assess the likely contribution of immigration over the past three and a
half decades to poverty in the U.S. They first document trends in poverty rates among the nativeborn by race and ethnicity and poverty trends among all immigrants, recent immigrants, and
immigrants by their region and (in some instances) country of origin. Next, they assess how
poverty rates among immigrants change with time in the United States. Finally, they simulate the
effects of competition with immigrant labor on native wages and the likely consequent effects on
native poverty rates.
The authors find that international immigration to the U.S. between 1970 and 2005 has increased
the overall poverty rate due to the facts that (1) immigrants are more likely to be poor and (2) an
increasing proportion of the U.S. resident population is foreign born. This effect, however, is
modest (it increases U.S. poverty rates by half a percentage point) and transitory, as immigrant
poverty rates decline quickly with time in the U.S. The authors' wage simulations indicate that
competition with immigrants does adversely impact those natives, and only those natives, with
the least education. However, the impact of wage competition with immigrants on native poverty
rates is negligible.
Changing Poverty, Changing Policies Chapter Abstracts
Changing Poverty and Changing Antipoverty Policies
Maria Cancian and Sheldon Danziger
(Also published as introduction to conference volume, Changing Poverty, Changing Policies)
Full Text: DP 1364-09
Since the early 1970s, dramatic changes in the economy, demographic composition of the
population, and in public policies have combined to reduce the antipoverty effects of economic
growth. Because economic growth is now necessary, but not sufficient, to significantly reduce
poverty, antipoverty policies must be expanded and reformed, especially in the aftermath of the
severe recession that began in late 2007.
The authors review three cross-cutting factors that shape the extent and nature of poverty and
prospects for reducing poverty: the changing role of race and ethnicity in the labor market and
society; changing gender roles that influence both trends in labor force participation of women
and patterns of family formation and childbearing; and the recent history of social welfare
programs and policies. They conclude by recommending a set of high priority antipoverty
policies that are consistent with current trends in work effort, patterns of family formation, and
continuing changes in how the globalized economy affects the employment and earnings
prospects of less-educated workers. These policies focus on making work pay, helping parents
balance work and family responsibilities, and raising the educational attainment of disadvantaged
children. The authors also briefly summarize the other chapters in the forthcoming Changing
Poverty volume.
Poverty Levels and Trends in Comparative Perspective
Daniel R. Meyer and Geoffrey L. Wallace
(Conference paper and chapter in Changing Poverty, Changing Policies volume)
In 2006, 42 years after President Johnson proclaimed war on poverty, the rate of poverty
according to the official measure was 12.3 percent, about the same as it was in the late-1960s. A
poverty measure that incorporates additional income sources shows somewhat lower poverty,
11.4 percent, but if a relative measure (that incorporates changes in the standard of living over
time) is used, poverty in 2006 would be 16.0 percent. Regardless of the exact rate, it is clear that
the struggle against poverty has been protracted and difficult, and, despite a variety of social
policy changes, very little progress has been made. This paper reviews the way in which poverty
is officially measured in the U.S., examines which groups are most affected and how poverty has
changed over time, and concludes with a comparison of U.S. poverty rates with those of other
countries. The authors end with the suggestion that "perhaps it is time for a renewed war on
poverty, this time fought with new commitments and different policy weapons."
Economic Change and the Structure of Opportunity for Less-Skilled Workers
Rebecca M. Blank
(Conference paper and chapter in Changing Poverty, Changing Policies volume)
The primary source of support for most non-elderly adults comes from their employment and
earnings. Hence, understanding the availability of jobs and the wages paid to less-educated
workers is key to understanding changes in the well-being of low-income populations.
Expansions and contractions in the macroeconomy influence unemployment rates, wages, and
overall economic growth, all of which are important determinants of the economic circumstances
facing low-income families.
This chapter focuses on the trends in labor market and macroeconomic circumstances that
particularly affect less-educated and low wage workers. The first section looks at changes in
work behavior among individuals by skill level; the second, at unemployment and job
availability. The third section investigates trends in earnings and discusses the reasons behind
substantial earnings shifts among less-educated men and women since 1980. The fourth section
looks at the most disadvantaged families and investigates the relationship between
macroeconomic and labor market factors and poverty rates. The final section discusses policy
implications.
