Poverty Research & Policy

Lorenzo Almada on Measuring the Effects of SNAP on Obesity

November 07, 2016 14:00 - 10 minutes - 8.55 MB

Lorenzo Almada of Columbia University talks about a paper he co-wrote with Rusty Tchernis that examines whether SNAP, or food stamps, could lead to increased obesity among people that use the program.

Steven Durlauf on Understanding Poverty and Inequality in the 21st Century

October 03, 2016 17:00 - 10 minutes - 8.03 MB

In this podcast, economist Steven Durlauf of the University of Wisconsin–Madison (edit: Durlauf is now at the University of Chicago) discusses how contemporary poverty and inequality in the United States are qualitatively different now than at the beginning of the War on Poverty. In light of these differences, he points to key areas of research and policy that may be helpful in responding to poverty and disadvantage in the 21st century.

Tim Beatty: Do the Labels We Use for Public Benefit Programs Matter?

September 05, 2016 17:00 - 12 minutes - 9.76 MB

In this podcast, economist Tim Beatty of the University of California, Davis talks about an article he co-wrote with Charlotte Tuttle about the SNAP or food stamps program and what happened to people’s spending when there was a sudden increase in the program benefit. Beatty says the answer can tell us something about whether the labels we use for public benefit programs influence how people spend their money.

Scott Allard on the Suburbanization of U.S. Poverty

August 01, 2016 17:00 - 19 minutes - 15.3 MB

In this episode, Scott Allard, a Professor at the University of Washington’s Evan’s School of Public Affairs, discusses his research on the growth of suburban poverty in the United States and the resource challenges this can create for suburban municipalities and social service providers.

Chris Wildeman on Paternal Incarceration and What We Can Learn from a Danish Policy Shock

July 07, 2016 17:00 - 11 minutes - 8.83 MB

In this podcast episode, Christopher Wildeman, an Associate Professor of Policy Analysis and Management at Cornell University, discusses his findings from a study about paternal incarceration and children’s risk of being charged as an adult based on evidence from a Danish policy shock.

Alexes Harris on the Costs of Monetary Legal Sanctions for the Poor

June 06, 2016 17:00 - 15 minutes - 12.6 MB

In this podcast episode, Alexes Harris, a sociologist at the University of Washington, talks about work from her 2016 book Pound of Flesh: Monetary Legal Sanctions as Punishment for the Poor.

Chris Herbst: Reassessing the Evidence on the Rising Costs of Child Care

May 03, 2016 17:00 - 14 minutes - 11.7 MB

In this podcast episode, Chris Herbst of Arizona State University discusses his research on changes in the cost of child care in the United States in recent decades. Despite reports of skyrocketing child care costs, Herbst finds that child care costs have been essentially flat since around 2000 and that there has been a noticeable divergence in the quality of child care that low- and high-income parents purchase for their children.

Megan Reid on Cohabiting Stepfamily Formation for Low-Income Black Families

April 05, 2016 17:00 - 12 minutes - 9.65 MB

This podcast episode features IRP National Poverty Fellow Megan Reid discussing her research on cohabiting stepfamily formation among low-income black families in the Bronx and, in particular, the ways in which mothers engage in deliberate vetting of potential partners before allowing them to move in.

Susannah Camic Tahk on the Tax War on Poverty

March 07, 2016 18:00 - 14 minutes - 11.4 MB

In this podcast, law professor Susannah Camic Tahk discusses the growth in U.S. antipoverty programs that are run through the tax code and what it means for the politics of these programs and how they’re administered.

Lincoln Groves: Does Child Medicaid Access Improve Long-Term Educational Outcomes?

February 01, 2016 18:00 - 11 minutes - 9.16 MB

This podcast episode features Lincoln Groves, a postdoctoral scholar in the National Poverty Fellows Program, talking about his research on how increased Child Medicaid access in the 1980s and early 1990s may have led to improved high school graduation rates.

Julia Isaacs on How the Safety Net Supported Kids with an Unemployed Parent During the Great Recession

January 04, 2016 18:00 - 11 minutes - 9.26 MB

In this podcast episode, Urban Institute Senior Fellow and IRP visiting scholar Julia Isaacs talks about the effectiveness of safety net supports for low-income children with an unemployed parent during the Great Recession.

Lisa Gennetian on Income Instability in the Lives of Hispanic Children

December 07, 2015 18:00 - 12 minutes - 9.7 MB

In this episode, Lisa Gennetian of the National Research Center on Hispanic Children and Families discusses research about income instability in the households of Hispanic children and how better understanding the ways that race, ethnicity, and language affect the experience of poverty matter when it comes to developing better public policy.

Clare Huntington on the Mismatch Between Family Law and Nonmarital Families

November 09, 2015 18:00 - 12 minutes - 9.8 MB

Our November 2015 episode features Clare Huntington, Associate Dean for Research and Professor of Law at Fordham University. In the podcast, Huntington discusses how family law and the related institutions that support it do not align with the needs of many of today’s families, particularly given a shift in marriage trends in the United States with lower income Americans less likely to ever get married.

Robert Vargas on the Persistence of Violence in Some Areas of Chicago

October 05, 2015 17:00 - 17 minutes - 13.7 MB

Neighborhood violence is often talked about as being a result of poverty or random threat but, in this podcast, University of Wisconsin–Madison sociologist Robert Vargas says that those characterizations can be very inaccurate. Instead, based on his extensive ethnographic research in a Chicago neighborhood, Vargas explains we can’t understand problems of violence or disadvantage without understanding the political histories and structures of those neighborhoods.

Lonnie Berger on the Academic Achievement of Children in Foster Care

September 07, 2015 17:00 - 19 minutes - 15.7 MB

Does foster care lead to worse academic achievement for kids? In this podcast, Lawrence Berger discusses a Wisconsin study he conducted with other IRP colleagues that explores the relationship between foster care and academic achievement using linked child welfare and Department of Public Instruction data.

The Academic Achievement of Children in Foster Care