There has been a lack of debate between and frameworks for theories of the causes of
poverty. This article proposes that most theories of poverty can be productively categorized …

This paper uses quasi-experimental variation from federal tax reform to evaluate the effect of
the EITC on infant health outcomes. We find that the EITC reduces the incidence of low birth …

The remarkable transformation of the American social safety net that began in the early
1990s has led to seismic shifts in who benefits and how. More than two decades later, how …

We examine the effect of the EITC on the poverty and income of single mothers with children
using a quasi-experimental approach that leverages variation in generosity due to policy …

Nancy Folbre challenges the conventional economist's assumption that parents have
children for the same reason that they acquire pets--primarily for the pleasure of their …

The provision of public assistance to families with children in America faced a watershed
moment with the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity …

Gary Becker's path-breaking Treatise on the Family (1981) subjected individuals' decisions
about sex, marriage, childbearing, and childrearing to rational choice analysis. The …

As rents have risen and wages have not kept pace, housing affordability in the United States
has declined over the last 15 years, impacting the housing and living arrangements of low …

Using comparable data for 24 countries since the 1970s, we document gender convergence
in schooling, employment and earnings, marriage delay, and the accompanying decline in …

Abstract “Doubling up”(sharing living arrangements) with family and friends is one way in
which individuals and families can cope with job loss, but relatively little research has …