Research by Author & Topic

Publications by Jennifer Ehrle Macomber on Economic Well-being

This report examines more than 100 programs through which the federal government spends money on children and calculates the amount spent on children under three. These first time expenditure estimates provide a place to start in gauging the priority the nation places on investing in very young children and in comparing expenditure patterns to researchers’ findings about investments that work. For example, despite extensive child development research underscoring the importance of quality early care and education programs for infants and toddlers, especially those in poverty, just 7 percent of federal funding for children between birth and age 2 went toward these efforts in 2007.

Extensive research shows investing in very young children can help build a strong future workforce, improve children's educational success and health, and potentially reduce some of the social ills that drain the nation’s resources and will. What investments does the United States currently make in infants and toddlers?

Kids' Share 2008, a second annual report, looks comprehensively at trends in federal spending and tax expenditures on children. Key findings suggest that historically children have not been a budget priority. In 2007, this trend continued, as children's spending did not keep pace with GDP growth. Absent a policy change, children's spending will continue to be squeezed in the next decade.

Key Facts: Kids' Share 2008 summarizes findings from the Kids' Share 2008 report, which looks comprehensively at trends in federal spending and tax expenditures on children. Key findings suggest that historically children have not been a budget priority. In 2007, this trend continued, as children's spending did not keep pace with GDP growth. Absent a policy change, children's spending will continue to be squeezed in the next decade.

This study examines employment outcomes for youth who age out of foster care through their middle twenties in three states: California, Minnesota, and North Carolina. The study linked child welfare, Unemployment Insurance (UI), and public assistance administrative data to assess outcomes. Results suggest that youth who age out of foster care continue to experience poor employment outcomes at age 24 and generally follow one of four employment trajectories as they transition to adulthood.

This brief compiles the best available data on the characteristics of vulnerable young children in four service systems: Early Head Start (EHS); the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); the child welfare (CW) system; and Part C Early Intervention Programs (Part C). Data reveal that the children and families in these systems look fairly similar on some key dimensions, suggesting that policy initiatives to support young children's development might be informed by distilling common lessons from the systems' different research bases.

Jennifer Macomber, a research associate with the Urban Institute’s Center on Labor, Human Services, and Population, talks about vulnerable families and what's being done to protect the children.

In this brief we examine levels of receipt for government payments that children in kinship care are eligible to receive. We find that children's receipt of financial assistance is still low given their eligibility. Many, if not most, families that could be eligible for the most generous payment, a foster payment, do not receive it. Children whose living situations make them ineligible for foster care payments have surprisingly low levels of receipt for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) child-only benefits, often their only source for financial assistance.

Children living with relatives fare worse than children living with their parents on most measures of behavioral, emotional, and physical well-being. However, many children living with relatives live in poverty, which also may contribute to their poor well-being. Children in low-income relative care fare worse than low-income children living with their parents in terms of engagement in school; they are more likely to be suspended or expelled from school, and more likely to have a limiting condition, which includes any physical, learning, or mental health condition. However, children in low-income relative care and those in low-income parent care have comparable levels of behavioral and emotional problems, activity involvement, and are equally likely to skip school.

Children living in families with three or more of the following risks — single parenthood, four or more children in the household, a parent’s lack of education, and poverty — were classified at a high level of sociodemographic risk. Nationally, 8 percent of children under age 18 experienced high levels of sociodemographic risk compared to 20 percent of poor children. High risk children were significantly more likely to exhibit emotional and school problems. These problems appear more frequently with older children. Among the 13 states studied, the proportion of children experiencing sociodemographic risk is higher than the national average in Alabama, California, and Mississippi and lower than the national average in Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Washington, and Wisconsin.