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Publications on Welfare

This report is an analysis of alternative datasets and research approaches to assess the effects of Hurricane Katrina on populations served by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/Administration for Children and Families (ACF). The assessment addresses four overarching research questions, with an emphasis on using existing datasets: 1) where did populations of interest go and where are they living since Katrina; what are the effects on income and employment; what are the needs for ACF programs and services; and how did the disaster affect ACF programs themselves? The report includes an extensive annotated bibliography of analyses through January 2007.

While the increase in gas prices has increased costs for all commuters, workers from households whose income is below the federal poverty level pay a larger proportion of their income for gas. This fact sheet uses data from the 2006 American Community Survey to quantify the relative burden of gas use for commuting.

The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) officially expired in 2003 but has not yet been reauthorized. With a new administration and Congress due in 2009, what should they consider regarding workforce development and the disadvantaged population? This brief reviews the arguments for a workforce development system, examining both the strengths and weaknesses of the current WIA program. Among the proposals are expanded funding, and planning grants which states could use to target industries and sectors with unmet demands for skilled workers. They would then identify potential "pathways" for different groups of disadvantaged workers to meet those demands.

Food stamp benefits can provide an important supplement to the income of working families (families with children under 18 and earnings), who now make up nearly 40 percent of program participants. States can take advantage of Food Stamp Program policy options that increase eligibility and benefits. Seven policy options are particularly important for working families: more liberal vehicle rules, expanded categorical eligibility, transitional benefits for families leaving cash assistance, outreach, longer certification periods, reduced reporting requirements, and waivers of the required face-to-face interviews at recertification.

Researchers from the Urban Institute and the State of Massachusetts explored why existing surveys generate very different estimates of the uninsurance rate in Massachusetts. The surveys they examined are the Current Population Survey (CPS), the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), the Massachusetts Health Insurance Survey, and the Massachusetts Health Reform Survey (MHRS). This brief described how estimates may vary because of differences in the wording of the insurance questions asked in the surveys, differences in question placement and context within the survey, differences in survey design and fielding strategies, differences in accounting for missing data and other data preparation, and differences in survey fielding time frames. The analysis concludes that there has been no single survey in Massachusetts that is clearly superior across all of these important dimensions.