This paper investigates how Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program(SNAP) eligibility and benefits affect food expenditures by exploiting theCalifornia "cash-out" policy, which made Supplemental Security Income(SSI) recipients ineligible for SNAP. Using the Consumer ExpenditureSurvey, we find...

The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdown policies have disproportionately affected workers at the bottom of the income distribution, thus widening the earnings gap between the top and the bottom percentiles of workers. In this paper, we examine how changes in the labor market due to the...

The role of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) in the US social safety net has dropped considerably as caseloads have declined sixty percent since 2000. This paper measures the evolution TANF by estimating effective benefit guarantee levels, tax rates, and participation rates between...