Lauren Bauer

The latest analysis from The Hamilton Project explores how teenagers (16–19-year-olds) have shifted away from working or seeking work and the impact this change has on the broader labor force participation rate. 

Early childhood education improves school readiness and has impacts not only into adulthood, but on the next generation, according to commentary by Fellow Lauren Bauer on the latest Head Start Impact Study.

Work requirements impede SNAP’s dual role as a safety net and automatic stabilizer. This economic analysis provides new evidence about how waivers to these rules functioned during the Great Recession and how the USDA’s proposed rules would have worked had they been in effect from 2007 to present.

Despite a growing aging population in the U.S. in recent decades, labor force participation among older Americans continues to rise. A new Hamilton Project analysis examines the significance of this trend on the economy’s potential future growth. 

Each March, we celebrate Women’s History Month. The Hamilton Project takes this opportune moment to reflect on women’s changing labor market fortunes and its impact on the U.S. economy. 

In this economic analysis, Fellow Lauren Bauer characterizes those who were living in poverty in 2017—many facing significant barriers to working their way out of poverty including caregivers, students and the disabled.

Following the announcement of a plan to reform SNAP rules, Fellow Lauren Bauer offers analysis suggesting that strict enforcement of work requirements will sanction not only those who are able to work but choose not to—but also those who are unable to work, unable to find work or prove that they have met the requirement.  

As the year comes to a close, we present an overview of some of the Hamilton Project’s top figures of 2018.

Despite improvements across a number of economic indicators, rates of child experience of and exposure to food insecurity have failed to see reductions in the past three years. In this analysis, Lauren Bauer and Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach explore the various ways children experience food insecurity, as well as its impacts nationwide from pre-recession to today.

As federal and state policymakers continue to seek solutions to bring more Americans into the workforce, such as imposing and expanding work requirements on millions of safety net participants, Lauren Bauer and Jay Shambaugh explore the question: just how many more safety net beneficiaries can reasonably be expected to return to the workforce and secure consistent work?

This paper characterizes the types of individuals who would face work requirements in SNAP and Medicaid, describes what their work experiences are over a two-year period, and identifies the reasons why they are not working if they experience a period of unemployment or labor force nonparticipation. The analysis concludes that proposed work requirements would put at risk access to food assistance and health care for millions who are working, trying to work, or face barriers to working. 

The U.S. Census Bureau recently reported that 39.7 million Americans experienced poverty last year. In this commentary, Lauren Bauer takes a closer look at the numbers and argues for a job market that delivers more full-time positions, increases the wage returns to work, and maintains safety net programs.