Family Structure, Childbearing, and Parental Employment: Implications for the Level and Trend
in Poverty
Maria Cancian and Deborah Reed
(Conference paper and chapter in Changing Poverty, Changing Policies volume)
The correlation between family structure and economic well-being is well established. Poverty
rates vary dramatically by family structure; in 2006 about 8 percent of married couples with
children, 40 percent of single mother families, and 14 percent of single father families were poor.
Eligibility for income support programs, including cash welfare, food stamps, and the Earned
Income Tax Credit, are tied to family composition. Moreover, in recent years policymakers have
sought not only to respond to family changes, but to try to influence the decisions people make
about marriage, divorce, and childbearing. Poverty policies and family policies are increasingly
tied.
This paper examines changes since 1970 in family structure and their implications for poverty
and income support policy. The authors discuss changes in marriage and childbearing and their
implications for the living situations of children, such as the increasing proportion of children
living with a single mother. They also highlight differences in work and earnings by marital and
parental status, such as the substantial increase in the employment rates of single mothers with
young children.
Immigration and Poverty in the United States
Steven Raphael and Eugene Smolensky
(Full text available—differs from book chapter in Changing Poverty, Changing Policies)
Full Text: DP 1347-08
In this paper, the authors assess the likely contribution of immigration over the past three and a
half decades to poverty in the U.S. They first document trends in poverty rates among the nativeborn by race and ethnicity and poverty trends among all immigrants, recent immigrants, and
immigrants by their region and (in some instances) country of origin. Next, they assess how
poverty rates among immigrants change with time in the United States. Finally, they simulate the
effects of competition with immigrant labor on native wages and the likely consequent effects on
native poverty rates.
The authors find that international immigration to the U.S. between 1970 and 2005 has increased
the overall poverty rate due to the facts that (1) immigrants are more likely to be poor and (2) an
increasing proportion of the U.S. resident population is foreign born. This effect, however, is
modest (it increases U.S. poverty rates by half a percentage point) and transitory, as immigrant
poverty rates decline quickly with time in the U.S. The authors' wage simulations indicate that
competition with immigrants does adversely impact those natives, and only those natives, with
the least education. However, the impact of wage competition with immigrants on native poverty
rates is negligible.
Enduring Influences of Childhood Poverty
Katherine Magnuson and Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal
(Conference paper and chapter in Changing Poverty, Changing Policies volume)
Poverty is a common experience for children growing up in the United States. Although only
about one in five children are in poverty each year, roughly one in three will spend at least one
year living in a poor household. Child poverty is a significant concern to researchers and
policymakers because early childhood poverty is linked to a multitude of worse outcomes,
including reduced academic attainment, higher rates of non-marital child bearing, and a greater
likelihood of health problems. Moreover, childhood poverty, especially when it is deep and
persistent, increases the chances that an individual will be poor as an adult, thereby giving rise to
the intergenerational transmission of economic disadvantage.
In this chapter the authors review research on the dynamics of child poverty and the influences of
poverty on development during childhood and early adulthood in the United States. They begin
by describing trends in child poverty. Next, they present three dominant frameworks for
understanding the influences of poverty on families and discuss challenges faced by researchers
interested in measuring causal effects. Then they review studies that estimate childhood poverty's
influence on development in three domains: educational attainment and achievement, behavior,
and physical health. They conclude by discussing policies that show promise in attenuating the
links between childhood poverty and development across the life course.
Mobility in the United States in Comparative Perspective
Markus Jäntti
(Conference paper and chapter in Changing Poverty, Changing Policies volume)
The United States has a much more unequal distribution of income than most developed nations.
In fact, although it has one of the highest standards of living on average, as measured by its gross
domestic product per capita, the more unequal income distribution translates into comparatively
high rates of both relative poverty (50 percent of median disposable income) and absolute
poverty (the official US poverty thresholds).
This paper examines the dynamics of poverty in the United States in light of evidence from other
developed nations. The author begins by examining poverty mobility in the United States based
on monthly incomes. The proportion of those who have below-poverty-level income in two or
more months is much greater than poverty based on annual income, so the experience of poverty
is in some sense much more common than annual figures suggest. Similar background factors—
belonging to a racial minority or living in a female-headed household—are associated with
higher short-term, annual, and long-term poverty.
Trends in Income Support
John Karl Scholz, Robert Moffitt, and Benjamin Cowan
(Full text available—differs from book chapter in Changing Poverty, Changing Policies)
Full Text: DP 1350-08
Antipoverty programs are designed to mitigate the most pernicious aspects of market-based
economic outcomes—unemployment, disability, low earnings, and other material hardship.
