Welcome to the Brookings Center for Economic Security and Opportunity's new monthly newsletter. This email replaces Class Notes from Richard Reeves, but will continue covering issues related to families, economics, social policy, and more. If you are no longer interested in receiving this newsletter, please complete this opt-out form.
This edition was written by Tara Watson and Simran Kalkat.
📣 Introducing the Center for Economic Security and Opportunity
This summer, we are transitioning the Center on Children and Families to the Center for Economic Security and Opportunity (CESO, preferably pronounced “queso”). CESO will continue to provide non-partisan, data-driven analysis to some of the most pressing questions in U.S. social policy. Our research will focus on fostering an economy that prioritizes broad-based prosperity through a robust safety net, access to education and training, and investments in social infrastructure like the care economy and immigrant integration.
With Cecilia Rouse preparing to take the helm at Brookings, this is an exciting time for the institution! Help spread our work by sharing the CESO newsletter sign-up page and visit our center page for the latest research and commentary.
💡 New work: LGBTQ+ data gap, major restrictions in college, early childhood education, and more
Major surveys such as the American Community Survey don't collect adequate data on the LGBTQ+ population and their identities. On June 26, we hosted a virtual event to discuss Beyond Deng and Tara Watson's report on the LGBTQ+ data gap, and the importance of data collection for understanding economic and health outcomes for LGBTQ+ populations. You can watch the full event or read a summary.
In May, we hosted a roundtable with early childhood education (ECE) researchers to discuss the current state of ECE research and key policy questions surrounding it. The conversation was framed by a recent report by Isabel V. Sawhill and Morgan Welch. Read a summary of the event here.
SNAP affects labor supply and job quality for some. Exploiting the random assignment of caseworkers for SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly the Food Stamp Program), Jason B. Cook and Chloe N. East study the impacts of SNAP receipt. They find that the program induces no change in labor supply overall. However, applicants that had steady earnings prior to enrollment saw a large decrease in earnings during the first quarter of receipt which rebounded over the subsequent two years. Those recipients are more likely to be in better quality jobs than they were before applying to SNAP. This suggests that the program may allow recipients to search for jobs that are a better fit.
Medicaid helps prevent recidivism. Most adults who come out of prison are in significant debt and face a litany of challenges as they re-enter communities. But health insurance seems to help. Marguerite Burns and Laura Dague study two separate policy changes which increased the probability of Medicaid coverage by 60 percentage points for formerly incarcerated adults. The authors determine that health insurance access leads to a reduction in reincarceration and a stronger attachment to the labor market.
Teachers face barriers in the loan forgiveness program. The federal Teacher Loan Forgiveness program (TLF) offsets $5,000-$17,000 in student debt for teachers employed in high-need districts for five years. Brian Jacob, Damon Jones, and Brian J. Keys find that the TLF program doesn't affect teachers' attraction to or retention in these districts, and that many eligible teachers don't take advantage. Information and nudges can increase awareness of and application for the TLF program, but barriers remain.
📊 Top chart: For most would-be migrants to the US, legal pathways are almost impossible
A recent report from David Bier at the Cato Institute details the difficulties (and near impossibility) of legal immigration to the United States. As the sprawling chart below shows, qualifying for entry is complex and comes with a unique set of challenges. Most people interested in moving to the U.S. don't qualify for these limited categories. Read the full report and a summary of key takeaways for more on the nation's broken immigration system.
