Income and Wealth
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Income and WealthDirect Cash Payments in the Next Recession
Researchers at the New School propose a new nationwide direct cash payments program that would automatically kick in when economic indicators point to a recession and phase out when the national unemployment rate begins to decline.
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Turning research into actionWe Should Learn from the Pandemic and Establish Direct Cash Payments to Moderate the Next Recession
In the throes of the coronavirus pandemic, US policymakers came together across both sides of the aisle and provided the American people with nearly $1 trillion in direct cash payments to help them make it through the emergency. Along with the expanded Child Tax Credit, these payments dramatically reduced poverty, stabilizing families and our economy during a time of unprecedented turbulence.
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Research into ActionThree Lessons About Building Trust and Advancing Equity on the Path to Justice
As part of Policies for Action’s (P4A’s) recent call for proposals to investigate policies to reduce the racial wealth gap, we recognized the opportunity to center the people and places most distant from privilege and power.
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Income and WealthWhere to from here? Understanding the Expanding Landscape of Cash Transfers in the US and their Impact on Women
Overview
Since 2018, cash transfer programs in the US have increased substantially, driven by a cost-of living crisis, concerns over jobs lost to automation, and economic instability caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Governments, civil society, and private actors at the state, county, and city levels have implemented nearly 100 guaranteed income programs since 2018. Despite this growth, support for implementing such programs in the US has been quite limited.
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Income and WealthAre Cash Transfers and Guaranteed Income Programs an Answer to Poverty in the United States?
This post was originally published on In the Lead, the blog of the Institute for Women's Policy Research.
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Income and WealthBaby Bonds Would Reduce Racial Wealth Inequities. Here's What Policymakers Need to Know.
This post was originally published on Urban Wire, the blog of the Urban Institute.
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Income and WealthWhat Do We Know about Baby Bonds? A Summary of Literature
Baby bonds are publicly funded child trust accounts that target children from low-wealth or low-income families. When the children reach adulthood, they can use the funds for wealth-building activities such as purchasing a home or starting a small business.
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The US is experiencing a housing affordability crisis. Families that lack access to safe, affordable and stable housing face increased risk of eviction, especially in cities, where the rent burden is most severe. Research suggests that evictions worsen material hardship, can force families into lower-quality housing in more disadvantaged neighborhoods, and erode mental health.
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Children and FamiliesShort-term effects of the earned income tax credit on children's physical and mental health
Childhood poverty is associated with worse health outcomes, including poor physical and cognitive development, and can adversely influence social and health outcomes in later life. While there is increasing interest in policies to address childhood poverty, limited research exists on whether current U.S. poverty alleviation policies, including the largest such program, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), improve children's health.
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Our homes and neighborhoods have a powerful impact on our physical and mental health, with the potential to exacerbate chronic and acute health problems and cost the U.S. billions of dollars annually. Sherry Ahrentzen and Lynne Dearborn investigated how the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), the nation’s largest source of funding for the development and preservation of affordable rental housing, can contribute to shaping a healthier housing stock.
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Income and WealthShort-term effects of the earned income tax credit on mental health and health behaviors
Building on prior conflicting studies in the International Journal of Epidemiology and the American Journal of Epidemiology, researchers Daniel F. Collin, Laura S. Shields-Zeeman, Akansha Batra, Anusha M. Vable, David H. Rehkopf, Leah Machen, and Rita Hamad evaluated seasonal variation in the health effects of the EITC among U.S. adults in this study published in Preventive Medicine.
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Children and FamiliesThe Long-Term Effects of Childhood Exposure to the Earned Income Tax Credit on Health Outcomes
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is one of the largest safety net programs in the United States. In 2019, the EITC reached 25 million tax filers at a total cost of $63 billion. Using variation in the federal and state EITC, Breno Braga, Fredric Blavin and Anuj Gangopadhyaya evaluated the long-term impact of EITC exposure during childhood on the health of young adults.
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