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Barriers to Benefits: Unemployment Insurance Take-Up and Labor Market Effects
Academic

Barriers to Benefits: Unemployment Insurance Take-Up and Labor Market Effects (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers MAY 19, 2026

Unemployment insurance (UI) take-up is relatively low in the United States. We implement a large-scale field experiment among 50,000 likely unemployed individuals to study the causes and labor supply implications…

By: Casey McQuillan (opens in a new tab), Brendan Moore (opens in a new tab)

Economic Equity & Opportunity Household Economic Security Labor, Wages & Worker Power
Fitting the Bill? The First Federal Paid Leave Mandate
Academic

Fitting the Bill? The First Federal Paid Leave Mandate (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers SEP 23, 2025

We find that the first federal paid leave mandate in the US, enacted under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, increased paid leave taking by nearly 200% for eligible workers,…

By: Tanya Byker (opens in a new tab), Elena Patel (opens in a new tab), Kristin Smith (opens in a new tab)

Economic Equity & Opportunity Household Economic Security Labor, Wages & Worker Power
In Her Hands: A Guaranteed Income Initiative
Academic

In Her Hands: A Guaranteed Income Initiative (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers SEP 4, 2025

In Her Hands (IHH) is a guaranteed income (GI) initiative aimed at addressing persistent economic insecurity among women in neighborhoods with some of Georgia’s highest poverty rates. Co-designed with local…

By: Laura Brugger (opens in a new tab), Shadonna Davis (opens in a new tab), Desha Elliott (opens in a new tab), Leah Hamilton (opens in a new tab), Stephen Roll (opens in a new tab), Latrice Rollins (opens in a new tab), Simone Smith (opens in a new tab), Aaron Quick (opens in a new tab), Naomi Zewde (opens in a new tab)

Economic Equity & Opportunity Household Economic Security
The Macroeconomic Effects of Climate Policy Uncertainty
Academic

Americans Informed About the Distributional Effects of Republicans’ Budget Bill Overwhelmingly Oppose It (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers JUN 25, 2025

Republicans in the Senate are currently considering the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which, if enacted, would be the most regressive U.S. tax and budget law in at least the…

By: Jacob S. Hacker, Patrick Sullivan (opens in a new tab)

Economic Equity & Opportunity Household Economic Security Macroeconomics & Economic Measurement Taxation
The Effect of Means-Tested Transfers on Work: Evidence from Quasi-Randomly Assigned SNAP Caseworkers
Academic

The Effect of Means-Tested Transfers on Work: Evidence from Quasi-Randomly Assigned SNAP Caseworkers (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers NOV 13, 2023

We provide a comprehensive evaluation of the dynamic labor supply effects of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for a representative population using novel administrative data and an examiner design.…

By: Jason Cook (opens in a new tab), Chloe N. East

Economic Equity & Opportunity Household Economic Security Labor, Wages & Worker Power
Racial Inequality in the U.S. Unemployment Insurance System
Academic

Racial Inequality in the U.S. Unemployment Insurance System (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers JUL 19, 2023

The decentralized US unemployment insurance (UI) system lets states decide on key rules. Decentralization could help states efficiently adapt to local economic conditions, but it could also generate racial inequality.…

By: Daphné Skandalis (opens in a new tab), Ioana Marinescu (opens in a new tab), Maxim Massenkoff (opens in a new tab)

Economic Equity & Opportunity Household Economic Security Labor, Wages & Worker Power
The Effectiveness of the Food Stamp Program at Reducing Differences in the Intergenerational Persistence of Poverty
Academic

The Effectiveness of the Food Stamp Program at Reducing Differences in the Intergenerational Persistence of Poverty (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers MAY 30, 2023

This paper investigates the effects of the Food Stamp Program (FSP) on racial disparities in the intergenerational persistence of poverty. We apply staggered difference-in-difference models that exploit variation in the…

By: Benjamin Glasner (opens in a new tab), Ronald B Mincy, Zachary Parolin (opens in a new tab), Christopher Wimer (opens in a new tab)

Economic Equity & Opportunity Household Economic Security
Families First Coronavirus Response Act: Effect on Paid Leave Taking During the Early Pandemic
Academic

Families First Coronavirus Response Act: Effect on Paid Leave Taking During the Early Pandemic (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers NOV 3, 2022

We study the effect of access to Emergency Paid Sick and Family Leave on leave-taking behavior during the early months of the pandemic. We compare monthly paid absence from January…

By: Tanya Byker (opens in a new tab), Elena Patel (opens in a new tab), Kristin Smith (opens in a new tab)

