Economic Support

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.

Focus and Focus+ Icon

Reforming housing assistance to better respond to recipient needs

  • Robert Collinson, Ingrid Gould Ellen, and Jens Ludwig
  • Focus on Poverty & Classroom Supplement
  • June 2021
Focus and Focus+ Icon

Modernizing the Unemployment Insurance System to Better Respond to Economic Downturns

  • Till von Wachter
  • Focus on Poverty & Classroom Supplement
  • June 2021
Focus and Focus+ Icon

Focus on Poverty & Classroom Supplement 37(1), June 2021
Assessing the Responsiveness of the U.S. Safety Net to the COVID-19 Economic Crisis

  • Edited by Emma Caspar, Judith Siers-Poisson, and James T. Spartz
  • Focus on Poverty & Classroom Supplement
  • June 2021
Fast Focus Research/Policy Brief Icon

Making the U.S. Safety Net More Responsive to Economic Downturns

  • Robert A. Moffitt and James P. Ziliak, edited by Mitchell McFarlane
  • Fast Focus Policy Brief
  • April 2021
Webinar Icon

The Well-Being of Essential Workers and Parents in the COVID-19 Pandemic

  • Jevay Grooms and Anna Gassman-Pines
  • Webinar
  • February 10 2021
Fast Focus Research/Policy Brief Icon

Impact of Government Programs Adopted During the New Deal on Residential Segregation Today

  • Jacob Faber, and edited by Anna Sucsy
  • Fast Focus Policy Brief
  • February 2021