This paper examines the relationship between wage rates and the racial composition of jobs, using large cross-sectional and longitudinal samples constructed from monthly Current Population Surveys for 1983-92. Support is found for a "quality sorting" model that posits an equilibrium in which the...

Do states with high welfare benefits attract low-income people from other states? Using data from the County to County Migration Flow Files from the 1980 census, I investigate this question by reintroducing migration rates into the definition of welfare migrants and examining situations in which...

This paper describes a particular perspective on the causes of poverty: a memberships based theory. The idea of this theory is that an individual's socioeconomic prospects are strongly influenced by the groups to which he is attached over the course of his life. Such groups may be endogenous;...

This paper uses nationally representative data to describe monthly cycles in food expenditure and food intake by food stamp recipients. Food expenditure peaks sharply in the first 3 days after food stamps are received. The corresponding cycle in food intake differs for various categories of food...

This paper describes recent demographic trends affecting families in the United States and considers how these trends may alter the definition of "family." The paper focuses on trends that affect minor children's family experience. Demographic changes have increased the percentage of children...

The participation rate for working-age adults in the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program increased by 37 percent from 1987 to 1993. This paper examines the role of public health insurance provided through Medicaid on the SSI participation decision. I use the rapid growth in Medicaid...

Wisconsin’s reform of family welfare is the most radical and, arguably, the most successful in the nation. This is not due to anything special about the welfare problem or public opinion in the state but rather to special features of the state’s politics and government. Reform is radical,...

In this paper, we examine and compare the spatial distributions of jobs and people across submetropolitan areas using data on firms from the Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality and data on people from the U.S. Bureau of the Census. The results indicate that less-educated people and those on...

In this paper we use data from a new survey of over 3,000 employers in four major metropolitan areas to investigate the determinants of black employment and wages at the firm level. We focus specifically on two factors that are likely to influence the spatial distribution of black employment:...

The importance of social programs to a diverse population creates a legitimate concern that the findings of evaluations be widely credible. The weaker are the assumptions imposed, the more widely credible are the findings. The classical argument for random assignment of treatments is viewed by...