Research by Author & Topic

Publications by Robert I. Lerman on Poverty and Safety Net

The increasing recognition of the importance of marriage for the social and economic well-being of children has led to demonstrations aimed at strengthening and stimulating healthy marriages. The next step is to ensure that factors closely linked with healthy marriages are addressed as well. This paper brings together research findings and policy ideas about the interactions between marriage, employment, and family functioning. It presents a framework and proposes several demonstrations aimed at improving employment and family outcomes for disadvantaged populations. The appendix reviews an extensive body of research on specific linkages between marriage, employment, and family functioning.

Despite a plethora of proposals for helping people build assets, policy researchers have provided little methodological guidance about how best to view and evaluate these policies. This paper is an initial attempt to move in this direction, drawing on methods for assessing income-tested and social insurance programs and on analyses of public policies dealing with savings, investments, and risks. It examines whether and in what ways the traditional criteria of incentives, progressivity, and equity apply to an assessment of asset-building policies. Further, it discusses how to design an asset policy to deal with the potential social dislocations arising from gentrification.

Even when incentives to save and invest are strong, many low- and moderate-income families lack the basic knowledge to manage their income wisely, build wealth, and avoid excessive debt. This brief examines financial literacy research and programs to improve financial knowledge and decision-making. While research suggests that existing programs do make a difference in financial behavior, data collection and policy concerns make financial literacy a fertile ground for further development as part of an asset-building agenda.

In providing benefits to those without resources to support themselves, public assistance programs must define what counts as resources. Typically, programs consider assets and income in determining assistance eligibility. However, valuing assets can be difficult and asset tests create disincentives to save. In some cases, one additional dollar of assets can result in the loss of benefits worth thousands of dollars. Current practices raise two questions: are asset tests fair and do asset tests discourage asset accumulation? This brief identifies the population subject to asset tests, reviews existing research, considers strategies for meeting objectives, and offers suggestions for additional research.

[Washington Times] The debate over Social Security reform is growing more contentious with each passing day. Critics decry personal accounts as destroying the legacy of FDR's New Deal. Yet, FDR might well favor the proposed shift from social insurance to ownership programs if he were alive today. After all, he hated means-tested welfare (then called "relief") and supported Social Security and unemployment insurance partly because they would eventually allow welfare programs to wither away. Today, might ownership programs play a similar evolutionary role by lessening the need for social insurance?

The weakening economy and job losses after late 2000 posed a tough challenge for welfare reform's employment strategy. This issue of the Single Parent's Earnings Monitor finds that single mothers retained most of their post-welfare reform gains in employment and wages through the 2001-2003 recession.

The federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Food Stamp program (FSP) are the largest means-tested transfer programs for low-income working parents in the United States. This study examines how these two programs interact, particularly the potential impact of the EITC on participation in the FSP during the latter half of the 1990s. Although EITC payments do not reduce the potential size of a household's food stamp allotment under FSP rules, EITC adds to a household's resources and thus could affect a household's willingness to participate in the FSP. The paper tests this hypothesis with monthly data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation for 1996 through 1999. Although the findings are mixed, there is evidence of a negative impact of EITC on FSP participation.

Contrary to widespread concerns, the work-oriented welfare system has withstood the economic slowdown so far, largely because single mothers--the group most at risk of going on welfare--have maintained high levels of employment. Many worried that the welfare system would face serious strains in a recession, with large numbers of low-income, single parents losing their jobs and having nowhere to turn because time limits and other restrictions limit their eligibility for welfare.

What are today's levels of poverty and inequality? Are they increasing or decreasing? Answering these questions is a complicated task, though far less complex than determining the causes of poverty and inequality and the effects of domestic and international policies. The goal of this presentation is to shed light in three directions: first, by presenting the best analyses of the levels and trends in world poverty and inequality; second, by reviewing briefly the evidence on how the economic pillars of globalization--international trade, investment, and immigration--have influenced and continue to influence poverty and inequality; and third, by considering why some people oppose globalization.

The decline in food stamp participation, especially among eligible families moving from welfare to work, is limiting the government's ability to supplement the incomes of low-income working families. This paper suggests that one reason for low participation among eligible working families is that many do not apply for benefits if they already meet their food needs. The unfortunate result is that such households do not take advantage of the earnings supplement role of food stamps. This paper proposes a new approach to delivering benefits to working families that would encourage participation and strengthen the program's ability to supplement earnings.