Focus

The purpose of Focus is to provide coverage of poverty-related research, events, and issues, and to acquaint a large audience with the work of the Institute for Research on Poverty by means of short essays on selected pieces of research.

Note: For permission to reproduce Focus please see the publications administration page for further information.

Note: Focus articles published during the years 1976–1993 have been digitized and electronic copies are available below. (07/24/2007)

Focus is now distributed solely as an electronic publication—click here to receive an e-mail notification of future issues.

Vol. 33:3, Special Issue 2017

[Full text in PDF format (615 KB)]

Introduction to the Issue

Making a difference over 50 years
by Rebecca M. Blank

Antipoverty policy initiatives for the United States

Focus+
Links to additional readings and videos related to the articles in the issue. This resource may be particularly useful in the classroom.

Vol. 33:2, Spring/Summer 2017

[Full text in PDF format (863 KB)]

Introduction to the Issue

Intergenerational transmission of income inequality: What do we know?
by Gary Solon

Poverty and parenting young children

Poverty and K–12 schooling

Poverty, neighborhood, and school setting

Poverty and childhood health

Poverty and early care and education

Focus+
Links to additional readings and videos related to the articles in the issue. This resource may be particularly useful in the classroom.

Vol. 33:1, Fall/Winter 2016–17

[Full text in Acrobat format (821 KB)]

Vol. 32:2, Fall/Winter 2015–16

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Vol. 32:1, Spring/Summer 2015

This issue features an electronic supplement, Focus+, which includes links to additional readings and videos related to the articles in the issue. This resource may be particularly useful in the classroom.

[Full text in Acrobat format (3.3 MB)]

Vol. 31:2, Fall/Winter 2014–15

This issue features an electronic supplement, Focus+, which includes links to additional readings and videos related to the articles in the issue. This resource may be particularly useful in the classroom.

[Full text in Acrobat format (1 MB)]

Vol. 31:1, Spring/Summer 2014

This issue features an electronic supplement, Focus+, which includes links to additional readings and videos related to the articles in the issue. This resource may be particularly useful in the classroom.

[Full text in Acrobat format (1.7 MB)]

Introduction to the Issue
by Maria Cancian and Mary Pattillo

Poverty and welfare

Children and families

Race and immigration

Inequality and mobility

Vol. 30:2, Fall/Winter 2013–14

This issue features an electronic supplement, Focus+, which includes links to additional readings and videos related to the articles in the issue. This resource may be particularly useful in the classroom.

[Full text in Acrobat format (658 KB)]

Vol. 30:1, Spring/Summer 2013

This issue features an electronic supplement, Focus+, which includes links to additional readings and videos related to the articles in the issue. This resource may be particularly useful in the classroom.

[Full text in Acrobat format (1.2 MB)]

Vol. 29:2, Fall/Winter 2012–13

This issue features an electronic supplement, Focus+, which includes links to additional readings and videos related to the articles in the issue. This resource may be particularly useful in the classroom.

[Full text in Acrobat format (820 KB)]

Vol. 29:1, Spring/Summer 2012

This issue features an electronic supplement, Focus+, which includes links to additional readings and videos related to the articles in the issue. This resource may be particularly useful in the classroom.

[Full text in Acrobat format (2.84 MB)]

Vol. 28:2, Fall/Winter 2011–12

This issue features a new electronic supplement, Focus+, which includes links to additional readings and videos related to the articles in the issue. This resource may be particularly useful in the classroom.

[Full text in Acrobat format (1.45 MB)]

Vol. 28:1, Spring/Summer 2011

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Vol. 27:2, Winter 2010

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Vol. 27:1, Summer 2010

A four-page summary of the Focus articles is also available. For users with Adobe Reader 6.0 or higher, links in the summary connect directly to the full article in the Focus issue.

[Full text in Acrobat format (1.5 MB)]

Vol. 26:2, Fall 2009

A four-page summary of the Focus articles is also available. For users with Adobe Reader 6.0 or higher, links in the summary connect directly to the full article in the Focus issue.

[Full text in Acrobat format (2.6 MB)]

Vol. 26:1, Summer-Fall 2008

A four-page summary of the Focus articles is also available. For users with Adobe Reader 6.0 or higher, links in the summary connect directly to the full article in the Focus issue.

[Full text in Acrobat format (361 KB)]

Vol. 25:2, Fall-Winter 2007-08

A four-page summary of the Focus articles is also available. For users with Adobe Reader 6.0 or higher, links in the summary connect directly to the full article in the Focus issue.

