Poverty & Income Dynamics

This report is a comprehensive literature review and descriptive synthesis of the state of the research on the influence of religiosity and spirituality in the lives of the US low-income population. Findings are presented in six main areas: marriage and relationships, parenting, youth, mental and physical health, substance use, and crime and violence. [129 PDF pages]

Under current federal income tax rules, low-income noncustodial parents are ineligible for the EITC benefits available to low-income families with children, even when they support their children through full payment of child support.

This study explores the extent to which states collect data on housing status and homelessness from applicants for the two largest HHS mainstream programs that may serve individuals or families experiencing homelessness: Medicaid and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

This report reviews the definitions and measures of assets and asset poverty in existing theoretical and empirical studies and suggests ways to make them more relevant for future research and policy development. In doing so, the report establishes a conceptual foundation for an emerging field of inquiry that focuses on the role of assets in social policy. [45 PDF pages]

The Welfare Indicators Act of 1994 requires the Department of Health and Human Services to prepare annual reports to Congress on indicators and predictors of welfare dependence.  The 2008 Indicators of Welfare Dependence, the eleventh annual report, provides welfare dependence indicators through 2005, reflecting changes that have taken place since enactment of the Personal Respons

This report provides a conceptual framework that describes how asset accumulation unfolds over an individual's lifetime and how the effects of such accumulation can best be understood within the context of the life course.

  Poor Finances:  Assets and Low-Income Households The Effects of Holding Assets on Social and Economic Outcomes of Families: A Review of Theory and Evidence November 2008 By: Robert Lerman and Signe-Mary McKernan The Urban Institute

  ASPE RESEARCH BRIEF American Community Survey: New Survey Questions Enable Measurement of Marital Transitions October 2008 This Research Brief is available on the Internet at:http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/09/MarriageDivorceStats/ACSBrief/rb.shtml

Policy makers use national surveys to paint a picture of the U.S. population along a variety of dimensions. If major surveys are equally successful in capturing income, then, for the same time period, populations and income types, consistently defined income estimates and poverty rates across surveys will be highly similar — varying somewhat due to sampling error.