Urban Institute

About: Urban Institute is a nonprofit organization based out in Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Medicaid & Population. The organization has 927 authors who have published 2330 publications receiving 86426 citations.

Spending time or investing time? Involvement in high school curricular and extracurricular activities as strategic action

Abstract: A rational choice perspective on social behavior implies that individuals engage in purposive action with the intention of maximizing their interests in valued objectives. Although adolescents have more often been viewed as products of their environments than as rational actors, the choices they face in allocating time and effort among different activities can influence their ability to achieve important life goals. This article develops a conceptual model of involvement as investment to characterize participation in high school curricular and extracurricular activities and the returns they yield for college matriculation. Data from a national sample of students and schools and multi-level statistical methods are used to explore a set of empirical questions derived from this model. Findings demonstrate that activity involvement displays properties characteristic of social exchange and investment. Involvement in both the formal curriculum and school extracurriculars yields significant returns for college m...

Interactions between Social Security Reform and the Supplemental Security Income Program for the Aged

Abstract: Unlike most analyses of Social Security reforms, this paper explicitly considers interactions with the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. Using a microsimulation model, we examine reducing Social Security benefits by the percentage required to approach 75-year solvency. We then add options for attenuating the effects on low-income beneficiaries. In the simulated reforms, we compare benefit receipt patterns, poverty rates, and winners and losers in 2022. Substantial reforms are necessary for SSI to play a more effective income security role. Among the limited set of reforms we consider, Social Security minimum benefit plans would more effectively reduce poverty among low-income beneficiaries.

Poor Dads Who Don't Pay Child Support: Deadbeats or Disadvantaged?

Abstract: Of the nearly 11 million fathers in the United States who do not live with their kids, about 7 million do not pay formal child support. Of these unpaying fathers, 2.5 million are poor themselves. Poor moms and dads face similar barriers to employment -- limited education, lack of recent work experience, and health barriers. They work about the same number of hours each year and have similar earnings. But poor fathers -- even those who pay child support -- do not have access to most work support programs. The author recommends making the work support programs that are available to poor mothers available to poor fathers who pay child support.

Work-Related Opportunity Costs Of Providing Unpaid Family Care In 2013 And 2050.

Abstract: Older Americans living in the community who need help with functional limitations overwhelmingly rely on unpaid care, which is often provided by working-age family members. This study assessed the ...

Poor People and Poor Hospitals: Implications for Public Policy

Abstract: In 1980, while most hospitals were in reasonably good financial health, hospitals heavily involved in serving the poor ran a considerable risk of financial trouble. Fewer than 9 percent of the nation's hospitals accounted for 40 percent of the nation's total care to the poor. These hospitals, almost half of which were in the 100 largest cities, not only devoted more of their care to the poor than other hospitals, they also served substantially smaller proportions of privately-insured patients. The result was that one-third of these hospitals--by themselves accounting for over 15 percent of all care to the poor--ran deficits in 1980. Using data from a 1980 survey of nonfederal, nonprofit hospitals, this paper examines the fiscal situation of hospitals heavily involved in serving the poor. The analysis shows that it is insufficient revenues, not inefficiency or underuse, that creates these hospitals' financial problems. The article concludes with an assessment of several policies that could be adopted to alleviate this financial pressure and sustain care to the poor.