Household Structure and Short‐Run Economic Change in Nicaragua

During the economic crises Nicaragua suffered between 2000 and 2002, a conditional cash transfer program targeting poor households began operating. Using panel data on 1,397 households from the program's experimentally designed evaluation, we examined the impact of the program on household structure. Our findings suggest that the program enabled households to avoid reagglomeration during the economic crises, with households in control communities growing more than treated households. These changes were driven primarily by shifts in residence of relatively young men and women with close kinship ties to the household head. In contrast, households that received transfers continued to send off young adult members, suggesting that the program provided resources to overcome the short‐term economic pressures on household structure.     

Financial Strain and Participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

Participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has increased over the past decade. Although poverty and sudden financial shock faced by households via unanticipated adverse events, such as sudden loss of income, are among major contributors, the findings of our study suggest that having an adequate stock of savings and financial assets might reduce the probability of household SNAP participation. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we tested whether a household’s emergency savings, asset poverty, and debt burden could predict SNAP participation separately from the effects of income and program participation. Results demonstrate that a household’s lack of emergency savings and asset inadequacy increased the probability of its SNAP participation. Implications for financial practitioners and policy makers are discussed.     

Household Finance and Food Insecurity

Despite repeated expansions of federal food assistance, food insecurity and hunger continue to affect many Americans. While job loss and poverty are among major contributors, theoretical and empirical literature suggest that households’ ability to borrow and save might provide a buffer protecting from food insecurity. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we tested whether liquidity constraint, asset inadequacy, and insolvency risk defined based on financial ratios could predict household food insecurity separately from the effects of income and program participation. Results showed that a household’s liquidity constraint and asset inadequacy were linked with increased risk of food insecurity at all income levels, although the association was strongest among poor households and those with incomes slightly above the federal food assistance eligibility threshold. Unlike indications from qualitative literature, financial constraint appeared to be an exogenous determinant of household food insecurity. Implications for financial practitioners and policymakers are discussed.     

Tightening income documentation in a means-tested program: who stays away?

Programs using means tests to identify low-income households face a trade-off between promoting access and ensuring program integrity. The authors use a comparison-district design to estimate the effects of a pilot program to improve the accuracy of the process of certifying students for free or reduced-price meals in the National School Lunch Program. This pilot program required households to provide income documentation with their applications for these benefits. Requiring income documentation did not reduce the proportion of ineligible households getting free or reduced-price meals. Furthermore, this requirement did reduce access to the program among eligible households.     

Land Tenure Legacies,Household Life Cycles,and Livelihood Strategies in Upland China

Land tenure regimes shape how households use labor and other resources to construct livelihoods. Within a given tenure regime, shifting land‐labor relationships over the household life cycle present households with changing trade‐offs. In China, alongside growing market exchange of labor and produce, the legacies of land distribution following decollectivization—in particular, secure access to land and constraints on land transfers—create distinct patterns connecting livelihood strategies to household life cycles. Drawing on a household survey conducted in upland southwest China, we use latent class analysis to identify clusters of households with differing livelihood strategies. With multinomial logistic regression analyses, we evaluate the effects of household demographic composition, household resources, and community human ecological attributes on cluster membership. Households that had recently been established at the time of decollectivization have not divided their holdings. Their large labor and land endowments support diversifying strategies that include relatively large scale farming. Among other households, partitioning has yielded middle‐sized households with diversifying strategies and small households that specialize in on‐farm production or deactivate from agriculture. These clusters vary in labor exchange practices and agricultural input use. Rather than a cyclical pattern, this configuration reflects time‐bound relationships among national tenure institutions, local markets, and household processes.     

Employment and the Risk of Domestic Abuse Among Low‐Income Women

This paper uses data from 2 randomized evaluations of welfare‐to‐work programs—the Minnesota Family Investment Program and the National Evaluation of Welfare‐to‐Work Strategies—to estimate the effect of employment on domestic abuse among low‐income single mothers. Unique to our analysis is the application of a 2‐stage least squares method, in which random assignment enables us to control for omitted characteristics that might otherwise confound the association between employment and domestic abuse. We find that increased maternal employment decreases subsequent reports of domestic abuse in both studies. In the Minnesota Family Investment Program—a program with an enhanced income disregard that allowed welfare mothers to keep a portion of their welfare income as earnings rose—an increase in household incomes appears to have contributed to reductions in reports of domestic abuse.     

