This brief by the Urban Institute looks at how economic trends and the labor market have changed since the 1970s, when both the labor market and social safety supports were stronger. Because of such changes like fewer work benefits, stagnant wages,…

Recent causal research shows that people’s earnings are directly linked to the neighborhoods where they grew up, with impoverished and underserved communities at the bottom end of the earning scale. Johns Hopkins’ 21st Century Cities Initiative…

This Department of Homeland Security guide explains a seven-step process for effectively engaging faith-based and community organizations developed, refined, and validated by the Center for Faith and Opportunity Initiatives in collaboration with…

The HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) has recently released a report which examines relationships between indicators of economic opportunity and the prevalence of prescription opioids and substance use in the…

This brief, circulated by ASPE, details the methodology used in the report Substance Use, the Opioid Epidemic, and Child Welfare Caseloads: A Mixed Methods Study. Methods utilized included statistical modeling, geospatial analysis, and qualitative…

This policy brief describes the opportunities for collaboration between SNAP Employment…

Studying large public social programs can be a challenge for social scientists. Recent technological developments have allowed researchers to use big data — data sets that combine survey and administrative data — to examine how social programs work…

In this article issued by the Institute for Research on Poverty, discussion highlights the effects of paid leave on mothers’ post-birth employment and on child well-being. Policies, such as work requirements, time limits, and child care subsidies,…

This brief reviews the recent trend of intracity income inequality, which is rising at a faster rate than national household income inequality. While policymakers cannot fully control drivers of inequality and the resulting economic and spatial…

The Urban Institute was contracted by a Washington State housing authority to evaluate its 2013-2016 Student and Family Stability Initiative that provided supportive housing and employment to homeless or vulnerable families with elementary-aged…