A typical worker's earnings grow over his lifetime. The generation of workers born in the 1910s experienced more growth than the generation born in the 1940s.

(0 Reviews)

Replicating the Harlem Children's Zone: How a Charter School Tax Credit Could Bring Human Capital Investment to Scale

By Ian Galloway

Every year, 1.2 million students drop out of high school in the United States. A clear moral and policy failure, this ongoing crisis is also an economic disaster.

(49 Reviews)

Which Came First—Better Education or Better Health?

By Rubén Hernández-Murillo and Christopher J. Martinek

Better-educated people appear to be in better health than less-educated people. But does more education cause better health, or are there other factors at play – such as income and access to information?

(15 Reviews)

Resources

(0 Reviews)

Teacher Workshops Chip Away at Economic Illiteracy

By William Bosshardt Paul Grimes, and Mary Suiter,

Workshops put on for teachers by the Atlanta and St. Louis Feds are having the desired results, a recent assessment shows. Teachers are learning about the economy and personal finance, and they are passing this information on to a student body that desperately needs it.

(2 Reviews)

A Bleak 30 Years for Black Men: Economic Progress Was Slim in Urban America

By Natalia A. Kolesnikova and Yang Liu

In many ways, black men were still worse off than white men in 2000, more than three decades after passage of the Civil Rights Act. A decline in manufacturing and relatively low levels of education were contributing factors.

(14 Reviews)

An Early Childhood Investment with a High Public Return

By Rob Grunewald and Arthur J. Rolnick

High-quality early childhood programs, particularly for children at risk, result not only in economic gains for the children as they grow up, but in savings on taxes, studies have shown.

(10 Reviews)

Mexico's Oportunidades Program Fails to Make the Grade in NYC

By Brett W. Fawley and Luciana Juvenal

A program that pays poor, rural Mexican families to keep their children in school didn’t translate well to New York City. The latter’s version will end this summer.

(12 Reviews)

Income Differences around the Globe Go Beyond Physical, Human Capital

By Riccardo DiCecio

Differences in physical and human capital don’t fully explain the staggering differences in living standards around the globe. The high cost of starting a new business and the difficulties in obtaining financing in some countries also are key factors.

(15 Reviews)

The Return to Education Isn't Calculated Easily

By Natalia A. Kolesnikova

Most studies estimate that the return to each year of education is about 10 percent. But calculating the financial gain is not a cut-and-dried process. Even more difficult is calculating the nonmonetary return.

(28 Reviews)

From Community College to a Bachelor's Degree and Beyond: How Smooth Is the Road?

By Natalia A. Kolesnikova

Those who start out at a community college and go on to get a four-year or better degree usually face a rougher road than those who start out at a four-year college. The paycheck at the end of the road is often less for those in the former group.

(2 Reviews)

Community Colleges: Not So Junior Anymore

By Natalia A. Kolesnikova and Luke Shimek

Originally, their goal was to prepare students to transfer to a four-year college. Today, they also offer work force training, certification in professions, adult continuing education-and even bachelor's degrees.

(3 Reviews)

U.S. Income Inequality: It's Not So Bad

By Thomas A. Garrett

Census data show that the income of the rich is growing faster than the income of the poor. But such common measures exaggerate the degree of income inequality. In addition, income inequality is the result of-and not a detriment to-a well-functioning economy.

(6 Reviews)

Adding Up the Economic Effects of Immigration

By Rubén Hernández-Murillo

The influx of low-skilled and undocumented workers raises concerns about the impact on low-skilled U.S.-born workers and on the tax burden for all those born in the United States.

(3 Reviews)

What's in a Name? Reconciling Conflicting Evidence on Ethnic Names

By Kristie M. Engemann and Michael T. Owyang

One study shows that Kenya and Hakim might have more trouble getting their résumés noticed than Allison and Brad do. But another study indicates that distinctively African-American names don’t lead to worse economic outcomes in adulthood.

(0 Reviews)

So Much for That Merit Raise: The Link between Wages and Appearance

By Kristie M. Engemann and Michael T. Owyang

If you think that your career advancement is based solely on your productivity, think again. As hard as it may be for Horatio Alger fans to accept, workers who are taller, thinner or better looking than the rest of us can have an edge.

(2 Reviews)

Wage Gap Widens, Especially in Cities

By Christopher H. Wheeler

Thirty years ago, the "haves" in the St. Louis Fed's District earned 3.7 times what the "have nots" earned. Today, the "haves" make 5.2 times as much. Education is just one of the reasons behind the widening divide.

(0 Reviews)

For Love or Money: Why Married Men Make More

By Abbigail J. Chiodo and Michael T. Owyang

Whether it's because of employer bias or their own hard work, men who've married are paid more than those who've never said "I do."

(3 Reviews)

The Gender Wage Gap And Wage Discrimination: Illusion or Reality?

By Howard J. Wall

The wage gap between men and women is not as large as you think, nor is it entirely due to discrimination.

(8 Reviews)

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