Effects of relative advantage on time use in farm families

An assumption of comparative advantage (CA) is that all members in efficient households specialize in market or household work. The CA for Oregon farm households was measured by differences between husbands and wives in wages and schooling for nonfarm work, and in farm decision-making responsibility and years lived on a farm for farm work. The spouse with the advantage is assumed to spend more time in that work sector and less time in household work than his (her) spouse. The hypothesis is supported for market work. For farm decision making, results are consistent with the hypothesis but not significant. Years lived on a farm is consistent for husbands, but wives who have the CA do significantly less farm work than wives of men who hold the CA. Experience may not be a good measure of CA, or perhaps farm work provides process satisfaction to farm men (and their wives) who work longer hours.She directs the Family Resource Management Graduate Program. Her research interests center on concepts and measures of management, household work, and well-being in the United States and across cultures.His current research interests include family saving and investing behavior. He received his Ph.D. from Oregon State University in 1992. This research was funded by the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station.     

Farm pluriactivity and rural policy: Some evidence from Wales1

Drawing on data from 427 interviews in Wales, U.K., this paper examines the ability of internal and external variables to explain the phenomenon of pluriactivity in farm households. It is the household as a unit, and the process of maintaining its viability, that forms the focus of the study, with pluriactivity being defined as the generation of income additional to that from primary agriculture, by any member of the household.The survey revealed that, whilst primary agriculture retains its position as the main income, only a minority of households did not have a supplemental source of income. Indeed, these ‘other sources’ can be financially very important. Off-farm work was the most significant type. A degree of differentiation was apparent between farmer, spouse and other family members and the type of incomegenerating activity.Internal variables (particularly physical farm size, farm type, education and ethnicity) are shown to have some statistical ability to explain the patterns of pluriactivity.Pluriactivity is of interest in the present environment of agricultural policy reform. However, there is some evidence that pluriactivity is not driven solely by financial pressure or policy measures aimed at farm diversification. The paper concludes that policy aimed at the diversification of the farm business may be less than successful as many internal and external factors appear to work to restrict such activities. Most of the contemporary growth in pluriactivity has been in the form of off-farm jobs — a policy sector presently divorced from farm/agricultural policy.     

Estimating the expense of a mandatory home-and community-based personal assistance services benefit under Medicaid

Personal assistance services (PAS) are essential for many people of all ages with significant disabilities, but these services are not always available to individuals at home or in the community, in large part due to a significant bias toward institutions in the Medicaid program. This study aims to provide an estimate of the expense of a mandatory personal assistance services (PAS) benefit under Medicaid for persons with low incomes, low assets, and significant disability. DESIGN AND METHODS: We use year 2003 data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation to estimate the number of people living in households who would be eligible, based on having an institutional level of need and meeting financial criteria for low income and low assets, combined with additional survey data on annual expenditures under Medicaid programs providing PAS. RESULTS: New expenditures for PAS are estimated to be $1.4-$3.7 billion per year (in 2006 dollars), depending on the rate of participation, for up to half a million new recipients, more than a third of whom would be ages 65 and older. These estimated expenditures are a tenth of those estimated by the Congressional Budget Office for implementing the Medicaid Community-Based Attendant Services and Supports Act (MiCASSA). IMPLICATIONS: Creating a mandatory PAS benefit for those with an institutional level of need is a fiscally achievable policy strategy to redress the imbalance between institutional and community-based services under Medicaid.     

Household Support and Social Integration in the Year After Prison

The conventional household is typically conceived as a fixed residence where married adults pool incomes and raise their children. In poor communities, however, households are often residentially unstable, fluid in composition, and economically insecure. Men and women who leave prison face extreme disadvantage, and their households are likely to shape social integration after incarceration. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative data from the Boston Reentry Study, this article describes the complex living situations of men and women newly released from prison and proposes a multifaceted concept of household support. Regression analysis with an index measuring household support shows that living in a stable well‐resourced household just after prison release is associated with reduced risks of a new criminal charge, social isolation, and unemployment six to twelve months later. More than just a social unit for sampling and enumeration, the analysis suggests the household is an explanatory concept that can account for the social integration of poor, minority populations often detached from formal sources of economic and social support.     

