"The Status of Women in North Carolina: Poverty and Opportunity" is the final publication in a four-part series of publications on women's status in North Carolina. The report builds on the Institute for Women's Policy Research's "Status of Women in the States" initiative, which has sought to measure women's economic, social,…

Many welfare programs give greater benefits to unmarried individuals than to a married couple of otherwise identical income. The resulting marriage penalty discourages marriage and rewards single parenthood. Combined marriage penalties across federal and state welfare programs can reach tens of thousands of dollars per year for a given family. One…

This article examines the impact of economic circumstances on emotional well-being among young adults without a high school diploma in a predominantly Latina/o, urban community. Drawing on the notion of subjective well-being and interview data, the study finds that gendered expectations and parenting significantly affected how the absence of a…

Background: While the United States has seen increased attention by policymakers on the rights of parents with disabilities, there is limited understanding of the health and economic well-being of parents with intellectual impairments. This study compares the health and economic well-being of mothers with and without intellectual impairments.…

In its 2019 report, "Beyond the Border: Family Separation in the Trump Era," UnidosUS demonstrates how the current trajectory of the nation's immigration policies is threatening the future of an entire generation of American children. This issue brief on Illinois is part of a series that builds on this analysis by exploring the stakes at…

Welfare reform in the 1990s represented a fundamental policy shift in the United States' response to poverty from supporting benefits dependency to promoting economic self-sufficiency. Social work's capacity to integrate this policy shift into practice is central to meeting its mission to alleviate poverty. This study looked at the preparation of…

Earning a higher education credential is increasingly necessary for achieving family economic security. For single mothers, who are more likely to live in poverty than other women, earning postsecondary credentials can bring substantial benefits, from increased lifetime earnings and employment rates to better health outcomes and chances of success…

This is the methodological appendix for "Investing in Single Mothers' Higher Education: National and State Estimates of the Costs and Benefits of Single Mothers' Educational Attainment to Individuals, Families, and Society." The Institute for Women's Policy Research's (IWPR) briefing paper, features findings from a study to quantify the…

We all want Texas kids to have a bright future, but Texas is consistently ranked in the bottom ten states for child well-being. Texas decision makers must create policies that improve conditions for all Texas kids and put them on the road to success. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Texas ranks 43rd in overall child well-being (based on…

Conditional cash transfer programs (CCTs) have two main objectives: reducing poverty and increasing the human capital of children. To reach these objectives, transfers are given to poor households conditioned on investments in their children's education, health, and nutrition. Targeting mechanisms used by CCTs have been generally successful in…

This summary presents highlights of the "Minnesota Early Childhood Risk, Reach, and Resilience Report." The report describes potential risks to the healthy development of young children and the extent of coverage of publicly-funded services to meet their early learning, health, and basic needs. It also includes new and emerging…

The paper analyzes subjective poverty in Hungary and compares it to the objective poverty concepts. Subjective poverty is defined by examining who people consider to be poor. Based on the Easterlin paradox, the initial hypothesis states that subjective and absolute poverty concepts are highly correlated. Taking into account that Hungary is a…

Many children living in low-income communities do not face struggles in school. Many learn quickly and easily. But for some students, living in a high poverty communities and attending underfunded schools has consequences that can make learning difficult. In this paper, Compton-Lilly draws on the words of a parent living in a low-income community…

This summary provides highlights from a report that describes potential risks to the healthy development of young children and the extent of coverage of publicly-funded services to meet their early learning, health, and basic needs. The report is the first attempt in Minnesota to describe indicators of early childhood development county by county.…

The physical, social, and economic health and well-being of adults and society are strongly influenced by experiences in early childhood. The most cost-efficient time to build foundational skills, to assure the healthy development of all young children, to break the cycle of disadvantage for vulnerable children, and to prevent achievement and…