Publications on State Programs, Budgets

Researchers from the Urban Institute and the State of Massachusetts explored why existing surveys generate very different estimates of the uninsurance rate in Massachusetts. The surveys they examined are the Current Population Survey (CPS), the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), the Massachusetts Health Insurance Survey, and the Massachusetts Health Reform Survey (MHRS). This brief described how estimates may vary because of differences in the wording of the insurance questions asked in the surveys, differences in question placement and context within the survey, differences in survey design and fielding strategies, differences in accounting for missing data and other data preparation, and differences in survey fielding time frames. The analysis concludes that there has been no single survey in Massachusetts that is clearly superior across all of these important dimensions.

This report examines benefit payments in Ohio’s unemployment insurance (UI) program. The report compares average recipiency rates and replacement rates with national averages over the past four decades. It then reviews detailed aspects of benefit recipiency including monetary eligibility, first payment rates, benefit duration and replacement rates. The report identifies four areas where access to benefits could be broadened: reduced base period earnings requirements, enhanced eligibility for part-time workers, establishment of worksharing and establishment of self-employment assistance.

The Welfare Rules Databook, provides tables containing key Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) policies for each state as of July 2004, as well as longitudinal tables describing selected state policies from 1996 through 2004. The tables are based on the information in the Welfare Rules Database (WRD), a publicly available, online database tracking state cash assistance policies over time and across the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The Databook summarizes a subset of the information in the WRD. Users interested in a greater level of detail are encouraged to use the full database, available at http://anfdata.urban.org/wrd.

The Welfare Rules Databook, provides tables containing key Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) policies for each state as of July 2006, as well as longitudinal tables describing selected state policies from 1996 through 2006. The tables are based on the information in the Welfare Rules Database (WRD), a publicly available, online database tracking state cash assistance policies over time and across the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The Databook summarizes a subset of the information in the WRD. Users interested in a greater level of detail are encouraged to use the full database, available at http://anfdata.urban.org/wrd.

The Welfare Rules Databook, provides tables containing key Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) policies for each state as of July 2005, as well as longitudinal tables describing selected state policies from 1996 through 2005. The tables are based on the information in the Welfare Rules Database (WRD), a publicly available, online database tracking state cash assistance policies over time and across the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The Databook summarizes a subset of the information in the WRD. Users interested in a greater level of detail are encouraged to use the full database, available at http://anfdata.urban.org/wrd.