• The Recent Performance of Safety-Net Programs

    Awarded Scholar:
    • National Academy of Social Insurance, Washington, D.C.

    The prolonged high rate of unemployment caused by the Great Recession has revealed substantial weaknesses in our nation’s social safety net. During and after the Great Recession, many families facing unemployment have relied on TANF, SNAP, SSDI, and unemployment insurance to provide income support.

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  • The Impact of State Safety-Net Programs and Household Assets on Poverty during the Great Recession

    Awarded Scholar:
    • Keith Bentele, University of Massachusetts, Boston

    The Great Recession led to sharp decreases in income and increases in poverty rates across the U.S. However, the severity of the impact of the recession on individual families varied based on the interaction of a number of factors: the local intensity of the recession, the strength of the local social safety net, and the level of individual household assets.

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  • The Great Recession and the Social Safety Net

    Awarded Scholar:
    • Robert Moffitt, Johns Hopkins University

    During and since the Great Recession, millions of Americans have relied on government transfer and social insurance programs to make ends meet. In principle, these programs, collectively known as the 'social safety net,'should help replace lost income during economic downturns when unemployment is high and wages are low.

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