These programs compose society's "safety net" and each has different eligibility standards and
benefit formulas. While they can be aggregated and categorized to summarize trends in coverage
and generosity, a consequence of their patchwork nature is that the safety net may appear
different to a family in one set of circumstances than it does to a family in another.
The authors have three primary goals in this paper. First, they provide updated information on
expenditures and recipients for a range of antipoverty programs, describing the evolution of the
safety net over the past thirty-five years. Second, they use data from the Survey of Income and
Program Participation (SIPP) to calculate the antipoverty effectiveness of federal programs for
families and individuals in different circumstances. Third, they explore changes in the
characteristics of recipients of means-tested transfers, tax credits and social insurance.
The Role of Family Policies in Anti-Poverty Policy
Jane Waldfogel
(Conference paper and chapter in Changing Poverty, Changing Policies volume)
Families are changing. In 1975, two-thirds of American children had a stay-at-home parent.
Today only about a quarter of children do (20 percent live with two parents, only one of whom
works; while 6 percent live with a single parent or married parents who do not work; see Table
1). Fully half live with two parents who both work, while a quarter (24 percent) live with a single
parent who works.
This paper considers the role various types of family policy might play in reducing poverty
among families with children. The first section focuses on work-family policies that help parents
address the conflict between the demands associated with working and those associated with
caring for children. The second section discusses several types of income support policies,
including universal child allowances that raise incomes for all families with children, and childfocused earnings supplements targeted to low-income families (such as the EITC). The third
section considers policies that address the disproportionate risk of poverty facing single-parent
families.
Improving Educational Outcomes for Poor Children
Brian A. Jacob and Jens Ludwig
(Conference paper and chapter in Changing Poverty, Changing Policies volume)
One of the best ways to avoid being poor as an adult is to obtain a good education. Individuals
with higher academic achievement and more years of schooling earn more than those with lower
levels of human capital. This is not surprising given that we believe that schooling makes people
more productive, allowing them to command higher wages in the labor market.
This paper offers a message of tempered optimism in contrast to a sense of pessimism about the
ability of schools to lift poor children's life chances. The past few decades have seen a dramatic
improvement in the technology of education policy evaluation, which has enhanced our ability to
uncover moderately-sized program impacts within the complex environment that determines
schooling outcomes. The available evidence reveals a number of potentially promising ways to
improve the learning outcomes of low-income children. This is not to say that everything works:
many current and proposed education policies either enjoy no empirical support for their
effectiveness, or in some cases have strong empirical evidence for their ineffectiveness. But a
careful sifting of the empirical evidence identifies a selected set of interventions that seem to be
promising.
Workforce Development as an Antipoverty Strategy: What Do We Know? What Should We Do?
Harry J. Holzer
(Conference paper and chapter in Changing Poverty, Changing Policies volume)
Over the past few decades, the gaps in earnings between more- and less-educated American
workers have risen. The number of adult workers in low-wage jobs has risen—partly because of
the growing supply of these workers, associated with welfare reform and immigration (among
other forces), and partly because of growing demand for these workers in low-paying jobs. And,
at least among less-educated and minority men, the numbers with criminal records and other
characteristics that make them "hard to employ" has risen dramatically as well.
In this paper the author addresses the following questions: Why has support for workforce
development policies fallen so far as an antipoverty strategy? What are the most recent
developments in the field, and what is the state of knowledge about their success? Is a resurgence
of interest in workforce development for the poor merited? And, for low-wage workers for
whom workforce development is unlikely to be a successful option, what other policies might
work? He concludes with some thoughts on what a workforce development agenda might
include, and what is needed for such an agenda to succeed.
Health Care for the Poor: For Whom, What Care, and Whose Responsibility?
Katherine Swartz
(Conference paper and chapter in Changing Poverty, Changing Policies volume)
Americans' efforts to help poor people obtain medical care have evolved as the country has
grown richer and as medicine has become capable of increasing life-expectancy and improving
quality of life. The evolution has not been a direct path of increased generosity towards poor
people. Instead, it reflects a mix of philosophical beliefs, greater understanding of the links
between health and ability to work, and swings in the economy that have made Americans
alternately more and less willing to help pay for poor people’'s medical care.
