Working and Poor: How Economic and Policy Changes Are Affecting Low-Wage Workers
June 9-10, 2005
Georgetown University
Conference Center
Washington, D.C.
Conference main page | Agenda and conference papers
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Editors' Introduction: Work and Poverty During the Past Quarter Century. Rebecca M. Blank, Sheldon H. Danziger, and Robert F. Schoeni.
Agenda: (as of May 12)
Thursday, June 9, 2005
7:45-8:45 Continental Breakfast (West Lobby)
Registration (Salon A)
8:45-9:15 Welcome and Opening Remarks (Salon A)
9:15-10:45
Session 1: The Economic Environment (Salon A)
Chair: Sheldon Danziger, University of Michigan
Paper 1: The Macroeconomy and Determinants of the Earnings of Less-Skilled Workers. Robert E. Hall, Stanford University
Discussant: Lawrence Katz, Harvard University
Paper 2: The Impact of Technological Change on LowWage Workers: A Review. David Card, University of California, Berkeley and John DiNardo, University of Michigan
Discussant: Joe Altonji, Yale University. View Altonji's presentation.
10:45-11:00 Break
11:00-12:30
Session 2: The Impact of Gender, Ethnicity, and Race (Salon A)
Chair: Robert Schwab, University of Maryland
Paper 1: Wage Trends among Disadvantaged Minorities. George Borjas, Harvard University.
Discussant: Steve Raphael, University of California, Berkeley. View Rahael's Presentation.
Paper 2: Exploring Gender Differences in Employment and
Wage Trends Among Less-Skilled Workers. Rebecca Blank, University of Michigan, and Heidi Shierholz, University of Michigan.
Discussant: Claudia Goldin, Harvard University
12:30-1:45 Lunch (Faculty Club)
1:45-3:15
Session 3: Moving Through the Labor Market (Salon A)
Chair: Harry Holzer, Georgetown University
Paper 1: The Changing Pattern of Wage Growth for Low Skilled Workers. Eric French and Bhashkar Mazunder, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago; Christopher Taber, Northwestern University.
Discussant: Peter Gottschalk, Boston College. View Gottschalk's PowerPoint presentation.
Paper 2: Temporary Agency Employment as a Way out of Poverty? David Autor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Susan Houseman, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
Discussant: Mary Corcoran, University of Michigan
3:15-3:30 Break
3:30-5:00
Session 4: Sources of Income
Chair: Doug Besharov, University of Maryland and the American Enterprise Institute
Paper 1: The Level and Composition of Consumption Over the Business
Cycle: The Role of "Quasi-Fixed" Expenditures. Kerwin Charles, University of Michigan and Mel Stephens, Carnegie Mellon University.
Discussant: Christopher Jencks, Harvard University. View Jencks' PowerPoint Presentation.
Paper 2: Recent Trends in Resource Sharing among the Poor Steven J. Haider, Michigan State University and Kathleen McGarry, University of California, Los Angeles and NBER
Discussant: Jonathan Gruber, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
5:00-6:30 Reception (Salon B)
Friday, June 10, 2005
7:30-8:15 Continental Breakfast (West Lobby)
8:15-9:45
Session 5: Paying In and Receiving Back (Salon A)
Chair: Ron Haskins, Brookings Institution
Paper 1: State Spending on Social Assistance Programs Over the Business Cycle. Therese J. McGuire, Northwestern University and David F. Merriman, Loyola University - Chicago.
Discussant: Julie Berry Cullen, University of California, San Diego.
Paper 2: How Do Tax Policies Affect Low Income Workers? Kevin Hassett, American Enterprise Institute and Anne Moore, American Enterprise Institute.
Discussant: John Karl Scholz, University of Wisconsin - Madison. View Scholz's PowerPoint Presentation.
9:45-10:00 Break
10:00-11:30
Session 6: Families and Family Structure (Salon A)
Chair: Donald Oellerich, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
Paper 1: Economic Conditions and Children's Living Arrangements Robert W. Fairlie, University of California Santa Cruz, and Rebecca A. London, University of California Santa Cruz.
Discussant: Jonah Gelbach, Maryland. View Gelbach's presentation.
Paper 2: Child Support and the Economy. Maria Cancian, University of Wisconsin - Madison and Daniel R. Meyer, University of Wisconsin - Madison.
Discussant: Ronald Mincy, Columbia University.
11:30-1:30
Lunch and keynote speaker, Michael O'Grady, PhD, Assistant Secretary for
Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (Salon E) View O'Grady's PowerPoint presentation.
1:30-3:00
Session 7: Unemployment and Health Insurance (Salon A)
Chair: Robert Schoeni, University of Michigan
Paper 1: Unemployment Insurance Over the Business Cycle: Does it Meet the Needs of Less-Skilled Workers? Philip Levine, Wellesley College.
Discussant: Justin McCrary, University of Michigan.
Paper 2: How Is Health Insurance Affected by the Economy? Public and Private Coverage Among Low-Skilled Adults in the 1990s. Helen Levy, University of Michigan.
Discussant: Rucker Johnson, University of California, Berkeley. View Johnson's PowerPoint Presentation.
3:00-4:00
Rapporteur and final discussion
4:00 Adjourn