Economic support programs are intended to serve people who are unemployed, disabled, have low earnings, or experience other economic or material hardship. They operate under two broad categories: social insurance (such as Social Security and unemployment insurance) and means-tested transfers (such as SNAP/Food Stamps and Medicaid), sometimes called social assistance.

How former prisoners become connected
- David J. Harding, Jessica J. B. Wyse, Cheyney Dobson, and Jeffrey D. Morenoff
- Focus on Poverty & Classroom Supplement
- Fall/Winter (2011-2012) 2012

American poverty and inequality: Key trends and future research directions
- Timothy Smeeding, Maria Cancian, John Karl Scholz, Barbara Wolfe, Robert Haveman, Jennifer Noyes, Katherine Magnuson, Carolyn Heinrich, Thomas Kaplan, Lawrence M. Berger, Marcia Carlson, J. Michael Collins, Julia Isaacs, Daniel R. Meyer, and James Walker
- Fast Focus Policy Brief
- October 2011

Recent Developments in Antipoverty Policies in the United States
- James P. Ziliak
- Discussion Paper
- September 2011

From income to consumption: Understanding the transmission of inequality
- Richard Blundell
- Focus on Poverty & Classroom Supplement
- Spring/Summer 2011

Response from the authors
- Jane L. Collins and Victoria Mayer
- Focus on Poverty & Classroom Supplement
- Spring/Summer 2011

Reactions to Both Hands Tied
- Lawrence M. Mead
- Focus on Poverty & Classroom Supplement
- Spring/Summer 2011

Reconfiguring the social contract: A summary of Both Hands Tied
- Jane L. Collins and Victoria Mayer
- Focus on Poverty & Classroom Supplement
- Spring/Summer 2011

Both Hands Tied
- Focus on Poverty & Classroom Supplement
- Spring/Summer 2011

An Assessment of the Effectiveness of Anti-Poverty Programs in the United States
- Yonatan Ben-Shalom, Robert Moffitt, and John Karl Scholz
- Discussion Paper
- June 2011

The psychology of poverty
- Focus on Poverty & Classroom Supplement
- Spring/Summer 2011