View Research by Author - Gregory Acs

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Over the last decade, American social policy has increasingly focused on encouraging and requiring work for those receiving government supports. This study analyzes the dynamics of the low-wage labor market and the role of work supports in helping workers move toward economic self-sufficiency. Monthly data from January 2001 through January 2003 shows that over one-quarter of workers earn low wages. We find evidence that low-wage workers are moving to higher-wage jobs, but two years later, the majority of low-wage workers either remain in low-wage jobs or are not working. Our analysis provides some, although limited, evidence that government-provided work supports promote self-sufficiency.

This paper synthesizes findings from a series of Urban Institute reports produced under the "Risk and Low-Income Working Families" research initiative funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur and Annie E. Casey Foundations. The paper places this research in the broader context of literature on economic mobility and income volatility. The report is structured around two key questions: (1) How have economic instability and insecurity changed for America's low-income working families changed over time? and (2) What are the factors that contribute to or offer protection from substantial income losses and promote or inhibit recoveries from such losses?

This paper uses data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to assess how the economic security and mobility of nonelderly adults in families with children has evolved from 1970 through 2005. We find that that for individuals in low-income families with a full-time, full-year worker, both economic security and upward mobility increased over time. Our findings underscore the importance of work for the long-term security and mobility of low-income families. The high and rising unemployment rates of 2009 clearly imperil the progress made during the last three decades of the 20th century.

A central goal of U.S. social welfare policy is to ensure that all children have the opportunity to reach their full potential as productive adults. Yet it is increasingly clear that where children live plays a central role in determining their life chances. This paper provides an overview of The Urban Institute's Program on Neighborhoods and Youth Development, which is dedicated to understanding the relationships between neighborhood-level factors and the well-being and development of children and youth and identifying and evaluating place-based, community-wide strategies to help children grow up to reach their full potential as adults.

This paper examines the characteristics and circumstances of families vulnerable to sharp income drops and those most likely to recover financially. More than 13 percent of nonelderly adults in families with children will see their incomes fall by half at some point over the course of a year, and about 40 percent fully recover within a year. Those who lose jobs or have an adult leave the family are more likely to have a substantial drop in income and are less likely to recover. This study uses data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation, which collects data every four months and can provide information on short-term income loss.

Today, the U.S. Census Bureau announced that the U.S. poverty rate reached 13.2 percent in 2008. Even this significant increase from the 12.5 percent rate in 2007 surely understates the share of Americans struggling to make ends meet today in September 2009.

This brief examines the size and characteristics of the low-wage workforce and whether low-wage workers experience wage growth. We define low-wage workers as workers whose hourly wage rates are so low that even if they worked full-time, full-year their annual earnings would fall below the poverty line for a family of four. This wage rate is $8.63 in 2001, equivalent to $10.50 in 2008. Almost one-third of all workers ages 16 to 64 are low-wage workers in 2001. From 2001 to 2003, we find some evidence that low-wage workers are moving to higher wage jobs. But, the majority of low-wage workers either remain in low-wage jobs or are not working at all.

Using the 1996, 2001, and 2004 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation, this brief examines the likelihood that nonelderly individuals in families with children experience substantial drops in family income and recoveries from such drops. Over 13 percent of families see their incomes fall by half at some point over the course of a year with the lowest- and highest-income families the most likely to experience a substantial income loss. Further, only two in five individuals recover to at least 100 percent of their pre-drop income in the year after the drop.

This paper uses data from the 2007 Survey of Employers in the Low-Skill Labor Market to analyze whether wage differences among workers of different races and ethnicities in the low-skill labor market remain after controlling for individual, job, and employer characteristics. The employer-provided data include detailed information on job requirements and employer characteristics rarely available in household surveys. We find that black workers earn significantly less than white workers in the less-skilled labor market, and a significant difference (12 percent) remains even after controlling for worker, job, and employer characteristics.

This brief uses data from the 2007 Survey of Employers in the Low-Skill Labor Market to examine differences in the noncollege jobs held by workers of different races and ethnicities and the impact of these differences on wage rates.

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