CCFP researchers study the impact of poverty and economic inequality on children, families, and communities. Our teams study and evaluate the effectiveness of programs and policies designed to help low-income families, the day-to-day experiences of working parents and their families, and the impact of living in poverty on children and families. CCFP researchers also study and evaluate efforts that have been successful at disrupting systemic inequities affecting low-wealth families and building on the strengths of communities to improve outcomes for children and families.
North Carolina law (NCGS 20-24.1) requires individuals with unpaid traffic debt have their driver’s license suspended until the debt is satisfied. When individuals struggle to pay these debts, the punishment ultimately functions as an indefinite suspension.
Monthly unconditional cash transfers totaling approximately $15 000 over 4 years to mothers with low incomes did not improve maternal mental health, maternal or child BMI, or maternal report of children’s health.
Using data from the 1999-2021 waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics on a cohort of children followed from birth to age 20, this study examines the influence of net worth poverty exposure and duration across a child’s life course on high school graduation and college attendance.
Using data from a large-scale, multisite, U.S.-based randomized controlled study, this paper examines heterogeneity in the effects of a monthly unconditional cash transfer on monetary and time investments in children.
Project Description In the U.S., food insecurity (FI), or the inconsistent access to food of the quantity or quality needed to fuel a healthy life, is an important source of socioeconomic and racial inequality in youth outcomes. Decades of research finds that FI undermines youths’ physical, socioemotional, and cognitive development, and their academic outcomes as…
learn more about Reducing Structural Barriers in a School-Based System of Food Assistance to Reduce Inequality in Food Security and Child OutcomesThis project looks at the impact of rental housing sales on children’s residential mobility, school switches, and school performance.
learn more about Property Sales and Residential Displacement of Black and Hispanic Children in the American South: Implications for School Mobility and Educational InequalityProject Description The North Carolina Community Schools Coalition aims to improve the academic, mental, and physical health of North Carolina students through the development of Full-Service Community Schools across the state. Full-Service Community Schools prioritize partnerships between schools and the community to promote the overall success and well-being of children and families. The community schools model…
learn more about Evaluation of NC Community Schools CoalitionThis project aims to advance research on the relationship between economic well-being, wealth, adolescent functioning and mental health.
learn more about STEPS: Study of Teen Experiences that Promote SuccessThis brief offers a cross-disciplinary conceptual framework that suggests a three-pronged child-centric reparations strategy for black children.
This brief describes how the black-white wealth gap is widest for households with children.
This brief details how due to a variety of social, public policy and economic forces, black children are more likely than white children to experience negative outcomes throughout childhood.
The authors offer a child-centric framework for reparations with considerations for policy and implications for child descendants of enslaved African Americans.