Disaggregating the Impacts of Welfare Reform: Reflections on Five Studies

The five papers in this symposium advance the vital task of disaggregating the impacts of welfare reform. Four report differences across groups defined by location (rural or urban), types of TANF-eligible family, type of family structure, and race and ethnicity. The fifth reports few differences across race and ethnic groups. As our experience with TANF-style welfare grows and opportunities arise to reshape it, policy makers need to understand whether its impacts differ among subgroups, and why any differences exist. These studies provide useful points of departure for future research on these important policy issues.Need; Needs; Policy; Race; Welfare

Teenage Expectations and Desires about Family Formation in the United States

Using data collected in 2000 on a racially and ethnically diverse sample of high school seniors (typically 17-18 years old), this study analyzes teenagers' expectations and desires about marriage, having children, and becoming unwed parents. The study is the first to examine all six outcomes with a common conceptual framework and data set. The conceptual framework combines family context, opportunity cost, and social-psychological perspectives. Each perspective has predictive power. Race, ethnicity, gender, type of religious upbringing, parental education, and parental expectations for their child's education are aspects of family context that consistently show significant relationships with expectations and desires. Adolescents with higher opportunity costs - as indicated by having better grades and higher expectations and aspirations for their schooling - expect and desire to marry and have children at older ages. This finding should be regarded cautiously because there is reason to think that opportunity costs and the outcomes are jointly determined. There is modest empirical support for the social-psychological element of the framework. The study investigates several explanatory variables not considered in previous research - Native American ethnicity, believing in a non-western religion, self-esteem and locus of control - and finds some to be important predictors of expectations and desires about family formation.Family formation, marriage, childbearing, nonmarital childbearing

Changes in Poverty, Income Inequality and the Standard of Living During the Reagan Years

The record of economic well-being in the 1980s belied Reagan\u27s claim that Americans would be better off if they scaled back the welfare state and cut tax rates. Though the standard of living rose, its growth was no faster than during 1950-1980. Income inequality increased. The rate of poverty at the end qf Reagan\u27s term was the same as in 1980. Cutbacks in income transfers during the Reagan years helped increase both poverty and inequality. Changes in tax policy helped increase inequality but reduced poverty. These policy shifts are not the only reasons for the lack of progress against poverty and the rise in inequality. Broad social and economic factors have been widening income differences and making it harder for families to stay out of poverty. Policy choices during the Reagan Administration reinforced those factors

Effect of supplemental phytonutrients on impairment of the flow-mediated brachialartery vasoactivity after a single high-fat meal

AbstractObjectivesOur objective was to determine if long-term daily administration of phytonutrient supplements can prevent the immediate adverse impact of a high-fat meal and increase the production of nitric oxide.BackgroundIngestion of a high-fat meal impairs flow-mediated vasodilation of the brachial artery for at least 4 h; however, co-ingestion of vitamin antioxidants or a green salad has been shown to prevent this effect.MethodsFlow-mediated brachial artery reactivity test (BART) both before and 3 h after a 900 calorie 50 g fat meal was evaluated in 38 healthy volunteers (age 36.4 ± 10.1 years). Subjects were randomized to four weeks of daily supplementation with a powdered fruit vegetable juice concentrate (Juice Plus [JP]) along with a complex supplement providing nutritional antioxidants and various herbal extracts (Vineyard [V]), JP alone, or a matching placebo. At three and four weeks, BART was repeated both before and after the high-fat meal. Serum nitrate/nitrite concentrations were measured at baseline and at four weeks.ResultsFour weeks of the JP-V combination blunted the detrimental effect of the high-fat meal (−47.5 ± 23.4% at baseline vs. −1.7 ± 9.7% at four weeks [p < 0.05]). Four weeks of JP alone had a similar beneficial effect (−45.1 ± 19.7% at baseline vs. −16.6 ± 10.3% at four weeks [p < 0.05]), whereas there was no substantial effect of the placebo. In the subjects treated with supplements, concentrations of serum nitrate/nitrite increased from 78 ± 39 to 114 ± 62 μm/l (p < 0.02).ConclusionsDaily ingestion of modest amounts of a fruit/vegetable juice concentrate with or without adjunctive phytonutrient supplementation can reduce the immediate adverse impact of high-fat meals on flow-mediated vasoactivity and increase nitrate/nitrite blood concentration

Teenage expectations and desires about family formation in the United States

Using data collected in 2000 on a racially and ethnically diverse sample of high school seniors (typically 17-18 years old), this study analyzes teenagers’ expectations and desires about marriage, having children, and becoming unwed parents. The study is the first to examine all six outcomes with a common conceptual framework and data set. The conceptual framework combines family context, opportunity cost, and social-psychological perspectives. Each perspective has predictive power. Race, ethnicity, gender, type of religious upbringing, parental education, and parental expectations for their child’s education are aspects of family context that consistently show significant relationships with expectations and desires. Adolescents with higher opportunity costs – as indicated by having better grades and higher expectations and aspirations for their schooling – expect and desire to marry and have children at older ages. This finding should be regarded cautiously because there is reason to think that opportunity costs and the outcomes are jointly determined. There is modest empirical support for the social-psychological element of the framework. The study investigates several explanatory variables not considered in previous research – Native American ethnicity, believing in a non-western religion, self-esteem and locus of control – and finds some to be important predictors of expectations and desires about family formation