This paper focuses on the recent history of public policies intended to help the poor obtain health
care, including the concerns now surrounding public insurance. The first half of the paper
(Section II) provides a brief review of efforts to provide health care to the poor since 1900. The
second half shifts to examining current concerns with Medicaid and SCHIP and issues that
should be addressed in continuing efforts to provide health care to the poor and near-poor. The
third section focuses on recent and current efforts to control and slow the spending for Medicaid
and SCHIP. In the fourth section, the author examines four concerns with the current operation
of Medicaid and SCHIP. The author concludes with observations about the inconsistency in our
attitudes towards helping poor people with health care costs and she offers three
recommendations for improving health care outcomes for low-income people.
Poverty Politics and Policy
Mary Jo Bane
(Conference paper and chapter in Changing Poverty, Changing Policies volume)
In 1992, "ending welfare as we know it" was an important theme in Bill Clinton's presidential
campaign. It polled well, and was consistent with other aspects of the New Democrat agenda that
Clinton was campaigning on, an agenda that also included "making work pay" and "reinventing
government." Candidate Clinton talked a good deal about welfare in the context of an approach
to poverty that emphasized work and responsibility.
In May 2008, when Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were neck and neck for the Democratic
nomination, neither of their campaign issues Web sites mentioned welfare. Both had issue papers
on poverty, Clinton's a sub-topic under the broad issue of "Strengthening the Middle Class,"
Obama's one of twenty issue areas. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, included
neither poverty nor welfare in his list of important issues, though he did have an economic plan
that included proposals directed at the struggling middle class.
Much has happened in politics and policy around poverty and welfare after and to some extent
because of Clinton's 1992 campaign agenda. In this paper, the author addresses three questions:
What changed in policy, practice and the lives of the poor? What changed, if anything, in public
opinion and the political context around poverty and welfare? What are the prospects and the
best political strategies for improvement in the lives of the poor going forward from 2008?
What Does It Mean to Be Poor in a Rich Society?
Robert Haveman
(Conference paper and chapter in Changing Poverty, Changing Policies volume)
In 2007, Mollie Orshansky, whose contributions led to the nation's official poverty measure,
passed away. Given the data available in the early-1960s, the Orshansky poverty measure—
based on family money income and an absolute poverty threshold—made perfect sense.
President Johnson had declared a War on Poverty in 1964, and the nation needed a statistical
picture of the poor. Since this time, the U.S. official poverty measure has stood nearly
unchanged. This, in spite of extensive efforts designed to improve the measurement of both
financial means and the poverty threshold.
In this paper, the author attempts to broaden the discussion of poverty and poverty measurement.
He first discusses the broad question of "what is poverty?" and describes various poverty
concepts that have been proposed. He then describes the official U.S. poverty measure,
highlights its main characteristics, and notes some of the criticisms directed toward it. Finally, he
examines broader conceptions of poverty and deprivation. The paper ends with a modest
proposal for the development of a broader measure of poverty and social exclusion for the
United States.
Suggested Supplementary Readings, by Changing Poverty, Changing Policies Section
1.
Changing Poverty and Changing Antipoverty Policies
Maria Cancian and Sheldon Danziger
Race & Ethnicity:
Lin, Ann Chih, and David R. Harris. 2009. ―The Colors of Poverty: Why Racial & Ethnic
Disparities Persist.‖ National Poverty Center Policy Brief #16. Ann Arbor,
MI.http://www.npc.umich.edu/publications/policy_briefs/brief16/index.php
Raphael, Steven. 2007. ―The Employment Prospects of Ex-Offenders.‖ Focus 25(2): 21–26.
http://www.irp.wisc.edu/publications/focus/pdfs/foc252d.pdf
Pager, Devah. 2004. ―The Mark of a Criminal Record.‖ Focus 23(2): 44–46.
http://www.irp.wisc.edu/publications/focus/pdfs/foc232i.pdf
Wilson, William Julius. 2009. More than Just Race: Being Black and Poor in the Inner City. New
York: Norton & Co.
Gender Roles and Family Structure:
See readings for chapter 4
History of Social Programs:
Moffitt, Robert A. 2004. ―The Idea of a Negative Income Tax: Past, Present, and Future.‖ Focus
23(2): 1–8. http://www.irp.wisc.edu/publications/focus/pdfs/foc232a.pdf
Meyers, Marcia K. 2007. ―The Institutional Architecture of Antipoverty Policy in the United
States: Looking Back, Looking Ahead.‖ Focus 25(1): 58–62.
http://www.irp.wisc.edu/publications/focus/pdfs/foc251i.pdf
Danziger, Sheldon, and Peter Gottschalk. 1997. America Unequal. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.
