Using a recently released confidential dataset from the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), we find some evidence of "white flight" from public schools into privateschools partly in response to minority schoolchildren. We also examine whether "white flight" is from all minorities...

In the last thirty years we have witnessed large increases in the "returns to skill." These changes in the wage structure have renewed interest in increasing the skill levels of low skill workers. Attempts to do this through job training programs have been largely unsuccessful as the wage gains...

The paper examines how well the Food Stamp Program services households in nonmetropolitan areas. It concludes that, overall, the program is at least as successful at serving low-income households in nonmetro as in metro areas. Participation rates among program-eligible households are higher in...

Among the most important changes brought about by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) is the imposition of time limits. In this paper, we analyze a simple model in which a potential welfare recipient chooses how to allocate her time-limited...

In 1993, Iowa obtained a waiver to enact many of the key provisions of TANF in its welfare assistance and initiated the Iowa Family Investment Program (FIP). We use Iowa state administrative data for the period 1993-95 and study why some low-income households successfully leave public assistance...

Unlike well-documented patterns in urban areas, welfare caseload declines in rural areas have not been paralleled with increases in employment or reductions in poverty. Recognizing how the effects of welfare policy may differ given the important differences in the lives and work behavior of...

Rural mothers, especially poor single mothers, face serious barriers to employment. At the same time, new legislation requires welfare recipients to find work and mandates time limits on receipt of public assistance. In this paper, we document changing rates of poverty, sources of income,...

This paper uses state panel data to investigate changes in public assistance caseloads through the end of the AFDC program in 1996, with particular attention to the rapid increase in caseloads between 1990 and 1994. Previous research has focussed on total caseloads, with attention to economic...