2017–2018 Research Area: Policies and Programs to Reduce Child Poverty and Its Effects

Children’s life chances are constrained by their parents’ social and economic fortunes. Poverty is common experience for children in the United States. Whereas about one in five children is poor in any given year, roughly one in three will spend at least one year of their childhood living in a poor household.

Young children, children of single mothers, children of immigrants, and children of color are disproportionately likely to experience poverty, which often has adverse consequences throughout the life course. The studies supported by IRP’s 2017 to 2018 extramural research funding program are aimed at informing policies and programs for reducing child poverty and/or its effects.

Funded Proposals

Jennifer Laird, Postdoctoral Research Scientist, School of Social Work, Columbia University, project title: “Poverty among Children of Immigrants: Understanding State-Level Variation and the Impact of SNAP Policy”

Katherine Michelmore, Assistant Professor, Public Administration and International Affairs, Syracuse University; and Natasha Pilkauskas, Assistant Professor, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan, project title: “Assessing the Effectiveness of Tax Credits in Early Childhood: Links Between the Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, Poverty, and Material Hardship”

David Rothwell, Assistant Professor, College of Public Health/Human Development and Family Sciences, Oregon State University, project title: “The Oregon Earned Income Credit’s Impact on Poverty in Early Childhood”

Brian Thiede, Assistant Professor, Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education, The Pennsylvania State University, project title: “Child Poverty Differentials across Immigrant Generations: Evidence Using the Supplemental Poverty Measure”

Sharon Wolf, Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania and Taryn Morrissey, Associate Professor, School of Public Affairs, American University, project title: “Effects of State Safety Net and Labor Policies on Family Economic Stability in the Aftermath of the Great Recession”