Section I. Economic Changes, Demographic Changes, and Trends in Poverty
2.
Poverty Levels and Trends in Comparative Perspective
Daniel R. Meyer and Geoffrey L. Wallace
Moses, Joy. 2009. ―A Legacy of Poverty: New Census Numbers Fail to Reflect the Severity of
Inherited Problems.‖ Center for American Progress.
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/09/poverty_obama_era.html
DeNavas-Wait, Carmen, Bernadette D. Proctor, and Jessica C. Smith. 2009. ―Income, Poverty,
and Health Insurance Coverage in the US: 2008.‖ U.S. Census Bureau Report.
http://www.census.gov/prod/2009pubs/p60-236.pdf
McKernan, Signe-Mary, Caroline Ratcliffe, and Stephanie Cellini. 2009. ―Transitioning In and
Out of Poverty.‖ Urban Institute Fact Sheet #1 (September).
http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/411956_transitioningpoverty.pdf
Note: Also see suggestions for poverty measurement papers under chapter 14.
3.
Economic Change and the Structure of Opportunity for Less-Skilled Workers
Rebecca M. Blank
Blank, Rebecca M., and Brian Kovak. 2009. ―The Growing Problem of Disconnected Single
Mothers.‖ In Making the Work-Based Safety Net Work Better, edited by Carolyn J. Heinrich and
John Karl Scholz. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Borjas, George J. 2006. ―Wage Trends among Disadvantaged Minorities.‖ In Working and Poor:
How Economic and Policy Changes Are Affecting Low-Wage Workers, edited by Rebecca M.
Blank, Sheldon H. Danziger, and Robert F. Schoeni. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Danziger, Sheldon H., and David Ratner. Forthcoming. ―The Labor Market and the Transition to
Adulthood.‖ Future of Children: Special Issue on the Transition to Adulthood.
Holzer, Harry J., and Paul Offner. 2006. ―Trends in Employment Outcomes of Young Black Men,
1979–2000.‖ In Black Males Left Behind, edited by Roanld B. Mincy. Washington, DC: Urban
Institute Press.
4.
Family Structure, Childbearing, and Parental Employment: Implications for the Level and Trend in Poverty
Maria Cancian and Deborah Reed
Amato, Paul R., and Rebecca A. Maynard. 2007. ―Decreasing Nonmarital Births
and Strengthening Marriage to Reduce Poverty.‖ The Future of Children
17(2):117–141.
Edin, Kathryn, and Joanna M. Reed. 2005. ―Why Don’t They Just Get Married?
Barriers to Marriage among the Disadvantaged.‖ The Future of Children 15(2):
1127–1137.
Ellwood, David T., and Christopher Jencks. 2004. ―The Spread of Single-Parent
Families in the United States since 1960.‖ In The Future of the Family, edited by
Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Timothy Smeeding, and Lee Rainwater. New York:
Russell Sage Foundation.
Gornick, Janet C., and Marcia K. Meyers. 2004. ―Helping America’s Working
Parents: What Can We Learn from Europe and Canada?‖ New America
Foundation Issue Brief (November).
http://www.newamerica.net/publications/policy/helping_americas_working_paren
ts
McLanahan, Sara, and Christine Percheski. 2008. ―Family Structure and the
Reproduction of Inequalities.‖ Annual Review of Sociology 34: 257–276.
See also, references for chapter 9.
5.
Immigration and Poverty in the United States
Steven Raphael and Eugene Smolensky
Historical Overview of U.S. Immigration and Key Research Questions:
Smith, James P., and Barry Edmonston. 1997. The New Americans: Economic, Demographic, and
Fiscal Effects of Immigration. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Immigration Assimilation:
Borjas, George J. 1995. ―Assimilation and Changes in Cohort Quality Revisited: What Happened
to Immigrant Earnings During the 1980s?‖ Journal of Labor Economics 13(2): 201–245.
Borjas, George. 2002. ―Homeownership in the Immigrant Population.‖ Journal of Urban
Economics 52(3): 448–476.
Lubotsky, Darren. 2007. ―Chutes or Ladders? A Longitudinal Analysis of Immigrant Earnings.‖
Journal of Political Economy 115(5): 820–867.
