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Extreme Child Poverty and the Role of Social Policy in the United States

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  • Parolin, Zachary

    (Columbia University)

  • Brady, David

Abstract

This paper applies improved household income data to reevaluate the levels, trends, composition, and role of social policy in extreme child poverty in the U.S. from 1997-2015. Unlike prior research, we correct for the underreporting of means-tested transfers and incorporate the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP). Doing so reduces the share of children below $2 per day from about 1.8% to 0.1%. That said, we acknowledge use of survey data omits the estimated 1.3 million homeless children in 2014-2015. We find that three different measures of extreme child poverty have declined since 1997. Unlike prior literature’s focus on single motherhood, citizenship status is the more consequential characteristic. Between 58-73% of children in extreme poverty live in households headed by non-citizens. Simulations granting them access to the median SNAP benefit reduce their extreme poverty substantially. Two-way fixed effects models show that higher state-level generosity and take up of SNAP and TANF significantly reduce extreme poverty. Unlike prior research’s focus on the decline of TANF, we show SNAP has grown in generosity and take-up. In turn, changes to social policy since 1997 have probably had offsetting effects on extreme child poverty.

Suggested Citation

  • Parolin, Zachary & Brady, David, 2018. "Extreme Child Poverty and the Role of Social Policy in the United States," SocArXiv u5ecn, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:socarx:u5ecn
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/u5ecn
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hilary W. Hoynes & Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, 2009. "Consumption Responses to In-Kind Transfers: Evidence from the Introduction of the Food Stamp Program," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(4), pages 109-139, October.
    2. Bruce D. Meyer & Nikolas Mittag, 2015. "Using Linked Survey and Administrative Data to Better Measure Income: Implications for Poverty, Program Effectiveness and Holes in the Safety Net," Upjohn Working Papers 15-242, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    3. David Brady & Ryan Finnigan & Sabine H bgen, 2017. "Rethinking the risks of poverty: a framework for analyzing prevalences and penalties," LIS Working papers 693, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    4. Bruce D. Meyer & Derek Wu, 2018. "The Poverty Reduction of Social Security and Means-Tested Transfers," NBER Working Papers 24567, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. David Brady & Marco Giesselmann & Ulrich Kohler & Anke Radenacker, 2018. "How to measure and proxy permanent income: evidence from Germany and the U.S," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 16(3), pages 321-345, September.
    6. Zachary Parolin, 2017. "Applying Augmented Survey Data to Produce More Accurate, Precise, and Internationally Comparable Estimates of Poverty within the 50 United States," LIS Working papers 696, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    7. Filauro, Stefano & Parolin, Zachary, 2018. "Income Inequality in the European Union & United States: A Comparative Decomposition," SocArXiv g4cd3, Center for Open Science.
    8. Zachary Parolin & Christiaan Luigjes, 2018. "Incentive to Retrench? Institutional Moral Hazard among Federal & State Social Assistance Programs after Welfare Reform," Working Papers 1802, Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp.
    9. Liana Fox & Irwin Garfinkel & Neeraj Kaushal & Jane Waldfogel & Christopher Wimer, 2014. "Waging War on Poverty: Historical Trends in Poverty Using the Supplemental Poverty Measure," NBER Working Papers 19789, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Bruce D. Meyer & Derek Wu, 2018. "The Poverty Reduction of Social Security and Means-Tested Transfers," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 71(5), pages 1106-1153, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Bruce D. Meyer & Derek Wu & Victoria R. Mooers & Carla Medalia, 2019. "The Use and Misuse of Income Data and Extreme Poverty in the United States," NBER Working Papers 25907, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. David Brady & Zachary Parolin, 2020. "The Levels and Trends in Deep and Extreme Poverty in the United States, 1993–2016," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(6), pages 2337-2360, December.
    3. Christopher Wimer & Zachary Parolin & Anny Fenton & Liana Fox & Christopher Jencks, 2020. "The Direct Effect of Taxes and Transfers on Changes in the U.S. Income Distribution, 1967–2015," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(5), pages 1833-1851, October.
    4. David Brady & Zachary Parolin, 2020. "Further Analyses Reinforce Our Conclusions About Extreme Poverty," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(6), pages 2369-2376, December.

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