A Benefit-Cost Analysis of Child Care Subsidy Expansions: The New York State Case
This paper estimates the benefits and costs of a proposed New York State policy reform to provide child care subsidies to families up to three times the federal poverty line while supplementing child care worker compensation, alongside alternative program design options. It estimates a net present value of $12.4 billion in yearly social benefits relative to a yearly cost of $1.6 billion.
Effects of the Expanded Child Tax Credit on Household Spending: Estimates Based on U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey Data
In partnership with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this NBER working paper is the first to use nationally-representative expenditure data to examine the impact of the expanded Child Tax Credit on household spending. Families used the monthly payments to enhance child and household well-being, mainly on food, housing, and child-related goods and services.
The Differential Effects of Monthly & Lump-Sum Child Tax Credit Payments on Food & Housing Hardship
This study investigates the effects of the monthly and the lump-sum expanded Child Tax Credit payments on food and housing hardship in the United States. Families were more likely to use the monthly benefits to purchase food, but the lump-sum benefits to catch up on rent payments.
The Effectiveness of the Food Stamp Program at Reducing Differences in the Intergenerational Persistence of Poverty
This working paper, released by the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, investigates the effects of food assistance on racial disparities in the intergenerational persistence of poverty. Income transfers that reduce poverty during childhood can contribute to reduced poverty in adulthood and also reduce racial gaps.
The Effects of the New York City Minimum Wage Increases on Earnings, Poverty, and Material Hardship: Evidence from the Poverty Tracker
This report examines the impact that the New York City minimum wage increases in 2017, 2018, and 2019 had on low-wage workers in the Poverty Tracker sample, looking specifically at earnings, poverty, material hardship, employment, and benefit receipt. The increases contributed to a significant increase in annual earnings of minimum wage workers and did benefit workers that were more likely to face poverty and material hardship.
Comparing the Performance of Monthly Poverty Measures
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the problem of using a once-per-year, annual poverty measure to make pressing policy decisions. This prompted researchers to develop methods to provide more timely estimates of poverty. This paper compares two monthly poverty measures—one developed by Parolin, Curran, Matsudaira, Waldfogel, and Wimer and the other by Han, Meyer, and Sullivan—to assess their performance relative to external benchmarks of material hardship and mental health challenges.
Support for Paid Family Leave among Small Employers Increases during the Covid-19 Pandemic
The United States is one of the few countries that does not guarantee paid family leave to workers nationwide. We surveyed small firms in New York and New Jersey before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and found high support for state paid family leave programs in 2019 that rose substantially over time, particularly among firms who used it.
The Initial Effects of the Expanded Child Tax Credit on Material Hardship
In this working paper, we investigate the initial impact of the monthly Child Tax Credit payments on material hardship. Even with imperfect coverage, we find that the first monthly CTC payments strongly reduced food insufficiency among low-income households with children.
The Impact of Paid Family Leave on Employers: Evidence from New York
We surveyed New York and Pennsylvania firms to study the impacts of New York's 2018 Paid Family Leave policy on employer outcomes. We find that Paid Family Leave leads to an improvement in employers' rating of their ease of handling long employee absences.