Child Poverty, the Great Recession, and the Social Safety Net in the United States
Child Poverty, the Great Recession, and the Social Safety Net in the United States
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DOI：
10.1002/pam.21963
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发表时间：
2017-03-01
影响因子：
3.8
通讯作者：
Kuka, Elira
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Bitler, Marianne;Hoynes, Hilary;Kuka, Elira
在本文中，我们全面考察了大衰退对儿童贫困的影响，特别关注社会安全网在减轻收入和收入冲击的不利影响方面的作用。使用2000年至2014年的国家面板数据模型和数据，我们估计了商业周期与儿童贫困之间的关系，并研究了安全网如何以及在多大程度上为处于风险中的儿童提供保护。我们发现令人信服的证据表明，安全网提供了保护，也就是说，税后和转移儿童贫困的周期性显着衰减相对于私人收入贫困的周期性。我们还发现，安全网的保护作用是不相似的人口群体，和那些来自更弱势背景的儿童，如生活在西班牙裔或单头，或特别是那些生活在移民户主或移民配偶经历更大的贫困周期比那些生活在非西班牙裔白色或已婚户主，或那些生活在本地户主与本地配偶。我们的发现涵盖了如何定义贫困的许多选择。这些措施包括基于绝对阈值或更多相对阈值的措施。它们也适用于资源的衡量标准，不仅包括现金和近现金转移的税收净额，而且还包括公共医疗福利价值的几个衡量标准。(C)2016年，公共政策分析与管理协会。
In this paper, we comprehensively examine the effects of the Great Recession on child poverty, with particular attention to the role of the social safety net in mitigating the adverse effects of shocks to earnings and income. Using a state panel data model and data for 2000 to 2014, we estimate the relationship between the business cycle and child poverty, and we examine how and to what extent the safety net is providing protection to at-risk children. We find compelling evidence that the safety net provides protection; that is, the cyclicality of after-tax-and-transfer child poverty is significantly attenuated relative to the cyclicality of private income poverty. We also find that the protective effect of the safety net is not similar across demographic groups, and that children from more disadvantaged backgrounds, such as those living with Hispanic or single heads, or particularly those living with immigrant household heads-or immigrant spouses-experience larger poverty cyclicality than those living with non-Hispanic white or married heads, or those living with native household heads with native spouses. Our findings hold across a host of choices for how to define poverty. These include measures based on absolute thresholds or more relative thresholds. They also hold for measures of resources that include not only cash and near-cash transfers net of taxes but also several measures of the value of public medical benefits. (C) 2016 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.