[Full text in Acrobat format (299 KB)]

Pathways to Self-Sufficiency

Vol. 25:1, Spring-Summer 2007

A four-page summary of the Focus articles is also available. For users with Adobe Reader 6.0 or higher, links in the summary connect directly to the full article in the Focus issue.

[Full text in Acrobat format (741 KB)]

Poverty research

Poverty policy

Vol. 24:3, Fall-Winter 2006

A four-page summary of the Focus articles is also available. For users with Adobe Reader 6.0 or higher, links in the summary connect directly to the full article in the Focus issue.

[Full text in Acrobat format (318 KB)]

Vol. 24:2, Spring-Summer 2006

A four-page summary of the Focus articles is also available. For users with Adobe Reader 6.0 or higher, links in the summary connect directly to the full article in the Focus issue.

[Full text in Acrobat format (297 KB)]

Vol. 24:1, Fall 2005

A four-page summary of the Focus articles is also available. For users with Adobe Reader 6.0, links in the summary connect directly to the full article in the Focus issue.

[Full text in Acrobat format (1.2 MB)]

Service and systems integration: Continuing the discussion

Vol. 23:3, Spring 2005

A four-page summary of the Focus articles is also available. For users with Adobe Reader 6.0, links in the summary connect directly to the full article in the Focus issue.

[Full text in Acrobat format (829 KB)]

Vol. 23:2, Summer 2004

A five-page summary of the Focus articles is also available. For users with Adobe Reader 6.0, links in the summary connect directly to the full article in the Focus issue.

[Full text in Acrobat format (1 MB)]

The negative income tax

  • The idea of a negative income tax: Past, present, and future
    by Robert A. Moffitt
  • Robert J. Lampman and the Negative Income Tax Experiment (an extract from an oral history)

The effects of welfare reform on participating families

Measurement and management for outcomes

The consequences of a criminal record for employment

Visiting Scholars, Spring 2004

  • The spatial distribution of neighborhood employment: San Francisco, 1940–1970
    by Jacqueline Olvera
  • Children's chronic illnesses and mothers' health and employment
    by Diana Romero

Vol. 23:1, Winter 2004

A four-page summary of the Focus articles is also available. For users with Adobe Reader 6.0, links in the summary connect directly to the full article in the Focus issue.

[Full text in Acrobat format (1.1 MB)]

Vol. 22:3, Summer 2003

[Full text in Acrobat format (885 KB)]

Comparing welfare-to-work programs

Service and systems integration: Renewing the quest for the “Holy Grail” of public policy

Vol. 22:2, Summer 2002

[Full text in Acrobat format (960 KB)]

Marriage and fatherhood

Evaluation of State TANF Programs: An IRP Conference, April 2002

Income Volatility and the Implications for Food Assistance Programs: A Conference of IRP and the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, May 2002

Vol. 22:1, Special Issue 2002

Note: This special, 144-page issue of Focus (the longest ever produced) brings together articles that probe aspects of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the primary cash welfare program under the 1996 welfare reform legislation, which expires and must be reauthorized in 2002. Because of the size of the issue, each section has been placed in a separate file.

Reauthorizing TANF

[Full text of Contents and Introduction (pp. 1–2) in Acrobat format (857 KB)]

  • Introduction: Reauthorizing TANF

Devolution

[Full text of section (pp. 3–34) in Acrobat format (1.3 MB)]

Implementation

[Full text of section (pp. 35–50) in Acrobat format (549 KB)]

Work, earnings, and vulnerable populations

[Full text of section (pp. 51–86) in Acrobat format (814 KB)]

Family matters

[Full text of section (pp. 87–123) in Acrobat format (936 KB)]

Reshaping reform

[Full text of section (pp. 124–144) in Acrobat format (1.5 MB)]

Vol. 21:3, Spring 2001

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Vol. 21:2, Fall 2000

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Understanding Poverty: IRP Conference, May 2000

What's next? Some reflections on the poverty conference

Other articles

Vol. 21:1, Spring 2000

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I. Fathers

II. Mothers and Children

III. Pieces of the Puzzle

IV. International Reports: The European Experience with Child Support

Vol. 20:3, Fall 1999

[Full text in Acrobat format (441 KB)]

International Reports

Vol. 20:2,  Spring 1999

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Women in the labor market, Part 2: Welfare mothers

Vol. 20:1, Winter 1998–1999

[Full text in Acrobat format (377 KB)]

Women in the labor market, Part 1

Vol. 19:3, Summer/Fall 1998

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Perspectives on the labor market

Families under TANF

International reports: U.S. welfare policies in Europe

Vol. 19:2, Spring 1998

[Full text in Acrobat format (514 KB)]

Revising the poverty measure

International report

Vol. 19:1, Summer/Fall 1997

[Full text in Acrobat format (490 KB)]

Note: A RAND report that discusses a number of programs reviewed in Focus 19.1 was published in April 1998 and is posted on the RAND World Wide Web site. "Investing in Our Children: What We Know and Don't Know About the Costs and Benefits of Early Childhood Interventions," by Lynn A. Karoly, Peter W. Greenwood, Susan S. Everingham, Jill Houbé, M. Rebecca Kilburn, C. Peter Rydell, Matthew Sanders, and James Chies, is available as MR-898-TCWF on the web at "http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR898/".