Rumbaut, Rubén G. 1999. ―Assimilation and Its Discontents: Ironies and Paradoxes.‖ In The
Handbook of International Immigration: The American Experience, edited by Charles Hirschman,
Philip Kasinitz, and Josh DeWind. Russell Sage Foundation: New York, pp. 172–195.
Economic Competition between Immigrants and Natives:
Borjas, George J. 2003. ―The Labor Demand Curve is Downward Sloping: Reexamining the
Impact of Immigration on the Labor Market.‖ Quarterly Journal of Economics 118(4): 1335–
1374.
Card, David. 2001. ―Immigrant Inflows, Native Outflows, and the Local Labor Market Impacts of
Higher Immigration.‖ Journal of Labor Economics 19: 22–64.
Friedberg, Rachel M., and Jennifer Hunt. 1995. ―The Impact of Immigration on Host Country
Wages, Employment, and Growth.‖ Journal of Economic Perspectives 9: 23–44.
Card, David. 2005. ―Is the New Immigration Really So Bad?‖ Economic Journal 115(506): F300–
F323.
Section II. Mobility and Its Consequences
6.
Enduring Influences of Childhood Poverty
Katherine Magnuson and Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal
Evans, Gary W. 2004. ―The Environment of Childhood Poverty.‖ American Psychologist 59(2):
77–92.
Mayer, Susan E. 1997. What Money Can’t Buy: Family Income and Children’s Life Chances.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Lareau, Annette. 2003. Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life. Berkeley, CA:
University of California Press.
Yeung, W. Jean, Miriam R. Linver, and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn. 2002. ―How Money Matters for
Young Children’s Development: Parental Investment and Family Processes.‖ Child Development
73(6): 1861–1879.
Case, Anne, Darren Lubotsky, and Christina Paxson. 2002. ―Economic Status and Health in
Childhood: Origins of the Gradient.‖ American Economic Review 92(5): 1308–1334.
Policy-Oriented Reading:
Morris, Pamela, Greg J. Duncan, and Elizabeth Clark-Kauffman. 2006. ―Child Well-Being in an
Era of Welfare Reform: The Sensitivity of Transitions in Development to Policy Change.‖
Developmental Psychology 41(6): 919–932.
Dahl, Gordon B., and Lance Lochner. 2005. ―The Impact of Family Income on Child
Achievement.‖ National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 11279. Cambridge,
MA.
7.
Mobility in the United States in Comparative Perspective
Markus Jäntti
Garfinkel, Irwin, Lee Rainwater, and Timothy Smeeding. 2006. ―A ReExamination of Welfare States and Inequality in Rich Nations: How In-Kind
Transfers and Indirect Taxes Change the Story.‖ Journal of Policy Analysis and
Management 25(4): 855–919.
Grieger, Lloyd, and Jessica Wyse. 2008. ―Long-Term Poverty among Black and
White Children and Its Demographic Correleates: 1973-1000,‖ unpublished
manuscript. Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor.
Mayer, Susan E., and L. M. Lopoo. 2005. ―Has the Intergenerational
Transmission of Economic Status Changed?‖ Journal of Human Resources 40(1):
170–185.
Smeeding, T. M. 2006. ―Poor People in Rich Nations: The United States in
Comparative Perspective.‖ Journal of Economic Perspectives, 20(1): 69–90.
http://www.aeaweb.org/jep/contents/Winter2006.html
Solon, Gary. 2002. ―Cross-Country Differences in Intergenerational Earnings
Mobility.‖ Journal of Economic Perspectives 16(3) 59–66.
Section III. The Evolution and Scope of Antipoverty Policies
8.
Trends in Income Support
John Karl Scholz, Robert Moffitt, and Benjamin Cowan
Moffitt, Robert, and John Karl Scholz. Forthcoming. ―Trends in the Level and Distribution of
Income Support.‖ In Tax Policy and the Economy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Ziliak, James P. 2005. ―Understanding Poverty Rates and Gaps: Concepts, Trends, and
Challenges.‖ Foundations and Trends in Microeconomics 1(3): 127–199.
Ziliak, James P. 2008. ―Filling the Poverty Gap, Then and Now.‖ Frontiers in Family Economics
1: 39–114.
9.
