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32. Where Did They Go? The Decline of Middle-Income Neighborhoods in Metropolitan America
- Author:
- George Galster, Jackie Cutsinger, and Jason C. Booza
- Publication Date:
- 06-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Middle-income families, the icon of the American Dream, have become a somewhat less prominent part of the American demographic profile over the last quartercentury. Numerous researchers have documented how growing economic inequality in the U.S., characterized by an increasing bifurcation of the income distribution, has slowed the growth of a once-broad American middle class.
- Topic:
- Demographics, Economics, and Human Welfare
- Political Geography:
- United States and America
33. Fulfilling the Promise: Seven Steps to Successful Community-Based Information Strategies
- Author:
- Pari Sabety
- Publication Date:
- 05-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- While some neighborhoods in American cities are resurgent, many others remain stubbornly entrenched in a cycle of underinvestment. A contributing factor is that—despite thriving immigrant populations, high volumes of cash transactions, and relatively stable housing markets—these neighborhoods are victims of an urban information gap which undervalues their commercial potential. The importance of good information for private and public investments is widely acknowledged, but fragmented funding, lack of standards, and spotty data has impeded either effective or universal use of these tools. This paper sets forth seven steps for practitioners and investors to follow in investing in local community information initiatives and, in turn, close the urban information gap and accelerate investment in these markets.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, and Poverty
- Political Geography:
- United States and America
34. Credit Scores, Reports, and Getting Ahead in America
- Author:
- Matt Fellowes
- Publication Date:
- 05-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Everyday, more than 27,000 employees in the credit bureau industry walk into over 1,000 locations around the country and process over 66 million items of information. Out of this massive churning of activity, credit bureaus produce consumer credit reports and scores, two of the most powerful determinants of modern American consumer life.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Economics, and Markets
- Political Geography:
- United States and America
35. Overcoming Barriers to Mobility: The Role of Place in the United States and UK
- Author:
- Alan Berube
- Publication Date:
- 04-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- In late 2004 and the first half of 2005, the US media elite caught the mobility bug. Within weeks of one another, three newspapers of national record – The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal , and the Los Angeles Times – each independently published a series of articles describing, by various measures, whether and how Americans are 'getting ahead' today. Collectively, the articles offered a re-examination of a powerful narrative in the United States: that of a classless society, with boundless opportunity awaiting those who choose to seize it.
- Topic:
- Civil Society and Development
- Political Geography:
- United States, United Kingdom, America, and Europe
36. One-Fifth of the Nation: America's First Suburbs
- Author:
- David Warren and Robert Puentes
- Publication Date:
- 02-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- One of the more encouraging metropolitan policy trends over the last several years is the increased attention on America's older, inner-ring, “first” suburbs. Beginning generally with Myron Orfield's Metropolitics in 1997, a slow but steady stream of research has started to shine a bright light on these places and begun to establish the notion that first suburbs have their own unique set of characteristics and challenges that set them apart from the rest of metropolitan America. Since then first suburbs in a few regions have assumed a small, but significant, role in advancing research and policy discussions about metropolitan growth and development.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, and Migration
- Political Geography:
- United States and America
37. The Earned Income Tax Credit at Age 30: What We Know
- Author:
- Steve Holt
- Publication Date:
- 02-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), the nation's largest antipoverty program for working families, plays an important role in the economic life of America's low- income households and communities. It increases the ability of workers in lower paying jobs to support themselves and their families. It represents a large inflow of resources into local economies. It magnifies the importance of the annual tax filing process. The federal EITC turned 30 years old in 2005. During the past 20 years, many states and localities have enacted versions of the federal credit to benefit their own residents. Meanwhile, a new generation of local leaders has emerged to publicize the availability of the EITC and related tax credits for lower-income families and neighborhoods, and to argue for progressive federal tax policies.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, and Government
- Political Geography:
- America
38. How Well Are American Students Learning?
- Author:
- Tom Loveless
- Publication Date:
- 10-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- This report launches the second volume of the Brown Center Report on American Education. The five issues of volume one were published from 2000 to 2004. Volume one included regular reports on data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and state assessments, analysis of student achievement in charter schools, a study of trends in homework, evaluations of the federal government's Blue Ribbon Schools Program, an investigation of the academic performance of high schools with powerhouse sports teams, analyses of student achievement in urban school districts and rural schools, a survey of exchange students from countries abroad to see what they think of American schools, and a survey of the mathematics preparation of middle school math teachers. Volume two will explore similar topics related to how well American students are learning.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Education, and Government
- Political Geography:
- United States and America
39. The Effects of Investing in Early Education on Economic Growth
- Author:
- Jeffrey Tebbs, Isabel V. Sawhill, and William T. Dickens
- Publication Date:
- 04-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Many in Congress and the administration have called for new investments in education in order to make the United States more competitive, with President Bush stressing the importance of education in preparing young Americans to “fill the jobs of the 21st century.” Yet advocates of early childhood education have only recently stressed the economic benefits of preschool programs, and it has been difficult to win support for these short-term investments given the long-term nature of the benefits to the economy.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Education, and Government
- Political Geography:
- America
40. The Decline of the Underclass
- Author:
- Paul A. Jargowsky and Isabel V. Sawhill
- Publication Date:
- 01-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Hurricane Katrina reminded the nation of the consequences of entrenched poverty, and Congress now faces complicated policy questions set against the backdrop of class and race. As America confronts these issues in cities and states beyond the Gulf Coast, it is important to realize that the number of poor people living in troubled neighborhoods—often described by journalists as the “underclass”—are actually fewer now than in the 1980s. Yet public policies that encourage education, work, and opportunity are urgently needed to keep that positive trend from reversing.
- Topic:
- Demographics, Development, Economics, and Government
- Political Geography:
- America