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September 19, 2024

Government benefit programs already do a lot to help low income families

Politicians, policy analysts, and advocates have proposed increasing the generosity of the Child Tax Credit (CTC), as a means of providing more resources to low-income families with children. Before deciding whether to expand the CTC and by how much, policymakers should be aware of existing tax and transfer policies that already provide a substantial amount…

September 17, 2024

The Future of Work

Since Generation Z has begun entering the workforce, debates swirl around whether young Americans are working too much or not enough. Following Scott Winship’s article in Fusion, Young Voices and Fusion Magazine will host a discussion Tuesday, September 17th to tease out the nuances and future possibilities of what work could—or should—look like for young…

September 17, 2024

Back to School: Shedding Light on Risks and Harm in the Private Student Lending and Servicing Market

At present there are more than 1.74 trillion dollars in student loans outstanding in the US economy. This is a massive amount of money that represents serious liabilities for millions of borrowers across the United States who are grappling with the process of repayment. This massive amount of outstanding debt also represents a tremendous liability…

September 10, 2024

America is Still Working

Sometimes it seems like Americans can’t decide whether we work too much or too little. We hear that because of rising inequality and a lack of good jobs, workers must toil too many hours at wages too low to support a family. By other accounts, the machines— if not robot overlords, then at least their…

September 3, 2024

Doing Right by Kids: A Book Event

Material hardship among American children has never been lower. Yet children born to the most disadvantaged parents today are just as likely as they were in the past to become the most disadvantaged adults when they grow up. In a new edited volume, Doing Right Kids: Leveraging Social Capital and Innovation to Increase Opportunity, leading scholars…

September 3, 2024

Event: New Census Data on American Families’ Economic Well-Being

On September 10, the United States Census Bureau will release what is arguably 2024’s most important economic data. We will learn for the first time whether families’ economic well-being improved in 2023: Did wages outpace inflation and deliver real income gains for middle-class families? Did a strong labor market help families escape poverty? Did income…

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 survey accuracy does not vary by race and ethnicity. Otherwise, the observed disparities may be confounded by differences in survey error. In this paper, we…

August 28, 2024

Some Context Behind JD Vance’s Child Tax Credit Comments

Recently, GOP Vice Presidential nominee JD Vance said on Face the Nation “We should expand the child tax credit… I’d love to see a child tax credit that’s $5,000 per child.” He further proposed that the expanded credit be extended to “all American families,” emphasizing disparities in the availability of the current child tax credit…

August 26, 2024

Vouching for Self-Sufficiency

It’s hard to sympathize with the Parkoff Organization, the New York real estate firm that owns some 4,000 apartments across the city. According to a new lawsuit, housing “testers” caught the group discriminating against potential tenants whose rent would have been subsidized by housing vouchers. The Fair Housing Justice Center (FHJC), which brought the suit, claims that Parkoff…

August 22, 2024

Active Fathers Are Exacerbating the Two-Parent Privilege

Fathers today are doing more than ever. Not only are they taking on more housework—doing laundry, cooking, and cleaning—but they are more involved with child care as well. They help with homework and serve as chauffeurs, coaches and role models. Fathers with young kids spend, on average, nearly two hours a day caring for their kids.  The division…