A Treatise on the Family. G. S. Becker. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 1981. Gary Becker is one of the most famous and influential economists of the second half of the 20th century, a fervent contributor to and expounder of the University of Chicago free-market philosophy, and winner of the 1992 Nobel Prize in economics. Although any book with the word "treatise" in its title is clearly intended to have an impact, one coming from someone as brilliant and controversial as Becker certainly had such a lofty goal. It has received many article-length reviews in several disciplines (Ben-Porath, 1982; Bergmann, 1995; Foster, 1993; Hannan, 1982), which is one measure of its scholarly importance, and yet its impact is, I think, less than it may have initially appeared, especially for scholars with substantive interests in the family. This book is, its title notwithstanding, more about economics and the economic approach to behavior than about the family. In the first sentence of the preface, Becker writes "In this book, I develop an economic or rational choice approach to the family." Lest anyone accuse him of focusing on traditional (i.e., material) economics topics, such as family income, poverty, and labor supply, he immediately emphasizes that those topics are not his focus. "My intent is more ambitious: to analyze marriage, births, divorce, division of labor in households, prestige, and other non-material behavior with the tools and framework developed for material behavior." Indeed, the book includes chapters on many of these issues. One chapter examines the principles of the efficient division of labor in households, three analyze marriage and divorce, three analyze various child-related issues (fertility and intergenerational mobility), and others focus on broader family issues, such as intrafamily resource allocation. His analysis is not, he believes, constrained by time or place. His intention is "to present a comprehensive analysis that is applicable, at least in part, to families in the past as well as the present, in primitive as well as modern societies, and in Eastern as well as Western cultures." His tone is profoundly conservative and utterly skeptical of any constructive role for government programs. There is a clear sense of how much better things were in the old days of a genderbased division of labor and low market-work rates for married women. Indeed, Becker is ready and able to show in Chapter 2 that such a state of affairs was efficient and induced not by market or societal discrimination (although he allows that it might exist) but by small underlying household productivity differences that arise primarily from what he refers to as "complementarities" between caring for young children while carrying another to term. Most family scholars would probably find that an unconvincingly simple explanation for a profound and complex phenomenon. What, then, is the salient contribution of Treatise on the Family? It is not literally the idea that economics could be applied to the nonmarket sector and to family life because Becker had already established that with considerable success and influence. At its core, microeconomics is simple, characterized by a belief in the importance of prices and markets, the role of self-interested or rational behavior, and, somewhat less centrally, the stability of preferences. It was Becker's singular and invaluable contribution to appreciate that the behaviors potentially amenable to the economic approach were not limited to phenomenon with explicit monetary prices and formal markets. Indeed, during the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, he did undeniably important and pioneering work extending the domain of economics to such topics as labor market discrimination, fertility, crime, human capital, household production, and the allocation of time. Nor is Becker's contribution the detailed analyses themselves. Many of them are, frankly, odd, idiosyncratic, and off-putting. …

A Treatise on the Family

https://www.umassmed.edu/contentassets/15113f8a672840fca8b783ca95a800af/investing-in-the-health-wellbeing-of-young-adults.pdf

Investing in the Health and Well-Being of Young Adults

Food insecurity is experienced by millions of Americans, and its prevalence has increased dramatically in recent years. Due to its prevalence and many demonstrated negative health consequences, food insecurity is one of the most important nutrition-related public health issues in the U.S. In this article, we cover how economic insights and models have improved our understanding of the determinants of food insecurity, the effects of food insecurity on health outcomes, and the impact of food assistance programs on food insecurity. We conclude with a discussion of several issues where economists can provide further insights.

The Economics of Food Insecurity in the United States

Food banks play a major role in the food aid sector by distributing donated and purchased groceries directly to food insecure families. The public health implications of food insecurity are significant, particularly as food insecurity has a higher prevalence among certain population groups. This review consolidates current knowledge about the function and efficacy of food banks to address food insecurity. A systematic review was conducted. Thirty-five publications were reviewed, of which 14 examined food security status, 13 analysed nutritional quality of food provided, and 24 considered clients' needs in relation to food bank use. This review found that while food banks have an important role to play in providing immediate solutions to severe food deprivation, they are limited in their capacity to improve overall food security outcomes due to the limited provision of nutrient-dense foods in insufficient amounts, especially from dairy, vegetables and fruits. Food banks have the potential to improve food security outcomes when operational resources are adequate, provisions of perishable food groups are available, and client needs are identified and addressed.

The Role of Food Banks in Addressing Food Insecurity: A Systematic Review.