Household Economic Security Labor, Wages & Worker Power
The effects of income on the economic wellbeing of families with low incomes: Evidence from the 2021 expanded Child Tax Credit
Academic

The effects of income on the economic wellbeing of families with low incomes: Evidence from the 2021 expanded Child Tax Credit (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers OCT 3, 2022

We examine the effects of an unconditional cash transfer on the economic wellbeing (material hardship, ability to meet needs, money on hand, use of friends and family for assistance, and…

By: Natasha Pilkauskas (opens in a new tab), Katherine Michelmore (opens in a new tab), Nicole Kovski (opens in a new tab), H. Luke Shaefer (opens in a new tab)

Household Economic Security
Understanding Disparities in Unemployment Insurance Recipiency
Academic

Understanding Disparities in Unemployment Insurance Recipiency (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers JUL 13, 2022

Using data from before and during the Covid-19 pandemic, we show that the expansion of benefits under the CARES Act only modestly increased self-reported UI recipiency among UI eligible workers,…

By: Eliza Forsythe (opens in a new tab), Hesong Yang (opens in a new tab)

Economic Equity & Opportunity Household Economic Security Labor, Wages & Worker Power
Compensation for Unstable and Unpredictable Work Schedules: Evidence from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 Cohort
Academic

Compensation for Unstable and Unpredictable Work Schedules: Evidence from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 Cohort (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers APR 15, 2022

Prior research shows unpredictable and unstable work schedules are associated with negative health, family, and economic outcomes. But little research has examined what, if anything, workers gain from such schedule…

By: Peter J. Fugiel (opens in a new tab)

Household Economic Security Labor, Wages & Worker Power
Money Matters: Consumption Volatility Across the Income Distribution
Academic

Money Matters: Consumption Volatility Across the Income Distribution (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers FEB 3, 2022

Using the Consumer Expenditure Survey, we document the level and volatility of quarterly consumption across the socioeconomic distribution. While the measurement of well-being is focused on income, the secular and…

By: Jonathan Fisher (opens in a new tab), Bradley L. Hardy

Economic Equity & Opportunity Household Economic Security Labor, Wages & Worker Power
Support for Paid Family Leave among Small Employers Increases during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Academic

Support for Paid Family Leave among Small Employers Increases during the COVID-19 Pandemic (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers JAN 14, 2022

The United States is one of the few countries that does not guarantee paid family leave (PFL) to workers. Proposals for PFL legislation are often met with opposition from employer…

By: Ann P. Bartel, Maya Rossin-Slater (opens in a new tab), Christopher J. Ruhm, Meredith Slopen (opens in a new tab), Jane Waldfogel (opens in a new tab)

Household Economic Security Labor, Wages & Worker Power
Beyond Health: Non-Health Risk and the Value of Disability Insurance
Academic

Beyond Health: Non-Health Risk and the Value of Disability Insurance (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers NOV 22, 2021

The public debate over disability insurance has centered on concerns about individuals without severe health conditions receiving benefits. We go beyond health risk alone to quantify the overall insurance value…

By: Manasi Deshpande (opens in a new tab), Lee M. Lockwood (opens in a new tab)

Economic Equity & Opportunity Household Economic Security Labor, Wages & Worker Power
How Exceptional is American Job Quality? Decent- and Poverty-Pay Rates by Age, Gender, and Education in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, and France*
Academic

How Exceptional is American Job Quality? Decent- and Poverty-Pay Rates by Age, Gender, and Education in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, and France* (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers SEP 3, 2021

Social protection for working-age American adults is almost entirely conditional on employment, which makes earnings a particularly important dimension of job quality for workers. This paper employs new indicators (Howell,…

By: David R. Howell

Economic Equity & Opportunity Household Economic Security Labor, Wages & Worker Power
Temperature, workplace safety, and labor market inequality
Academic

Temperature, workplace safety, and labor market inequality (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers JUL 19, 2021

Using data covering the universe of injury claims from the nation’s largest worker’s compensation system (2001-2018), we explore the relationship between temperature and workplace safety and its implications for labor…

By: R. Jisung Park (opens in a new tab), Nora Pankratz (opens in a new tab), A. Patrick Behrer (opens in a new tab)

AI, Tech & Energy Household Economic Security Labor, Wages & Worker Power
Tax Refund Uncertainty: Evidence and Welfare Implications
Academic

Tax Refund Uncertainty: Evidence and Welfare Implications (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers APR 8, 2021

Transfers paid through annual tax refunds are a large but uncertain source of income for poor households. We document that low-income tax-filers have substantial subjective uncertainty about these refunds. We…