The Role of Family Policies in Antipoverty Policy
Jane Waldfogel
Gornick, Janet, and Marcia Meyers. 2005. Families that Work: Policies for Reconciling
Parenthood and Employment. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Greenberg, Mark H. 2007. ―Next Steps for Federal Child Care Policy.‖ Future of Children: The
Next Generation of Antipoverty Policies 17(2): 73–96.
Waldfogel, Jane. 2006. What Children Need. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
McLanahan, Sara, Elisabeth Hirschhorn Donahue, and Ron Haskins. 2005. ―Introducing the
Issue.‖ Future of Children: Marriage and Child Wellbeing 15(2): 3–12.
10.
Improving Educational Outcomes for Poor Children
Brian A. Jacob and Jens Ludwig
Borman, Geoffrey D., Robert E. Slavin, Alan C. K. Cheun, Anne M.
Chamberlain, Nancy A. Madden, and Bette Chambers. 2007. ―Final Reading
Outcomes of the National Randomized Field Trial of Success for All.‖ American
Educational Research Journal 44(3): 701–731.
Cullen, Julie, Brian A. Jacob, and Steven D. Levitt. 2006. ―The Effect of School
Choice on Student Outcomes: Evidence from Randomized Lotteries.‖
Econometrica 74(5): 1191–1230.
Deming, David. 2007. ―Early Childhood Intervention and Life-Cycle Skill
Development.‖ Working Paper, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
Gordon, Robert, Thomas J. Kane, and Douglas O. Staiger. 2006. ―Identifying
Effective Teachers Using Performance on the Job.‖ Hamilton Project Discussion
Paper No. 2006-01. Brookings Institution, Washington, DC.
Hanushek, Eric A., and Margaret E. Raymond. 2005. ―Does School
Accountability Lead to Improved Student Performance?‖ Journal of Policy
Analysis and Management 24(2): 297–327.
Jacob, Brian. 2005. ―Accountability, Incentives and Behavior: The Impact of
High-Stakes Testing in the Chicago Public Schools.‖ Journal of Public
Economics 89(5–6): 761–796.
Ludwig, Jens, and Deborah A. Phillips. 2007. ―The Benefits and Costs of Head
Start.‖ National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 12973.
Cambridge, MA.
Schanzenbach, Diane Whitmore. 2006/7. ―What Have Researchers Learned from
Project STAR?‖ Brookings Papers on Education Policy. Edited by Thomas
Loveless and Frederick Hess. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, pp.
205–228.
11.
Workforce Development as an Antipoverty Strategy: What Do We Know? What Should We Do?
Harry J. Holzer
Andersson, Fredrik, Harry J. Holzer, and Julia Lane. 2005. Moving Up or Moving On: Who
Advances in the Low-Wage Labor Market? New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Carasson, Adam, Harry Holzer, Elaine Mag, and Eugene Steuerle. 2008. ―The Next Age for Social
Policy: Encouraging Work and Family Formation among Low-Income Men.‖ Washington, DC:
The Urban Institute.
Edelman, Peter, Harry J. Holzer, and Paul Offner. 2006. Reconnecting Disadvantaged Young Men.
Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press.
Freeman, Richard. 2007. ―Is a Great Labor Shortage Coming? Replacement Demand in a Global
Economy.‖ In Reshaping the American Workforce for a Changing Economy, edited by Harry J.
Holzer and Demetra Nightingale. Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press.
Holzer, Harry J. 2007. ―Better Workers for Better Jobs: Improving Worker Advancement in the
Low-Wage Labor Market.‖ The Hamilton Project, Brookings Institution, Washington, DC.
Holzer, Harry J., and Demetra Nightingale, Eds. 2007. Reshaping the American Workforce for a
Changing Economy. Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press.
12.
Health Care for the Poor: For Whom, What Care, and Whose Responsibility?
Katherine Swartz
Dubay, Lisa, Jocelyn Guyer, Cindy Mann, and Michael Odeh. 2007. ―Medicaid at the Ten-Year
Anniversary of SCHIP: Looking Back and Moving Forward.‖ Health Affairs 26(2): 370–381.
Gilmer, Todd, Richard Kronick, and Thomas Rice. 2005. ―Children Welcome, Adults Need Not
Apply: Changes in Public Program Enrollment Across States and Over Time.‖ Medical Care
Research and Review 62(6): 56–78.
