Dylan Matthews reports on a massive release of child well-being data from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Matthews provides this incredible graph of the correlation of childhood poverty rates and teen births: Childhood poverty explains 78 percent of teenage births. In addition to this finding, recall the study from a short time ago about the… Continue reading What causes teenage births?
Author: Matt Bruenig
Two fresh policy ideas to help underwater homeowners
The latest recession was primarily caused by the bursting of the housing bubble. During the rise of the housing bubble, home prices increased dramatically. When the bubble burst, home prices fell through the floor. This had a large number of really negative effects. Many homeowners who took out mortgages during the housing bubble wound up… Continue reading Two fresh policy ideas to help underwater homeowners
The causal ambiguity underlying the “you didn’t build that” controversy
For a week or so, the media has fixated on what I guess counts as an Obama gaffe. At a campaign stop, Obama said the following: If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system… Continue reading The causal ambiguity underlying the “you didn’t build that” controversy
Animation of transfers reducing poverty across 34 countries
Yesterday I posted about the effect of tax and transfer programs on poverty reduction across 34 OECD countries. Across the OECD, transfer programs play a massive role in reducing poverty, a bigger role than perhaps any other factor. I put together this animation to hopefully illustrate even more clearly the amount of poverty being reduced… Continue reading Animation of transfers reducing poverty across 34 countries
Countries eliminate poverty through tax and transfer programs
Relative to other countries, poverty in the United States is quite high. High poverty levels are a problem both for baseline fairness reasons, but also for a host of welfare-related reasons. Poor people are subjected to higher levels of stress, risk, economic insecurity, and food insecurity. Poor people generally have worse health, decreased access to… Continue reading Countries eliminate poverty through tax and transfer programs