By: Sydnee Caldwell (opens in a new tab), Scott Nelson (opens in a new tab), Daniel Waldinger (opens in a new tab)

Economic Equity & Opportunity Household Economic Security Labor, Wages & Worker Power Macroeconomics & Economic Measurement Taxation
Caregiving in a Pandemic: COVID-19 and the Well-being of Family Caregivers 55+ in the U.S.
Academic

Caregiving in a Pandemic: COVID-19 and the Well-being of Family Caregivers 55+ in the U.S. (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers APR 7, 2021

Little is known about the effects of COVID-19 on family caregivers in the US. Using data from a national sample of 2,485 US adults aged ≥55, we aimed to describe…

By: Yulya Truskinovsky (opens in a new tab), Jessica Finlay (opens in a new tab), Lindsay Kobayashi (opens in a new tab)

Household Economic Security Labor, Wages & Worker Power
The Grandkids Aren’t Alright: The Intergenerational Effects of Prenatal Pollution Exposure
Academic

The Grandkids Aren’t Alright: The Intergenerational Effects of Prenatal Pollution Exposure (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers FEB 11, 2021

Evidence increasingly shows that environmental quality shapes human capital at birth with long-run effects on health and welfare. Do these effects, in turn, affect the economic opportunities of future generations?…

By: Jonathan Colmer (opens in a new tab), John Voorheis (opens in a new tab)

Economic Equity & Opportunity Household Economic Security
Impact of the COVID-19 Crisis on Family Dynamics in Economically Vulnerable Households
Academic

Impact of the COVID-19 Crisis on Family Dynamics in Economically Vulnerable Households (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers DEC 14, 2020

The COVID-19 crisis and its reverberations resulted in levels of economic distress unprecedented since the 1930s. But COVID was a seismic social shock even for families that lost no income,…

By: Ariel Kalil (opens in a new tab), Susan Mayer (opens in a new tab), Rohen Shah (opens in a new tab)

Economic Equity & Opportunity Household Economic Security Labor, Wages & Worker Power
The Impact of COVID-19 on the U.S. Child Care Market: Evidence from Stay-at-Home Orders
Academic

The Impact of COVID-19 on the U.S. Child Care Market: Evidence from Stay-at-Home Orders (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers JUL 16, 2020

Stay-at-home orders (SAHOs) have been implemented in most U.S. states to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. This paper quantifies the short-run impact of these containment policies on search behavior and…

By: Umair Ali (opens in a new tab), Chris M. Herbst (opens in a new tab), Christos A. Makridis

Economic Equity & Opportunity Household Economic Security Labor, Wages & Worker Power
Is the social safety net a long-term investment? Large-scale evidence from the food stamps program
Academic

Is the social safety net a long-term investment? Large-scale evidence from the food stamps program (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers MAY 11, 2020

We use novel, large-scale data on 43 million Americans from the 2000 Census and the 2001 to 2013 American Communities Survey linked to the Social Security Administration’s NUMIDENT to study…

By: Martha J. Bailey, Hilary W. Hoynes, Maya Rossin-Slater (opens in a new tab), Reed Walker (opens in a new tab)

Economic Equity & Opportunity Household Economic Security
An SEIR Infectious Disease Model with Testing and Conditional Quarantine
Academic

An SEIR Infectious Disease Model with Testing and Conditional Quarantine (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers APR 7, 2020

We extend the baseline Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious-Recovered (SEIR) infectious disease epidemiology model to understand the role of testing and case-dependent quarantine. Our model nests the SEIR model. During a period of asymptomatic…

By: David Berger (opens in a new tab), Kyle Herkenhoff (opens in a new tab), Simon Mongey (opens in a new tab)

Economic Equity & Opportunity Household Economic Security Labor, Wages & Worker Power
Targeted Debt Relief and the Origins of Financial Distress: Experimental Evidence from Distressed Credit Card Borrowers
Academic

Targeted Debt Relief and the Origins of Financial Distress: Experimental Evidence from Distressed Credit Card Borrowers (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers DEC 4, 2019

We study the drivers of financial distress using a large-scale field experiment that offered randomly selected borrowers a combination of (i) immediate payment reductions to target short-run liquidity constraints and…

By: Will Dobbie (opens in a new tab), Jae Song (opens in a new tab)

Economic Equity & Opportunity Household Economic Security Labor, Wages & Worker Power Macroeconomics & Economic Measurement
The Long-Term Effects of California’s 2004 Paid Family Leave Act on Women’s Careers: Evidence from U.S. Tax Data
Academic

