Research

In 2005, Florida implemented an internet-based service delivery system for eligibility determination in public assistance programs, including the Food Stamp, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and the Medicaid programs. At the same time, Florida switched from a caseworker model to a technology-driven model and decreased staffing levels of employees involved in social service delivery. We conduct an evaluative case study of the effects of these policy changes on the Food Stamp caseload. In particular, we consider the impact on applications and the flows onto and off of the program. To answer these questions, we use administrative data from the Florida Department of Children and Families for the period from 2003 to 2008 to understand the policy impacts on caseload dynamics. Results suggest that modernization may have resulted in decreases in application and inflows to the Food Stamp Program but with important differences for specific demographic groups. Simulations suggest that the strongest negative effects of modernization were observed among the elderly and African Americans. High earners, while still negatively affected by the staffing reductions, were observed to have gained modestly from modernization.

Capturing the conditions of children of color living in single-parent families has become more complex due to the growing presence of interracial households. This analysis assesses the size and poverty status of single-female headed families housing multiracial children. Using data from the 2000 Census, we find that 9 percent of female-headed families house either children who are classified with more than one race or are classified as a single race different than their mother’s compared to only 3 percent of married couple families. Logistic regression analyses assessing the odds of poverty status for families finds that being a multiracial family does not constitute a uniform advantage or disadvantage for female headed households. Rather, these families, like most families of color, are more likely to experience poverty than white monoracial families. The two exceptions are White multiracial families who are more likely to be in poverty relative to this reference group and Asian multiracial families who have similar poverty rates as white monoracial families (and a lower rate than Asian monoracial families).

This paper surveys economic research on the association between economic development and urban areas, links this summary to some important trends in economic outcomes in Appalachia in recent decades, highlights areas in need of future research on the role of urban areas as engines of economic development in Appalachia, and discusses what types of place-based policies might be effective to promote economic growth and development in the Appalachian region.

This paper examines changes in the earnings distribution of men age 25-64 between 1960 and 2000 in Appalachia and in the remainder of the U.S. Because Appalachia is more rural than the remainder of the U.S. we also examine changes in the earnings distribution in rural vs. urban areas. Our central finding is that there have been large differences in the evolution of the earnings distribution in rural vs. urban areas and this is the principal reason that Appalachia’s earnings distribution differs to some degree from the remainder of the U.S. We find that the bottom of the earnings distribution increased in rural counties between 1960 and 1980 while there was a small decrease in the bottom of the earnings distribution in urban areas. Between 1980 and 2000, urban areas exhibited far more bifurcation of earnings than rural areas. The level and the return to education may play an important role in understanding these patterns. At the bottom of the distribution there was a large increase in education in rural areas relative to urban areas between 1980 and 2000. The relative rise at the top of the earnings distribution in cities is likely caused by men in the upper part of the earnings distribution being much more likely to have a college degree combined with a rapid rise in the return to college education.

Appalachians are in poor health relative to other Americans. For example, the ageadjusted all cause mortality rate for Appalachian in 2006 was over 900 per 100,000 compared to a rate of 760 per 100,000 for those outside of Appalachia. This essay shows that health disparities start before birth—the incidence of low birth weight is 90 1,000 in rural Appalachia compared to 83 per 1,000 outside the U.S. These disparities continue through childhood and into adulthood. Moreover, although African Americans are generally in poorer health relative to white Americans, disparities between Appalachia and the rest of the U.S. are much greater for whites. These disparities are not surprising given the continued poverty of Appalachia. This paper draws on the literature to discuss the likely consequences of these disparities for the future health and well being of Appalachia’s children.

More than half a million children in the United States are currently in foster care, many of whom are at risk for long-lasting emotional and health problems. Research suggests that adoption may be one of the more promising options for the placement of these children. The Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980, which provided federal funds for monthly adoption subsidies, was designed to promote adoptions of special-needs children and children in foster care. Using data from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting Systems for 2000- 2006, I consider the effects of these adoption subsidies on children’s likelihood of being adopted, on time spent in foster care, and on the characteristics of adoptive families. Because subsidies may be determined endogenously, I employ an identification strategy that exploits state variation in the age at which children are eligible for federal subsidy funds. I find that foster children who are eligible for subsidies are more likely to be adopted, and that eligibility increases the hazard of discharge from foster care. Conditional on adoption, higher expected subsidies increase time to adoption finalization and increase the probability that a child is adopted by a relative such as a grandmother.

Many pressing questions remain regarding the extent, causes, and consequences of senior hunger in America.  Is the threat of senior hunger common across all states in the nation?  Are there differences in hunger risk across urban and rural areas?  In this follow-up study to our 2008 report entitled The Causes, Consequences, and Future of Senior Hunger in America we document the geographic distribution of senior hunger across states and metropolitan location. With the addition of several more years of data, we also provide an update to our original report on the extent and distribution of senior hunger across the nation. 

Despite trends indicating a recent stabilizing in the upward obesity trend for children and adolescents in the U.S., child overweight remains a significant public health issue. Our analysis finds a nonlinear effect – the poorest and wealthiest children in our sample have the lowest BMIs, while the children in the middle of the SES distribution have the highest. Our findings may reflect the fact that younger children are more likely to be physically active than older children and adolescents, and suggest that the relationship between socioeconomic status and physical activity (and overweight) may change during childhood.

There are well-documented and as yet unexplained disparities in birth outcomes by race in the United States, even after controlling for socioeconomic status. This paper examines the sources of disparities in low birth weight between blacks and whites in the U.S., by focusing on differences in disparities between two very distinct geographic areas, the Deep South and the rest of the country. Two findings from prior research drive the analyses: First, health overall is worse in the Deep South states; Second, race disparities are smaller in the Deep South than in the rest of the nation. A number of potential explanations for these findings are examined. Results suggest that, first, almost all of the increased burden of low birth weight in the Deep South states may be explained by differences in race composition and socioeconomic status between the Deep South and rest of the nation. Second, the lower race disparities found between the two regions are being driven by much worse outcomes for white mothers in the Deep South (vs. the rest of the country), particularly for poor whites, as opposed to better outcomes for black mothers. Potential paths for future research are recommended.

This paper estimates the impact of the fundamental welfare reforms of the 1990s on the educational attainment of children in low-income families. Using data from national surveys of individuals and administrative records of school districts spanning the period from the early 1990s to the mid 2000s, we estimate the net effects of welfare reform in a difference-indifferences framework. We find that low- and higher-income children experience statistically indistinguishable time trends in outcomes prior to reform, whereas in sharp contrast, in the period following welfare reform, low-income children experience significant and growing relative gains in educational attainment. The income gaps in school enrollment and 7-12th grade drop-out rates narrow by more than 20% in the years following welfare reform. These findings are robust to changing the definition of low- and higher-income groups and to controlling for contemporaneous economic and policy changes.