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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Appalachian Regional Development Act And Economic Change, James P. Ziliak Sep 2010

The Appalachian Regional Development Act And Economic Change, James P. Ziliak

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

The Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965 is one of the longest serving place-based regional development programs in the U.S., and is the largest in terms of geographic scope. I use county-level data from the 1960 thru 2000 Decennial Censuses to evaluate the effect of ARDA on poverty rates and real per capita incomes in Appalachia. The intent to treat parameter is identified in a difference-in-difference-in-difference framework by comparing outcomes in Appalachia to her border counties. Additional knowledge of which counties were solely eligible for highway development funds under ARDA from those counties eligible for both highway as well as …


Does Race Based Redistricting Matter For Policy?, Ebonya Washington Aug 2010

Does Race Based Redistricting Matter For Policy?, Ebonya Washington

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

During the 1990 congressional redistricting many states were mandated to create additional majority minority-resident districts in order to elect more minorities to Congress. Civil rights groups and Republicans cheered. The Party views Democratic districts stripped of Black voters as opportunities to repaint blue districts red. The academic literature agrees, attributing the Republican return to House control in 1994 to race based redistricting. However, this literature generally focuses on the district as the unit of analysis, a focus that is too narrow, as some districts gain Black residents while others lose them. I focus on states, the level at which redistricting …


Poverty, Inequality And Cost Of Living Differences, Enrico Moretti Aug 2010

Poverty, Inequality And Cost Of Living Differences, Enrico Moretti

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

Metropolitan areas in the US are characterized by enormous differences in average income, earnings, and factor productivity. The income of individuals located in metropolitan areas at the top of the income distribution is more than double the income of observationally similar individuals located in metropolitan areas at the bottom of the distribution. These differences reflect, at least in part, variation in local productivity.


The Impact Of U.S. Family Planning Programs On Fertility And Mortality: Evidence From The War On Poverty And Title X, Martha Bailey Apr 2010

The Impact Of U.S. Family Planning Programs On Fertility And Mortality: Evidence From The War On Poverty And Title X, Martha Bailey

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

Over forty years ago, the U.S. government adopted a policy of funding domestic family planning services, and the effects of these programs have been debated ever since. Within an event-study framework, I exploit community-level variation in the timing of federal grants for family planning services under the Economic Opportunity Act (1965 to 1974) and Title X (1970 to 1980) to evaluate their impact. The results provide robust evidence that federal family planning grants reduced birth rates in funded communities by four percent within six years. I find no evidence that family planning grants reduced maternal or infant mortality rates.


Notes On Poverty Traps And Appalachia, Steven Durlauf Jan 2010

Notes On Poverty Traps And Appalachia, Steven Durlauf

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

In these notes, I provide some general ideas on how to conceptualize poverty traps and speculate on their applicability to understanding Appalachian poverty. My goal is to stimulate thinking on Appalachia that exploits contemporary perspectives in economics on the sources of persistent poverty and inequality. To do this, I focus on both the theory of poverty traps as well as issues in the econometric assessment of their empirical salience.


Assessing The Impact Of A Modernized Application Process On Florida’S Food Stamp Caseload, Colleen Heflin, Peter Mueser Jan 2010

Assessing The Impact Of A Modernized Application Process On Florida’S Food Stamp Caseload, Colleen Heflin, Peter Mueser

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

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 …


State Employment Protection Statutes For Victims Of Domestic Violence As An Employment Matter, Jennifer E. Swanberg, Mamta U. Ojha Jan 2010

State Employment Protection Statutes For Victims Of Domestic Violence As An Employment Matter, Jennifer E. Swanberg, Mamta U. Ojha

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

Evidence indicates that domestic violence has negative consequences on victims’ employment; yet employers lag in recognizing this as a workplace issue. To address the problem, some states have established several policy solutions. To understand the scope of the public sector’s response to domestic violence as a workplace issue, a content analysis of state-level employment protection policies for domestic violence victims (N=369) was conducted. Results indicate three broad policy categories: 1) policies that offer work leave for victims; 2) policies that aim to reduce employment discrimination of domestic violence victims; and 3) policies that aim to increase awareness and safety in …