Most countries have automatic rules in their tax-and-transfer systems that are partly intended to stabilize economic uctuations. This paper measures how eective they are at lowering the volatility of U.S. economic activity. We identify seven potential stabilizers in the data and include four theoretical channels through which they may operate in a business cycle model calibrated to the U.S. data. The model is used to compare the volatility of output in the data with counterfactuals where some, or all, of the stabilizers are shut down. Our rst nding is that proportional taxes, like sales, property and corporate income taxes, contribute little to stabilization. Our second

/pdf/the-role-of-automatic-stabilizers-in-the-u-s-business-cycle-1qyetvf6uy.pdf

The role of automatic stabilizers in the U.S. business cycle

Hunger in America 2010, conducted for Feeding America, is the largest, most comprehensive study to date on domestic hunger. Using data collected at food pantries, soup kitchens, and other programs nationwide, the study found that one in eight Americansâ€”more than 37 millionâ€”received emergency food assistance in 2009 through Feeding America, an increase of 46 percent since four years ago. Recipients represented a broad cross-section of America, including 14 million children and 3 million seniors. Approximately 40 percent were white, 34 percent were African American, and 20 percent were Hispanic. Thirty-six percent of recipient households had at least one adult who was working. Ten percent were homeless. Seventy-five percent were food insecure.

Hunger in America 2010 National Report Prepared for Feeding America

Background The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides nutrition assistance benefits to low-income families in an effort to reduce hunger and improve health and well-being. Because 1 in 7 Americans participate in the program each month, policymakers need to know whether the program is meeting these objectives effectively. Objective The objective of this study was to estimate the association between SNAP participation and household food security using recent data from the largest national survey of the food security of SNAP participants to date. Methods The analysis used a survey of nearly 6500 households and a quasi-experimental research design that consisted of 2 sets of comparisons. Using a cross-sectional sample, we compared information collected from SNAP households within days of program entry with information collected from a contemporaneous sample of SNAP households that had participated for ∼6 mo. Next, using a longitudinal sample, we compared baseline information collected from new-entrant SNAP households with information from those same households 6 mo later. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to estimate associations between SNAP and household food security. Results SNAP participation decreased the percentage of SNAP households that were food insecure in both samples by 6-17%. SNAP participation also decreased the percentage of households experiencing severe food insecurity--designated very low food security--by 12-19%. Findings were qualitatively robust to different empirical specifications. Conclusion SNAP serves a vital role in improving the health and well-being of households by increasing food security. Given recent legislation to reduce program size and limit program eligibility, this study underscores SNAP's continued importance in affecting households' well-being. Future research is needed to determine whether specific groups of households experience differential improvements in food security.

/pdf/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-participation-is-1nc3q93pll.pdf

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Participation Is Associated with an Increase in Household Food Security in a National Evaluation

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides food assistance to more than 47 million low-income Americans every month It aims to reduce hunger by facilitating beneficiariesâ€™ access to enough food for a healthy, active lifestyle, otherwise known as "food security" Our study conducted for the Food and Nutrition Service of the US Department of Agriculture shows that SNAP participation is associated with improved food security The study is the largest and most rigorous one to date examining the effect of SNAP on food security

Measuring the Effect of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Participation on Food Security

This report presents findings from the qualitative In-Depth Interview component of the SNAP Food Security (SNAPFS) study. The main SNAPFS study was conducted for the Food and Nutrition Service of the USDA from October 2011 through September 2012, and examined the effects of the program on food security for 6,436 SNAP households just entering the program and 3,275 households on SNAP for approximately six to seven months.

SNAP Food Security In-Depth Interview Study

OBJECTIVE: This article investigates the association between Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participation and child food security by using data from the largest national survey of the food security of SNAP participants to date. METHODS: The analysis used a survey of nearly 3000 households with children and a quasi-experimental research design that consisted of 2 sets of comparisons. Using a cross-sectional sample, we compared information collected from SNAP households within days of program entry with information collected from a contemporaneous sample of SNAP households that had participated for ∼6 months. Next, by using a longitudinal sample, we compared baseline information collected from new-entrant SNAP households with information from those same households 6 months later. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to estimate associations between SNAP and child food security. RESULTS: SNAP participation was associated with an approximately one-third decrease in the odds of children being food insecure in both samples. In the cross-sectional analysis only, SNAP was also associated with a decrease in the odds of children experiencing severe food insecurity (designated very low food security). Findings were qualitatively robust to different empirical specifications. CONCLUSIONS: After controlling for other possible confounders, we found children in households that had participated in SNAP for 6 months experienced improvements in food security. On the basis of these findings, we conclude SNAP serves a vital role in improving the health and well-being of low-income children by increasing food security. Future research is needed to determine whether specific groups of children experience differential improvements in food security.

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/pediatrics/133/4/610.full.pdf

James Mabli

Papers

Hunger in America 2010 National Report Prepared for Feeding America

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Participation Is Associated with an Increase in Household Food Security in a National Evaluation

Measuring the Effect of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Participation on Food Security

SNAP Food Security In-Depth Interview Study

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Participation and Child Food Security