Cognition and Educational Achievement

Social Behavior and Work

Notes: The final report of the evaluation of the Comprehensive Child Development Program (CCDP), by Abt Associates Inc. has now been issued by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). It is located on the ACF web site at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hs/comp_develop.

The final report of the New Chance Observational Study, a study of parenting behavior carried out by Child Trends for Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation, was published by MDRC in April 1998: M. J. Zaslow and C. A. Eldred, eds., Parenting Behavior in a Sample of Young Mothers in Poverty: Results of the New Chance Observational Study. The Executive Summary appears on the MDRC World Wide Web site (address http://www.mdrc.org/).

Health and Disability

Measuring Children's Well-Being

Reports from the Study of Alameda County Residents

Brief Reports

Vol. 18:3, Spring 1997

[Full text in Acrobat format (550 KB)]

Note: the proceedings of the conference upon which this Focus issue reports have been published in full as IRP Special Report no. 69.

Vol. 18:2, Fall/Winter 1996–1997

[Full text in Acrobat format (800 KB)]

Note: the charts on pages 59 and 66 are difficult to view or print in the complete issue above. These links are to just the charts themselves also in Acrobat format: [Focus 18:2, Page 59 Bar Chart] [Focus 18:2, Page 66 Pie Charts]

Vol. 18:1, Special Issue 1996

National issues

[Full text of Section 1 (pp. 1–29) in Acrobat format (162 KB)]

State issues

[Full text of Section 2 (pp. 30–52) in Acrobat format (122 KB)]

Welfare reform in Wisconsin: A case study

[Full text of Section 3 (pp. 53–87) in Acrobat format (518 KB)]

Vol. 17:3, Spring 1996

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Vol. 17:2, Fall/Winter 1995

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Vol. 17:1, Summer 1995

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Vol. 16:3, Spring 1995

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Vol. 16:2, Winter 1994/1995

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Vol. 16:1, Fall 1994

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Vol. 15:3, 1994

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Vol. 15:2, 1993

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Vol. 15:1, 1993

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Vol. 14:3, 1992/1993

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Vol. 14:2, 1992

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Vol. 14:1, 1992

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Vol. 13:3, 1991

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Vol. 13:2, 1991

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Vol. 13:1, 1991

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Vol. 12:4, Fall 1990

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Vol. 12:3, Spring 1990

Special issue in honor of Robert J. Lampman

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Poverty

Social Welfare Spending

Income Distribution

Negative Income Tax

The Role of Universities in Social Science Research

Vol. 12:2, 1989

Vol. 12:1, 1989

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Vol. 11:4, 1988–89

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Vol. 11:3, 1988

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Vol. 11:2, 1988

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Vol. 11:1, 1988

Special Issue: Welfare Reform and Poverty

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Vol. 10:4, 1987

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Vol. 10:3, 1987

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Vol. 10:2, 1987

Special Conference Issue: Poverty and Social Policy -The Minority Experience

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Vol. 10:1, 1987

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Vol. 9:3, 1986

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Vol. 9:2, 1986

Special Issue: Twentieth Anniversary of the Institute

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Vol. 9:1, 1986

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Vol. 8:3, 1985

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Vol. 8:2, 1985

Special Issue: Conference at Williamsburg

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Vol. 8:1, 1985

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Vol. 7:3, 1984

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Vol. 7:2, 1984

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Vol. 7:1, 1984

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Vol. 6:3, 1983

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Vol. 6:2, 1983

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Vol. 6:1, 1982

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Vol. 5:3, 1982

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Vol. 5:2, 1981-82

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Vol. 5:1, 1981

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Vol. 4:3, 1981

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Vol. 4:2, 1980

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Vol. 4:1, 1979

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Vol. 3:3, 1979

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Vol. 3:2, 1978–79

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Vol. 3:1, 1978

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Vol. 2:3, 1978

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Vol. 2:2, 1977

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Vol. 2:1, 1977

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Vol. 1:3, 1977

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Vol. 1:2, 1976

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Vol. 1:1, 1976

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