What About These Children? Assessing Poverty Among The ‘Hidden Population’ Of Multiracial Children In Single-Mother Families, Jenifer Bratter, Sarah Damaske Jan 2010

What About These Children? Assessing Poverty Among The ‘Hidden Population’ Of Multiracial Children In Single-Mother Families, Jenifer Bratter, Sarah Damaske

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

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 …


Household Living Arrangements And Economic Resources Among Mexican Immigrant Families With Children, Mark A. Leach Jan 2010

Household Living Arrangements And Economic Resources Among Mexican Immigrant Families With Children, Mark A. Leach

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

Using data from the 2000 Census, this study examines the relationship between household living arrangements and economic resources among Mexican immigrant families with children. I model separately the relationships between family income and household structure and proportion of total household income contributed and household structure. The results show that families that coreside with extended kin and non-kin have higher incomes, all else equal, relative to those that reside in single-family households. In addition, Mexican immigrant families that reside in extendedhousehold living arrangements contribute about three quarters of total household income. While families may gain some economic efficiency through extended household …


Imprisonment And (Inequality In) Population Health, Christopher Wildeman Jan 2010

Imprisonment And (Inequality In) Population Health, Christopher Wildeman

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

This article extends research on the consequences of mass imprisonment and the factors shaping population health and health inequities by considering the effects of the imprisonment rate on population health and black-white inequality in population health using state-level panel data from the United States (1980-2004). My results imply that increases in the imprisonment rate harm population health, though the effects on the infant mortality rate and female life expectancy are more consistent than are the effects on male life expectancy. My results also imply that these health effects are concentrated among blacks, implicating mass imprisonment in the persistence of black-white …


An Exploratory Analysis Of The Relationship Between Student Earnings And Postsecondary Retention, Christopher Jepsen, Darshak P. Patel, Kenneth R. Troske Jan 2010

An Exploratory Analysis Of The Relationship Between Student Earnings And Postsecondary Retention, Christopher Jepsen, Darshak P. Patel, Kenneth R. Troske

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

Policy makers are becoming increasingly concerned about the high percentage of students who attend postsecondary education without completing a degree. Researchers have studied numerous potential determinants of retention behavior for postsecondary students, such as financial aid, socioeconomic status, academic preparedness, academic and social integration, and expected future wages. However, none of these studies considers students’ earnings while in school as a potential determinant of retention. Using an administrative data from postsecondary institutions matched with administrative earnings data from the state’s unemployment insurance department, our results indicate that student earnings are negatively correlated to student retention in Kentucky postsecondary institutions. Our …


Family Change And Poverty In Appalachia, Daniel Lichter, Lisa Cimbulak Jan 2010

Family Change And Poverty In Appalachia, Daniel Lichter, Lisa Cimbulak

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

The current economic and political climate provides a vivid contrast with the circumstances of the 1990s, when the passage of the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) ushered in welfare reform during a period of unprecedented economic expansion and job growth (Blank 2002; Ziliak 2009). This legislation sought to “end the dependence of needy parents on government benefits by promoting job preparation, work, and marriage.” Among PRWORA’s goals were to reduce out-of-wedlock births and encourage the formation of two-parent families. For most states, much of the initial emphasis on self-sufficiency was placed on “work first” programs (i.e., …


Earnings And Income Volatility In America: Evidence From Matched Cps, James P. Ziliak, Bradley L. Hardy, Christopher Bollinger Jan 2010

Earnings And Income Volatility In America: Evidence From Matched Cps, James P. Ziliak, Bradley L. Hardy, Christopher Bollinger

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

In this paper we offer new evidence on earnings and income volatility in the United States over the past four decades by using matched data from the March Current Population Survey. We find that between 1973 and 2008 family income volatility rose by 38 percent, primarily as a result of higher volatility of husbands earnings and non means-tested nonlabor income. Rising family income volatility is in evidence across race, education, and family structure, and after declining sharply while young, it is increasing in the latter part of the life cycle among the skilled. The Federal tax and transfer system dampens …