The Long-Term Effects of California’s 2004 Paid Family Leave Act on Women’s Careers: Evidence from U.S. Tax Data (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers NOV 6, 2019

This paper uses IRS tax data to evaluate the short- and long-term effects of California’s 2004 Paid Family Leave Act (PFLA) on women’s careers. Our research design exploits the increased…

By: Martha Bailey (opens in a new tab), Tanya Byker (opens in a new tab), Elena Patel (opens in a new tab), Shanthi Ramnath (opens in a new tab)

Household Economic Security Labor, Wages & Worker Power
Do Teacher Strikes Make Parents Pro- or Anti-Labor? The Effects of Labor Unrest on Mass Attitudes
Academic

Do Teacher Strikes Make Parents Pro- or Anti-Labor? The Effects of Labor Unrest on Mass Attitudes (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers OCT 29, 2019

Strikes are a central tool of organized labor, yet existing research has focused on the economic consequences of strikes, rather than their political effects. We examine how labor actions by…

By: Alexander Hertel-Fernandez (opens in a new tab), Suresh Naidu (opens in a new tab), Adam Reich (opens in a new tab)

Household Economic Security Labor, Wages & Worker Power
Who Cares if Parents have Unpredictable Work Schedules?: The Association between Just-in-Time Work Schedules and Child Care Arrangements
Academic

Who Cares if Parents have Unpredictable Work Schedules?: The Association between Just-in-Time Work Schedules and Child Care Arrangements (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers OCT 16, 2019

Working parents must arrange some type of care for their young children when they are away at work. For parents with unstable and unpredictable work schedules, the logistics of arranging…

By: Kristen Harknett (opens in a new tab), Daniel Schneider (opens in a new tab), Sigrid Luhr (opens in a new tab)

Household Economic Security Labor, Wages & Worker Power
Parental Exposure to Routine Work Schedule Uncertainty and Child Behavior
Academic

Parental Exposure to Routine Work Schedule Uncertainty and Child Behavior (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers OCT 16, 2019

Parents working in the service sector often face unpredictable work schedules and children exposed to such parental schedules could suffer negative consequences. This paper takes advantage of novel survey data…

By: Daniel Schneider (opens in a new tab), Kristen Harknett (opens in a new tab)

Household Economic Security Labor, Wages & Worker Power
When Dad Can Stay Home: Fathers’ Workplace Flexibility and Maternal Health
Academic

When Dad Can Stay Home: Fathers’ Workplace Flexibility and Maternal Health (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers JUN 14, 2019

While workplace flexibility is perceived to be a key determinant of maternal labor supply, less is known about fathers’ demand for flexibility or about intra-household spillover effects of flexibility initiatives.…

By: Petra Persson (opens in a new tab), Maya Rossin-Slater (opens in a new tab)

Household Economic Security Labor, Wages & Worker Power
Disability and distress: The effect of disability programs on financial outcomes
Academic

Disability and distress: The effect of disability programs on financial outcomes (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers MAR 26, 2019

We provide the first evidence on the relationship between disability programs and markers of financial distress: bankruptcy, foreclosure, eviction, and home sale. Rates of these adverse financial events peak around…

By: Manasi Deshpande (opens in a new tab), Tal Gross (opens in a new tab), Yalun Su (opens in a new tab)

Household Economic Security Macroeconomics & Economic Measurement
Job quality and the educational gradient in entry into marriage and cohabitation
Academic

Job quality and the educational gradient in entry into marriage and cohabitation (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers NOV 27, 2018

Men’s and women’s economic resources are important determinants of marriage timing. Prior demographic and sociological literature has often measured resources in narrow terms, considering employment and earnings and not more…

By: Daniel Schneider (opens in a new tab), Kristen Harknett (opens in a new tab), Matthew Stimpson (opens in a new tab)

Economic Equity & Opportunity Household Economic Security
Motherhood penalties in the U.S., 1986-2014
Academic

Motherhood penalties in the U.S., 1986-2014 (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers MAR 13, 2018

Download File 0313018-WP-motherhood-penalties Read the full PDF in your browser Previous research has found that mothers earn less than childless women; this parenthood effect helps explain gender inequality as well.…

By: Eunjung Jee (opens in a new tab), Joya Misra (opens in a new tab), Marta Murray-Close (opens in a new tab)

Household Economic Security Labor, Wages & Worker Power
Measuring population estimates of housing insecurity in the United States: A comprehensive approach
Academic

Measuring population estimates of housing insecurity in the United States: A comprehensive approach (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers DEC 19, 2017

Download File 12192017-WP-measuring-housing-insecurity Read the full PDF in your browser This paper develops a simple comprehensive housing security scale based on a seven dimension definition of housing security set forth…

