This research is based on the first random survey to address whether women who are experiencing, or who have experienced, domestic violence have lower employment rates than women who have not. Standardized interviews of 824 English- and Spanish-speaking adult women living in a low-income...

In the last thirty years we have witnessed large increases in the "returns to skill." These changes in the wage structure have renewed interest in increasing the skill levels of low skill workers. Attempts to do this through job training programs have been largely unsuccessful as the wage gains...

The paper examines how well the Food Stamp Program services households in nonmetropolitan areas. It concludes that, overall, the program is at least as successful at serving low-income households in nonmetro as in metro areas. Participation rates among program-eligible households are higher in...

The Boston story is similar to that of other cities but is unusual in two important respects. First, the drop in the homicide rate between 1990 and 1996 has been the sharpest in the nation. Perhaps even more impressive, for the 29-month period ending in January 1998, Boston had no teenage...

Among the most important changes brought about by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) is the imposition of time limits. In this paper, we analyze a simple model in which a potential welfare recipient chooses how to allocate her time-limited...

Despite the large amount of work in labor economics devoted towards wage progress we know surprisingly little about the mechanics of wage growth, particularly among low skilled workers. This paper takes a step in this direction by examining wage progression between and among moderate to low...

Using survey and administrative data from a study of welfare recipients in the Chicago metropolitan area, an analysis of the predictors of involvement with the child welfare system was conducted. Housing moves, births, and poor child health were strongly associated with child welfare risk. A...

In this paper, we exploit a "natural experiment" associated with human reproduction to identify the effect of teen childbearing on subsequent educational attainment, family structure, labor market outcomes, and financial self-sufficiency. In particular, we exploit the fact that a substantial...

The large-scale downsizings of the 1990s has renewed interest in the earnings losses of displaced workers. This study uses administrative data to follow 833,004 workers in California between 1989 and 1994, providing estimates of the extent of losses in quarterly earnings associated with the...

The Australian Time Use Survey of 1992 provides the best time-diary data available for testing hypotheses about the allocation of husbands' and wives' time to household labor in affluent societies. Our analysis isolates effects of spouses' relative contributions to household income. One finding...