This paper uses data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and its 1997 Child Development Supplement to examine the mediating pathways of family income on children's well-being. Two sets of mediating factors are examined in line with two dominating perspectives in the literature: (1) human...

There are vast differences in wealth holdings, even among households in similar age groups. In addition, a large percentage of U.S. households arrive close to retirement with little or no wealth. While many explanations can be found to rationalize these facts, approximately thirty percent of...

This paper estimates the degree to which state spending is influenced by the spending of neighboring states. Focusing on mandated increases in welfare spending, I find that each dollar of state spending causes spending in neighboring states to increase by 37 to 88 cents. I use more plausibly...

This study will examine public assistance participation among grandchildren living in grandparent-headed households. Over the last 15 years, there has been a large increase in the number of children living in households headed by grandparents. In the last 8 years, the most disadvantaged...

In the late 1980's states began applying to the US Department of Health and Human Services for waivers granting permission to implement state level welfare policies that differed from existing federal policy. An explicit goal of state policymakers was to use policy tools to alter incentives in...

A revised version of this paper appears as "The Effects of the Earned Income Credit on the Seasonality of Household Expenditures" National Tax Journal 53(4) (part 2): 1211-1244. For more information see www.ntanet.org.

This report reviews research on trends in the caseloads of three means-tested transfer programs in the United States: Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and the Food Stamp Program (FSP). <p> Trends in caseloads are the result of 1) program parameters...</p>