The foundations for successful child development are established in early childhood. Two main policy approaches for strengthening these foundations have been subsidized preschool programs and programs targeting the home environment. Our chapter reviews a large body of empirical work...

We examine the relationship between neighborhood poverty rates and juvenile criminal behavior using data from a unique randomized housing-mobility experiment. We find that providing families with the opportunity to move from high- to low-poverty neighborhoods has substantial effects on the...

The long-run impact on earnings of motivational and social factors is assessed using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). Our analyses use a sample of men first observed in their 20s and relates their social and motivational traits to labor-market attainments measured 15-25 years...

How the labor force participation of mothers of young children responds to unconditioned cash support remains an open question in policy debates. Using data from Baby’s First Years, a large-scale randomized controlled study, we generate new estimates of the impact of an unconditional monthly...

The 1996 welfare reform legislation stipulates a 60-month time limit on total receipt as well as work requirements after 24 months of receipt. Using Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) data on the monthly patterns of AFDC receipt during the 1980s and early 1990s, we estimate the number and...