By: Robynn Cox (opens in a new tab), Seva Rodnyansky (opens in a new tab), Benjamin Henwood (opens in a new tab), Suzanne Wenzel (opens in a new tab)

Economic Equity & Opportunity Household Economic Security
Post-racial rhetoric, racial health disparities, and health disparity consequences of stigma, stress, and racism
Academic

Post-racial rhetoric, racial health disparities, and health disparity consequences of stigma, stress, and racism (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers OCT 10, 2017

Download File 10102017-WP-racial-health-disparities Read the full PDF in your browser We explore the paradox of why high achieving black Americans, as measured by education, still exhibit large health disparities. We…

By: Darrick Hamilton (opens in a new tab)

Economic Equity & Opportunity Household Economic Security
Roadmap to a unified measure of housing insecurity
Academic

Roadmap to a unified measure of housing insecurity (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers JUL 11, 2017

Download File 07112017-WP-unified-measure-of-housing-insecurity Read the full PDF in your browser We argue for the development of a unified measure of housing insecurity, which includes the creation of a consistent definition…

By: Robynn Cox (opens in a new tab), Benjamin Henwood (opens in a new tab), Seva Rodnyansky (opens in a new tab), Suzanne Wenzel (opens in a new tab), Eric Rice (opens in a new tab)

Household Economic Security
Reducing inequality through dynamic complementarity: Evidence from Head Start and public school spending
Academic

Reducing inequality through dynamic complementarity: Evidence from Head Start and public school spending (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers JUN 27, 2017

Download File 06272017-WP-dynamic-complementarity-public-school-spending Read the full PDF in your browser We explore whether early childhood human-capital investments are complementary to those made later in life. Using the Panel Study of…

By: Rucker C. Johnson (opens in a new tab), C. Kirabo Jackson (opens in a new tab)

Household Economic Security
On-call job, on-call family: The necessity of family support among retail workers with unstable work schedules
Academic

On-call job, on-call family: The necessity of family support among retail workers with unstable work schedules (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers NOV 1, 2016

Download File 110116-WP-retail-workers-with-unstable-schedules Read the full PDF in your browser Drawing on 25 in-depth interviews with parents employed in the service sector in the San Francisco Bay area, we describe…

By: Dani Carrillo (opens in a new tab), Kristen Harknett (opens in a new tab), Allison Logan (opens in a new tab), Sigrid Luhr (opens in a new tab), Daniel Schneider (opens in a new tab)

Household Economic Security Labor, Wages & Worker Power
Nothing left to lose? Changes experienced by Detroit low- and moderate-income households during the Great Recession
Academic

Nothing left to lose? Changes experienced by Detroit low- and moderate-income households during the Great Recession (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers SEP 7, 2016

Download File 090716-WP-Nothing-left-to-lose Read the full PDF in your browser The Financial Crisis and ensuing Great Recession caused enormous hardship for households. Using original datasets, we examine the effects of…

By: Michael Barr (opens in a new tab), Daniel Schaffa (opens in a new tab)

Household Economic Security Labor, Wages & Worker Power
Political issues, evidence, and citizen engagement: The case of unequal access to affordable health
Academic

Political issues, evidence, and citizen engagement: The case of unequal access to affordable health (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers JUL 5, 2016

Download File krupnikov-levine-unequal-access-health-care-working-paper Read the full PDF in your browser Some social and economic problems do not gain broad awareness. Yet others become prominent (and perhaps are alleviated) in part…

By: Yanna Krupnikov (opens in a new tab), Adam Seth Levine (opens in a new tab)

Household Economic Security
Learning where we stand: How school experiences matter for civic marginalization and political inequality
Academic

Learning where we stand: How school experiences matter for civic marginalization and political inequality (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers JUL 5, 2016

Download File bruch-soss-school-experiences-marginalization-working-paper Read the full PDF in your browser How does formal education matter for political inequality? Most answers focus on the things schools allocate, such as skills, knowledge,…

By: Sarah K. Bruch (opens in a new tab), Joe Soss (opens in a new tab)

Economic Equity & Opportunity Household Economic Security
School finance reform and the distribution of student achievement
Academic

School finance reform and the distribution of student achievement (opens in a new tab)

Working Papers MAR 1, 2016

Download File School-finance-reform Download full working paper Read the full PDF in your browser We study the impact of post-1990 school finance reforms, during the so-called “adequacy” era, on the…

By: Julien Lafortune (opens in a new tab), Jesse Rothstein (opens in a new tab), Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach

Economic Equity & Opportunity Household Economic Security

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