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May 18, 2025
Saved by Medicaid: New Evidence on Health Insurance and Mortality from the Universe of Low-Income Adults
Abstract We examine the causal effect of health insurance on mortality using the universe of low-income adults, a dataset of 37 million individuals identified by linking the 2010 Census to…
March 26, 2025
How Large Would SNAP Be? Simulating the Size of SNAP Based on Changes to the Unemployment Rate
Abstract The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a means-tested transfer program that is available to all households that meet the eligibility criteria. Therefore, SNAP is also a countercyclical program,…
March 11, 2025
An Evaluation of Cost Saving Reforms of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
Abstract Congress is considering ways to reduce spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by $230 billion over ten years. Reforms are likely to include one or more of…
January 24, 2025
The Targeting of Place-Based Policies: The New Markets Tax Credit Versus Opportunity Zones
Abstract For a place-based policy to succeed, it must target the right areas—typically those with lower economic development and resident well-being. The U.S. has two major place-based tax policies: the…
December 30, 2024
Coverage, Counter-cyclicality and Targeting of Work Requirement Waivers in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
Abstract Non-disabled, working age adults without children are required to work 20 hours per week in order to maintain eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. However, states may waive…
October 22, 2024
Poverty, Hardship, and Government Transfers
Abstract We examine how the well-being of those with few resources changed, amidst economic disruption and large, transitory government transfers. We find that in the years leading up to the…
August 28, 2024
Race, Ethnicity, and Measurement Error
Abstract Large literatures have analyzed racial and ethnic disparities in economic outcomes and access to the safety net. For such analyses that rely on survey data, it is crucial that…
June 10, 2024
Employment and Labor Supply Responses to the Child Tax Credit Expansion: Theory and Evidence
Abstract The 2021 Child Tax Credit (CTC) expansion increased government benefits to families, and especially to families with the lowest incomes. Economic theory predicts that this policy intervention would have…
May 16, 2024
Critiquing Bastian (2022, 2023, 2024, and forthcoming):On Child Tax Credit Reform and the Sensitivity of Single Mothers to Work Incentives
Abstract In 2021, Congress passed and President Biden signed a major, but temporary, reform to the Child Tax Credit (CTC). Among other reforms to the credit, the American Rescue Plan…
November 9, 2023
Child Support Policy: Areas of Emerging Agreement and Ongoing Debate
This paper will be delivered at the Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management 2023 Fall Research Conference. Abstract The Child Support Enforcement (CSE) system has a broad scope and provides…