Adam Carasso: All Publications, Events and Press

New America Report in ReportNet | 'Hunger grows, pie shrinks'

Communications — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 09:33:00 -0400

New America in the News:
...According to the Urban Institute and New America Foundation report, federal spending on children's nutrition programs increased by a tenth of a percent from 2006 to 2007.

Other children's programs that have seen at least some increase in federal spending, the report notes, include school improvement (.4 percent), and foster care (.8 percent). Those in decline include Head Start (down 2.5 percent) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (down 2.8 percent)...LINK

Kids' Share 2008

Fiscal Policy — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 02:00:00 -0400

Children are a declining priority in the federal budget -- a trend that shows no signs of stopping. In 2007, the federal government paid out $2.7 trillion through spending programs and disbursed roughly another $1 trillion through the tax code. Rapidly expanding entitlement programs -- Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security -- and the country's defense system consumed the largest shares of the budget, while spending on children remained essentially stagnant and did not keep up with growth in the economy.

Our second annual Kids' Share report on the state of the children's budget looks comprehensively at trends in federal spending and… more

How Much Does the Federal Government Spend To Promote Economic Mobility, And For Whom?

Fiscal Policy — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 09:30:00 -0400

In an economically mobile market economy, individuals and families are able to raise their private incomes, wealth, and ability (sometimes referred to as human capital) over time and across generations. In the United States, many associate economic mobility with the pursuit of the American Dream. Education, work experience, and saving enhance the opportunity for upward economic mobility. To this end, many federal spending and tax expenditure or tax subsidy programs aim to enhance economic mobility. But exactly how much does the federal government encourage economic mobility? What form does this encouragement take? And who benefits from these efforts?

To begin answering these… more

Adam Carasso in McClatchy News | 'Pensions for Everyone'

Communications — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 10:04:00 -0500

New America in the News:

Pensions for Everyone (McClatchy-Tribune)
In a new discussion paper for the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, Adam Carasso of the New America Foundation and I estimate that accounts that collect 3 percent of payroll would provide 13.8 percent of final wages at retirement for every worker. Our paper, "Tax Considerations in a Universal Pension System," also shows how targeted tax subsidies could lead to even larger benefits for low- and moderate- income workers. ...

New America in Roll Call | 'Moderate Graybeards Need Top 10 Agenda'

Communications — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 12:14:00 -0500

New America in the News:
Moderate Graybeards Need a Top 10 Agenda (Roll Call)
One possible model is the New America Foundation's proposed "progressive consumption tax," which would base taxes on the difference between income and savings, with rates rising with income. ...

How to Hit the Trifecta

Articles — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 09:40:00 -0400

Rising insecurity in the oil producing regions of the world along with rising carbon levels in the atmosphere are pushing Congress to update our nation’s energy policies. But far from providing a bold solution to our converging environmental, energy and security dilemmas, the bill that has come out of the Senate to gradually increase fuel efficiency standards relies on timid half-measures. Congress should instead consider a more effective and long-overdue step towards energy independence and environmental protection -- implementing a broad-based energy tax.

Clearly, U.S. energy policies need reforming. Oil-producing nations hold too much sway over our pocketbooks and our… more

Child Well-Being in America and Abroad

Communications — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 14:59:00 -0400

A New America Event
07/17/2007 - 10:30am

The Foundation for Child Development Child Well-Being Index (CWI) provides a research-based look at the status of children in the United States over the last 30 years. Now, for the first time, the CWI examines the status of American children in relation to that of children in other countries. The CWI uses English-speaking democracies with strong market-based systems to provide a more meaningful “apples to apples” portrait of the relative well-being of American children. The study contrasts the well-being of children in the United States with that of children in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

At the New America event, hosted by the Workforce and Family Program, Duke University researcher Dr. Kenneth Land presented the results of this new international comparison. Among the key findings:

The percent of households without an employed adult is lower in the United States than in all comparison countries. However, poverty rates are higher in the United States than in all comparison countries.
Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom have better outcomes than the United States in the Health domain. Relatively high rates of infant mortality and children who are overweight and obese disadvantage the United States in this domain.
Teen birth rates in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand are lower than in the United States. This indicator is a key figure in the Safety/Behavioral Concerns domain.
The United States has a relatively high proportion of young adults who complete high school and obtain baccalaureate degrees. However, the proportion of children who attend preschool is lower in the United States than in all countries except the United Kingdom.
15-year old American students scored lower in mathematics and reading than their counterparts in all comparison countries on internationally administered standardized tests, leading to a last place finish in the Educational Attainment domain.

Following Land's presentation, Rev. David Gray, director of the Workforce and Family Program, moderated a distinguished panel of experts in a discussion that explored the survey results and their implications.

Dr. Ruby Takanishi, President of the Foundation for Child Development, gave introductory remarks for the event. Dr. Takanishi remarked that the Child Well-Being Index provides a starting point for deeper debates among policymakers and the public about how best to serve the children of this country. The treatment and care for our children are an essential part of the negotiation of the social contract between individual and social responsibility. According to Dr. Takanishi, we are in a period of transition within our social contract, and our efforts to shape the life prospects of all children are a critical part of that conversation.

Dr. Janet Gornick, Director of the Luxembourg Income Study, presented an in-depth look at cross-national employment policies and explored the links between those policies, parental and child well-being. Dr. Gornick’s research shows that the United States, and the Anglophone countries involved in the international comparison, generally takes a different approach to employment policy than do their continental European counterparts.

Doug Steiger gave an in-depth policy and political analysis of the program to eliminate child poverty in the United Kingdom. Mr. Steiger contrasted the differing approaches of the United States and the United Kingdom to measuring and combating poverty, as well as highlighting instances in which the two countries have learned from and emulated one another. Mr. Steiger concluded that much the United Kingdom’s recent success in reducing childhood poverty comes from tactics used in the United States in the 1990’s but that the United States has allowed its effort in those areas to lag.

Adam Carasso of the New America Foundation drew highlights from his work on the Urban Institute’s “2007 Kid’s Share” report. Mr. Carasso presented research on the historic and projected future share of the federal budget dedicated to children’s programs. Mr. Carasso highlighted the decline of tax code contributions and the rise of in-kind programs. Mr. Carasso also highlighted the rising proportion of the federal budget that is dedicated to programs that primarily serve the elderly and predicted that rising cost would push aside the possibility of new investments in children’s programs.

Also released at this latest event was a new Workforce and Family Issue Brief, entitled "Why Not More Focus on Children?" Video of the complete presentation and discussion is available at right; an MP3 audio recording will be available in the near future.

About the Child Well-Being Index

The CWI is commissioned by the Foundation for Child Development and provides policymakers and the public with a tool to monitor the well-being of children. The new international comparison tracks quantifiable indicators including childhood obesity, the poverty rate, suicide rates, and violent crime rates. Its release is intended to spark public discussion about the lives of American children and youth and the factors that contribute to their quality of life; including where American children are advantaged and disadvantaged on comparisons of international outcomes in physical health, educational attainment, social relationships and spiritual and emotional well-being. For more on the CWI's findings in the United States, please see the April 17, 2007, event the Workforce and Family Program hosted on that topic.