Household Saving Behavior and the Influence of Family-Owned Business

This study focused on the lifecycle income objective of business-owning (farm and nonfarm) households. We hypothesized that the complex relationship between household and business management decisions had the potential to challenge predictions from standard household savings theory. Specifically, we tested for differences in saving behavior of these entrepreneurial households relative to the average US household. A limited dependent variable model was performed, keying in on the saving behavior and ability of household respondents in the Survey of Consumer Finances for 2007. The estimation results indicated that, along with standard demographic influences of savings models, households owning a farm or nonfarm business had a significantly higher likelihood of maintaining private saving in a given year. Our results highlight the necessity for future research on household saving behavior to account for the differing objectives and choice sets faced by households that own businesses when conducting analyses of household saving.     

Younger Siblings Can Be Good for Your Health: An Examination of Spillover Benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is a food assistance program designed to help pregnant (or postpartum) women and young children consume a nutritious diet. With WIC’s emphasis on providing healthy foods, and food being (generally) a communal commodity, age-ineligible children may benefit from living with a WIC participant. This paper used data from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to examine whether age-ineligible children who lived in WIC households were in better health than similar children who lived in households that did not participate in the program. Results suggested that older males received a health benefit as a result of living in a WIC household; however, no similar effect was found for younger males or for female children.     

Migration, remittances and rural development: findings of a case study in the Indian Punjab

Rural household survey data in the Ludhiana district of the Indian Punjab was used to study the nature and role of remittances in rural development. Of the 1646 outmigrants from the area since 1961, the 949 women who migrated for marriage and children under 12 years old were excluded from the study. Nearly all husbands who outmigrated had sent remittances. Parents and grandparents were 2nd and 3rd most likely to remit, but their numbers were small. Education did not correlate with remittance. Distance and time since emigration did not affect remittance. The frequency and the size of remittances are discussed. Remittances to outmigrants were insignificant. The remittances from outmigrants seem to raise the incomes and the levels of living of rural households. The remittances serve the purpose of redistributing income from urban to rural areas. Remittances also widened the gap between rich and poor in the rural areas because the better-off groups were more likely to receive remittances than the poorer groups. Most of the money sent from outmigrants was spent on consumable goods, food and clothing. Only a small proportion was spent on productive investment. This was usually done by farming families who invested in land or farm necessities. It is concluded that remittances from outmigrants can have a positive effect on the rural economies. Investment opportunities for nonagricultural families must be provided.     

Gender inequality in the one percent: A look under the hood of high incomes in Germany

Gender differences in economic outcomes are important topics in social science research. However, the study of gender differences among economic elites—“the top one percent”—has received surprisingly little attention, likely also due to a lack of empirical data. This paper investigates gender differences in individual and household income among the top one percent of individual monthly net incomes and top two percent of net household incomes using data from the German Microcensus from 2006 to 2016 covering more than 3.3 million individuals. I find that women account for only around 14% of the one percent in individual incomes. Additionally, regarding the household level, women's incomes are sufficient to achieve two percent status in fewer than 10% of all households. Both numbers did hardly change over the decade from 2006 to 2016. Furthermore, women's pathways to belonging to a high-income household are far more dependent on their partner's education and employment status than men's. Overall, the findings thus show dramatic gender differences among the German economic elite that do not narrow over time.     

Estimating the Expense of a Mandatory Home- and Community-Based Personal Assistance Services Benefit Under Medicaid

Abstract

Personal assistance services (PAS) are essential for many people of all ages with significant disabilities, but these services are not always available to individuals at home or in the community, in large part due to a significant bias toward institutions in the Medicaid program. This study aims to provide an estimate of the expense of a mandatory personal assistance services (PAS) benefit under Medicaid for persons with low incomes, low assets, and significant disability.

Design and methods: We use year 2003 data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation to estimate the number of people living in households who would be eligible, based on having an institutional level of need and meeting financial criteria for low income and low assets, combined with additional survey data on annual expenditures under Medicaid programs providing PAS.

Results: New expenditures for PAS are estimated to be $1.4–$3.7 billion per year (in 2006 dollars), depending on the rate of participation, for up to half a million new recipients, more than a third of whom would be ages 65 and older. These estimated expenditures are a tenth of those estimated by the Congressional Budget Office for implementing the Medicaid Community-Based Attendant Services and Supports Act (MiCASSA).

