Our Policy Briefs are designed to summarize key academic research findings, highlighting important implications for policy.

The Price of Independence: The Economics of Early Adulthood Sheldon H. Danziger, University of Michigan and Cecilia Elena Rouse, Princeton University (#19)

The Colors of Poverty: Why Racial & Ethnic Disparities Persist Ann Chih Lin, University of Michigan and David R. Harris, Cornell University (#16)

Homeownership: America's Dream? Raphael W. Bostic and Kwan Ok Lee, University of Southern California (#15)

Using Financial Innovation to Support Savers: From Coercion to Excitement Peter Tufano and Daniel Schneider, Harvard University (#14)

Access to Financial Services, Savings, and Assets Among the Poor Michael S. Barr, Professor of Law, University of Michigan; and Rebecca M. Blank, Robert S. Kerr Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution (#13)

The Causes of Racial Disparities in Business Performance Robert W. Fairlie, Professor of Economics, University of California, Santa Cruz; and Alicia M. Robb, Research Associate in Economics, University of California, Santa Cruz and Senior Economist with Beacon Economics (#12)

Income Volatility and Food Assistance Programs Dean Jolliffe, Economist, Economic Research Service, USDA; and James Ziliak, Professor of Microeconomics and Director of the Center for Poverty Research, University of Kentucky (#11)

Helping Disconnected Single Mothers Rebecca M. Blank, Henry Carter Adams Collegiate Professor of Public Policy, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy & Professor of Economics, University of Michigan and Robert V. Kerr Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution and Brian K. Kovak, Department of Economics, University of Michigan. (#10)

Education and Health David Cutler, Otto Eckstein Professor of Applied Economics and Dean for the Social Sciences, Harvard University; and Adriana Lleras-Muney, Assistant Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University. (#9)

The New Face of the Low-Wage Workforce George Borjas, Robert W. Scrivner Professor of Economics and Social Policy at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. (#8)

Has Welfare Reform Changed State Expenditure Patterns? Therese J. McGuire , Kellogg School of Management and David F. Merriman , Loyola University (#7)

How Are Low-Skilled Women Doing in the Labor Market? Rebecca Blank, and Heidi Shierholz, University of Toronto (#6)

How Do Tax Policies Affect Low Income Workers? Kevin A. Hassett, The American Enterprise Institute and Anne B. Moore, University of California, Berkeley (#5)

Effects of Welfare Reform on the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Program. Lucie Schmidt. (#4)

Family Support During the Transition to Adulthood. Robert Schoeni and Karen Ross. (#3)

Substance Abuse and Welfare Reform. Rukmalie Jayakody, Kristin Seefeldt, Sheldon Danziger, and Harold Pollack. (#2)

Changes in the Distribution of Children’s Family Income Over the 1990’s. Rebecca M. Blank and Robert F. Schoeni. (#1)