Wealth Disparities before and after the Great Recession.

The collapse of the labor, housing, and stock markets beginning in 2007 created unprecedented challenges for American families. This study examines disparities in wealth holdings leading up to the Great Recession and during the first years of the recovery. All socioeconomic groups experienced declines in wealth following the recession, with higher wealth families experiencing larger absolute declines.

Filling holes in the safety net? Material hardship and subjective well-being among disability benefit applicants and recipients after the 1996 welfare reform.

Some of the rapid recent growth in disability income receipt in the United States is attributable to single mothers post-welfare reform. Yet, we know little about how disability benefit receipt affects the economic well-being of single mother families, or how unsuccessful disability applicants fare. We compare disability recipients to unsuccessful applicants and those who never applied among current and former welfare recipients, and examine how application and receipt affect material hardships and subjective measures of well-being.

Who receives food stamps during adulthood? Analyzing repeatable events with incomplete event histories.

Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) from 1968 to 2005, we estimate the cumulative probability that young adults in the United States will receive food stamps during adulthood, and examine how that probability varies with an individual's income and education at age 25 as well as by race and gender. We find that the probability of first food stamp receipt as an adult declines sharply with age, indicating that most adult recipients do so by age 40. Also, those receiving food stamps in early adulthood are likely to receive them again.

Labor market outcomes and the transition to adulthood.

According to Sheldon Danziger and David Ratner, changes in the labor market over the past thirty-five years, such as labor-saving technological changes, increased globalization, declining unionization, and the failure of the minimum wage to keep up with inflation, have made it more difficult for young adults to attain the economic stability and self-sufficiency that are important markers of the transition to adulthood. Young men with no more than a high school degree have difficulty earning enough to support a family. Even though young women have achieved gains in earnings, employment, and schooling relative to men in recent decades, those without a college degree also struggle to achieve economic stability and self-sufficiency.

Perceived Social Standing among Asian Immigrants in the U.S.: Do Reasons for Immigration Matter?

We investigate the association between a subjective measure of social status and the reasons for immigration among Asian immigrants in the U.S. We use data from the National Latino and Asian American Study to test several hypotheses about this association.

Mental illness, work, and income support programs.

Improved treatment makes it easier for individuals with mental illness to participate in mainstream society, including the labor force. Nevertheless, a diagnosis of a severe and persistent mental illness or a substance use disorder often coincides with reduced work activity and lower earnings. The Social Security Disability Insurance Program and the Supplemental Security Income program provide income support for increasing numbers of individuals with mental illness.

Health insurance and access to care among welfare leavers.

This analysis explores the effects of the 1996 welfare reform on health insurance coverage and access to care among former recipients of cash aid. Using panel data from the Women's Employment Study, which conducted five interviews between 1997 and 2003 in one Michigan county, we find that 25% of welfare leavers lacked health insurance coverage in fall 2003. Uninsured adults were significantly more likely than others to report that they could not afford a medical or dental visit during the year prior to the 2003 interview.

Housing instability among current and former welfare recipients.

Objectives: We examined correlates of eviction and homelessness among current and former welfare recipients from 1997 to 2003 in an urban Michigan community.

Methods: Longitudinal cohort data were drawn from the Women's Employment Study, a representative panel study of mothers who were receiving cash welfare in February 1997. We used logistic regression analysis to identify risk factors for both eviction and homelessness over the survey period.

Morbid obesity and the transition from welfare to work.

This paper utilizes a rich longitudinal data set--the Women's Employment Study (WES)--to investigate whether obesity, which is common among women of low socioeconomic status, is a barrier to employment and earnings for current and former welfare recipients. We find that former welfare recipients who are both White and morbidly obese have been less successful in transitioning from welfare to work. These women are less likely to work at any survey wave, spend a greater percentage of months between waves receiving cash welfare, and have lower monthly earnings at each wave.

Drug testing welfare recipients--false positives, false negatives, unanticipated opportunities.

Substance abuse and dependence are among the most common psychiatric disorders among pregnant and parenting women. These disorders among welfare recipients have attracted special concern. Chemical testing has been proposed to identify illicit drug use in this population.