Latest Reports from the Low Income Working Families Project

The vast majority of unemployed families received some help from core safety net programs in 2009. Among those experiencing unemployment, receipt of unemployment benefits doubled between 2005 and 2009. Enrollment in the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) also increased. Public Assistance played a limited role in unemployed families' lives. About 15 percent of low-work, unemployed families got no help from the safety net. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 clearly helped to strengthen the safety net. This extra help has mostly ended, leaving many families to contend with high unemployment and a frayed safety net.

Safety net policies can dramatically reduce poverty. A full assessment requires use of a Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) that adds near-cash benefits and tax credits to cash income, deducts necessary expenses, and uses up-to-date, geographically-sensitive poverty thresholds. This analysis implements the SPM in Georgia, Illinois, and Massachusetts to examine the effects of the key safety net programs on poverty. The results show that safety net policies in these three states have substantially different effects on poverty, but federal programs narrow the differences across the states.

Growing up poor strongly predicts poverty and poor adult outcomes. This study explores two primary reasons poverty may persist across generations: risk behavior in adolescence and dropping out of high school. Results suggest that risk behavior and dropping out help perpetuate poor economic outcomes for children from single-parent families but are less important for children who grow up in low-income families. The findings suggest that policies directed at reducing youth risk behavior and dropping out can improve economic outcomes when targeted to youth from single-parent households.

Families headed by low-income single mothers who are not working or receiving public cash benefits ("disconnected families") are among the most vulnerable in our society. This fact sheet shows that the number of families in this situation is increasing over time. It also describes their income, receipt of noncash benefits like housing and food assistance, living arrangements, and characteristics that may impede work.

The informal economy, meaning employment and production that operate outside the regulatory and tax systems, tends to be overlooked in U.S. policy discussions. When it is considered, it is often viewed in terms of black market (i.e., criminal and illegal) activities, undocumented immigrants, or white-collar tax evasion. Beyond these stereotypes, millions of workers are in various informal employment arrangements performing activities not otherwise criminal in nature. This brief presents background information on the informal sector and policy options that could improve economic conditions for low-wage informal workers and their families.

In 2008, safety net programs cut child poverty in half in Georgia, Illinois, and Massachusetts. Federal programs that provide the same benefit across the country reduce poverty more in lower housing cost states such as Georgia than in higher cost states such as Massachusetts. Massachusetts's generous TANF policy has a greater impact on child poverty than the TANF policies in the other two states. Estimates are produced using the Supplemental Poverty Measure.

For households headed by persons with disabilities, savings can provide near-term protection against hardship. Analysis of longitudinal data from the 2001 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation indicates that households with $2,000 or more in liquid assets (interest-earning assets held at financial institutions) are better able to avoid subsequent hardships such as forgone doctor visits and missed utility payments, compared to those with smaller (or no) asset holdings. This evidence has implications for possible increases in the resource limits for the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, now $2,000 for individuals and $3,000 for couples.

Living in concentrated poverty stifles the life chances of adults and children. Efforts to transform neighborhoods of extreme poverty into places of opportunity must grapple with concentrated disadvantages including distressed housing, failing schools, joblessness, poor health, and violence. Two federal initiatives seeking to address neighborhood deficiencies simultaneously are the Department of Education's Promise Neighborhoods effort and the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Choice Neighborhoods program. Evaluating these efforts presents many methodological challenges. This brief provides a framework for designing evaluations of Choice and Promise Neighborhoods including key research questions, different research approaches, and components of an evaluation strategy.

This paper explores the reasons why employer partnerships are important for improving economic outcomes for both low-skill workers and businesses. It identifies the factors that have hindered the growth of these partnerships as well as promising approaches-incumbent worker training and sectoral training-to build partnerships. It concludes with a discussion of policy considerations for creating and sustaining partnerships with employers to provide skill development opportunities.

Savings can help low-income households cope with income Instability and unexpected expenses, according to new evidence presented here. For households with nonelderly heads in the lowest income quintile, modest holdings of liquid assets (amounts up to $1,999) can significantly reduce the probability of hardships with health care, housing payments, food security, utility and phone bills, and basic consumption. Programs to promote saving can help low-income households protect themselves from economic shocks, as income variability, in addition to low income, increases risk of such hardships.