Implications: Creating a mandatory PAS benefit for those with an institutional level of need is a fiscally achievable policy strategy to redress the imbalance between institutional and community-based services under Medicaid.     

Ethnicity,Language, and Economic Well‐being in Rural Guatemala

Abstract We examine ethnic differences in objective and perceived economic well‐being in rural Guatemala. The evidence shows that long‐standing ethnic differentials in objective indicators of household economic well‐being actually widened between 1988 and 1995, a period characterized by rapid economic growth rates. We examine the effects of a major determinant of household economic well‐being in rural Guatemala, educational attainment, in accounting for ethnic and language differentials in household consumption. Our results show that returns to education appear to be substantially lower for indigenous households, especially indigenous households where the head of household does not speak Spanish. Ethnic differentials in perceived economic well‐being do not strictly parallel differences in objective indicators of well‐being. Indigenous women with any education are more likely to report relative economic deprivation than are non‐indigenous women, or ladinas, controlling for objective measures of household wealth.     

Participation in the next generation of agriculture conservation programs: the role of environmental attitudes

This research provides a behavioral analysis of wetland owners’ decision to participate in the Wetland Reserve Program (WRP). The study identifies the WRP as an incentive based land use program that relies on voluntary participation. The role of environmental attitudes in voluntary environmental program participation is addressed using the theory of reasoned action. A probit model is used with data collected from a mail survey of Louisiana wetland owners. Results of the analysis indicate that positive attitudes toward the WRP, acreage of wetlands owned, the level of information about the WRP, ownership of farmed wetlands, involvement in environmental organizations, and income level had a significant and positive influence on the decision to offer to participate in the WRP. Higher levels of education, and number of people living in the household (potential heirs) had an adverse effect on the likelihood to offer wetlands for enrollment in the WRP.     

Growth with equity: income inequality in Vietnam, 2002–14

We use the 2002 through 2014 Vietnam Household Living Standards Surveys to construct comparable measures of household income and estimates of income inequality over this high-growth period. We focus on two questions: How have benefits from growth been distributed; and do changes in the structure of the economy map into changes in inequality? We explore dimensions in which inequality may vary, notably urban versus rural, and by ethnic status. We also decompose inequality by income source to highlight key factors underlying the relatively low levels of inequality during this period. We find that agricultural opportunities played an important role in dampening inequality, but more important has been the steady development of wage-labor markets in both urban and rural areas. An important caveat to the generally rosy picture we paint is the deteriorating position of ethnic minorities. Finally, we draw comparisons with China and document key differences in their growth-inequality experiences.     

Ethnic and Religious Components of the Jewish Income Advantage, 1969 and 1989

Because Jewish ethnicity and religion do not necessarily coincide, the income advantage associated with Jewish identity can be separated into its ethnic and religious components. We estimate the impact of Jewish ethnicity and religion on household income in 1969 and 1989. In both years, ethnically Jewish households had a considerable income advantage over other non-Hispanic White households. This advantage appears to have persisted even among households without full-time workers. Mixed-ethnicity households (those with both Jewish-born and non-Jewish workers) had a conspicuous advantage in 1969 but not in 1989. While religion brought an additional income advantage to Reform, Conservative, and nondenominational Jews, Orthodoxy was associated with a relative disadvantage. Orthodox Judaism appears to impede economic attainment, perhaps by isolating its adherents from the social and economic networks established by the broader Jewish community.     

How many hours do you have to work to be integrated? Full‐time and part‐time employment of native and ethnic minority women in the Netherlands

Labour market integration of ethnic minority women is central for economic integration, as they may experience a double disadvantage: both as a woman and as a migrant. This presumed double disadvantage has recently become the focus of both Dutch integration and emancipation policy. To test several assumptions underlying this, we analyse to what extent labour market participation of different groups of women and the hours they work are influenced by human capital and household characteristics. Our results show some remarkable differences in employment patterns. Controlling for educational level, partnership and the presence of children, it was found that native women more often work in part‐time jobs than ethnic minority women. For native Dutch women, the number of children influences both the employment decision and the number of hours worked, whereas for ethnic minority women, this only effects full‐time employment.