Clik here to view.
Born equal? Prenatal care and social mobility
It is close to a cliché in social policy circles that “earlier is better”— but it is also largely true. While we should avoid the early years determinism of assuming that life chances are fixed by...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Clik here to view.
Sex, contraception, or abortion? Explaining class gaps in unintended...
Summary There are wide class gaps in unintended childbearing among single women in the United States, resulting from different contraceptive and abortion choices across income groups. In this paper,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The implications of inequalities in contraception and abortion
A poor woman is about five times as likely as an affluent woman to have an unintended birth, which further deepens the divides in income, family stability, and child outcomes. But what is behind the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Wealth, inequality, and the ‘Me? I’m not rich!’ problem
Income and wealth inequality seem to be growing fastest at the top of the distribution. “Top” may not be specific enough. The real action is at the tip-top, or the tippetty-tip-top. Think not the 1%...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cracking the glass floor: Downward mobility and the politics of redistribution
Everyone is in favor of upward social mobility, of people rising up the income ladder between generations. Few, however, are willing to call for downward mobility, for people sliding down the chutes....
View ArticleClik here to view.
I’ll get by with a little help: Relationships and opportunity in America
Relationships are a central feature of human existence. “Man is by nature a social animal” observed Aristotle twenty-four centuries ago. “An individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally...
View ArticleClik here to view.
California dreaming: Social mobility in the Golden State
California is often held up as a warning to those with misplaced aspirations for upward mobility. Yes, Hollywood and Silicon Valley hold out the promise of fame and wealth, but observers from Rick...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cutting through the layers of the U.S. budget process
Budgets are being published this week in London and in Washington. But the offerings from her majesty’s government and from congressional Republicans are radically different in tone, purpose, and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Building the soft skills for success
It is hard to succeed in life without skills in reading and math, but they are not the only ones that count or the only ones children learn in school. Education is a broader enterprise, as a recent...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Classroom peer pressure: A mixed blessing
The phrase peer pressure is typically linked to risky adolescent behaviors like underage drinking, substance abuse, and unprotected sex. But peer pressure also shapes decisions about education, a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What Hillary Clinton gets right about improving U.S. social mobility
“We don’t have enough social mobility” was Hillary Clinton‘s blunt, and accurate, assessment at an hour-long Center for American Progress panel this week looking at urban development, economy, and job...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Parents as college boosters: A social mobility challenge
In social mobility terms, having committed parents and getting a college degree is like winning the lottery twice. But the two wins are starting to come together. This bodes well for the prospects of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Poverty, isolation, and opportunity
Making friends with people from different neighborhoods or of different ethnicities protects against a cramped, narrow view of the world, but it could protect against poverty too, suggests a new...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Robert Putnam on "Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis"
Brookings Fellows E.J. Dionne and Richard Reeves speak with noted political scientist and author Robert Putnam, professor of public policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, about his new book...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ulysses goes to Washington: Political myopia and policy commitment devices
Political myopia—often in the form of the lightening quick pace of today’s electoral politics—can threaten the effectiveness of public policy, writes Richard Reeves, as such immediacy can replace...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ulysses and child poverty: Goals as policy commitment devices
Like Ulysses tying himself to the mast, policy-makers can use policy commitment devices to avoid short-term political temptation and steer policy to achieve long-term goals. In my recent paper,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Yucca Mountain and a path to a long-term solution for nuclear waste
Humans tend to have trouble balancing immediate temptations against distant rewards, whether it’s a doughnut vs. heart health or splurging on a car vs. higher income in retirement. Policymakers are...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Single black female BA seeks educated husband: Race, assortative mating and...
There is a growing trend in the United States towards assortative mating — a clunky phrase that refers to people’s tendency to choose spouses with similar educational attainment. Rising numbers of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Carbon taxes as commitment devices
The economic and environmental cases for a carbon tax are very strong. A carbon tax could help to raise productivity in key sectors, as well as helping to reduce emissions, as William Gale has pointed...
View Article