In this paper we characterize, both theoretically and quantiatively, the optimal mix of progressive income taxes and education subsidies in a model with endogeous human capital formation, borrowing constraints and income risk.

The last twenty years have seen a rapid growth in the expansion of consumer credit. Figures for the U.K, for example, show that in 1988 consumer credit represented just 50% of national income, compared with 70% in 2001. This paper looks at some of the issues that now need addressing following this expansion in credit, particularly how it may have affected families on low incomes. 1 Experian Cen...

Among the impoverished population of coastal Kenya, there is a rapidly growing group of young single mothers who suffer from adverse health outcomes, incomplete schooling, social ostracism by their communities, and economic hardship. To address this problem, in 2008 the Single Mothers Program (SMP) selected a group of vulnerable single mothers, provided them with basic relief and education, equ...

Men in the United States with family incomes in the top 5 percent of the distribution in 1980 had about 25 percent longer to live than did those in the bottom 5 percent. Proportional increases in income are associated with equal proportional decreases in mortality throughout the income distribution. I discuss possible reasons for this gradient and ask whether it calls for the redistribution of ...

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We ask whether women’s decisions to be in the workforce may be affected by the decisions of other women in ways not captured by standard models. We develop a model that augments the simple neoclassical framework by introducing relative income concerns into women’s (or families’) utility functions. In this model, the entry of some women into paid employment can spur the entry of other women, ind...

This article examines the money incomes of the elderly and the nonelderly. The economic status of the elderly is put in perspective by discussing changes in real incomes since 1967 and the income of the elderly relative to the incomes of other age groups. Detailed age groups within both the elderly and nonelderly groups are examined. The article finds that the economic status of the elderly in ...

Of the 41 HIPCs, 11 are classified by the IMF and World Bank as conflict-affected. Can debt relief reduce the level of violent conflict in these countries? By providing additional resources to finance broad-based public spending, debt relief could help to redress the grievances that contribute to conflict. It could also reduce the ability of those motivated by greed to recruit followers, since ...

OBJECTIVE To compare playground hazards in high- and low-income neighborhoods. DESIGN Forty-five playgrounds were randomly selected from the 9 New York City community districts that met our study criteria and were divided into high-and low-income groups based on comparison to the median of the median incomes ($24452 per year) of the 9 districts. Playgrounds are maintained by the City of New Y...