Holahan, John. 2003. ―Variation in Health Insurance Coverage and Medical Expenditures: How
Much is Too Much?‖ Chapter 4 in Federalism and Health Policy, edited by John Holahan, Alan
Weil, and Joshua M. Wiener. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute Press.
Holahan, John, and Arunabh Ghosh. 2005. ―Understanding the Recent Growth in Medicaid
Spending, 2000–2003.‖ Health Affairs Web Exclusive (26 January): W5-52–W5-62.
Institute of Medicine. 2003. Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in
Health Care, edited by Brian D. Smedley, Adrienne Y. Stich, and Alan R. Nelson. Washington,
DC: National Academies Press.
Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. 2007. Medicaid: A Primer. Washington, DC.
Available at http://www.kff.org
Kasper, Judith, Barbara Lyons, and Molly O’Malley. 2007. ―Long-Term Services and Supports:
The Future Role and Challenges for Medicaid.‖ Washington, DC: Kaiser Commission on
Medicaid and the Uninsured.
Kenney, Genevieve, and Justin Yee. 2007. ―SCHIP at a Crossroads: Experiences to Date and
Challenges Ahead.‖ Health Affairs 26(2): 356–369.
Moon, Marilyn. 2006. Medicare: A Policy Primer. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute Press.
Smith, James P. 1999. ―Healthy Bodies and Thick Wallets: The Dual Relation between Health and
Economic Status.‖ Journal of Economic Perspectives 13(2): 145–166.
Stevens, Robert, and Rosemary Stevens. 2004. Welfare Medicine in America: A Case Study of
Medicaid (with a new introduction by Rosemary Stevens). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction
Publishers (originally published in 1974 by Free Press).
Swartz, Katherine. 2008. ―Uninsured in America: New Realities, New Risks.‖ In Health at Risk:
America’s Ailing Health System – and How to Heal It, edited by Jacob S. Hacker. New York:
Columbia University Press.
Section IV. The Politics of Poverty and Its Meaning in a Rich Country
13.
Poverty Politics and Policy
Mary Jo Bane
Bartels, Larry M. 2008. Unequal America: The Political Economy of the New Gilded Age. New
York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Levin-Epstein, Jodie, and Kirsten Michelle Gorzelany. 2008. Seizing the Moment: State
Governments and the New Commitment to Reduce Poverty in America. A Joint Report from the
Center for Law and Social Policy and Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity. Washington, DC:
Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity. April.
http://www.spotlightonpoverty.com/users/spotlight_on_poverty/documents/CLASP%20Report_04
14.pdf
Soss, Joe, and Sanford F. Schram. 2007. ―A Public Transformed? Welfare Reform as Policy
Feedback.‖ American Political Science Review 101(1): 111–127.
Soss, Joe, Jacob S. Hacker, and Suzanne Metler. 2007. Remaking America: Democracy and Public
Policy in an Age of Inequality. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
14.
What Does It Mean to Be Poor in a Rich Society?
Robert Haveman
U.S. Poverty Measurement:
Blank, Rebecca. 2008. ―How to Improve Poverty Measurement in the United States.‖ Journal of
Policy Analysis and Management 27(2): 233–254.
Citro, Constance F., and Robert T. Michael, Eds. 1995. Measuring Poverty: A New Approach.
Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Iceland, John, and Kurt J. Baumann. 2007. ―Income Poverty and Material Hardship: How Strong
is the Association?‖ Journal of Socio-Economics 36(3): 376–396.
Short, Kathleen. 2005. ―Material and Financial Hardship and Alternative Poverty Measures in the
USA.‖ Journal of Social Policy 34(1): 21–38.
Measuring Social Exclusion Poverty in Europe:
Atkinson, Anthony B., B. Cantillon, E. Marlier, and B. Nolan. 2002. Social Indicators: The EU
and Social Inclusion. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Barnes, Matthew. 2005. Social Exclusion in Great Britain: An Empirical Investigation and
Comparison with the EU. Ashgate, UK: Aldershot.
European Commission, Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. 2006. Joint Report
on Social Protection and Social Inclusion. Brussels, April.
Marlier, Eric, A. B. Atkinson, Bea Cantillon, and Brian Nolan. 2007. The EU and Social
Inclusion: Facing the Challenges. Bristol, UK: Policy Press.
Nolan, Brian, and Ive Marx. 2009. ―Economic Inequality, Poverty, and Social Exclusion.‖
Handbook of Economic Inequality. (forthcoming.)