Marriage, Households, and Policy Conference

How families choose to form, dissolve, work, expand, and invest in their children are crucial questions for economic policies. Family Leave. Earned Income Tax Credits. Child Tax Credits. Medicaid. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Tax Rates. Social Security. Pensions. 401(k)s and IRAs. Each of these policies interacts with a household’s marriage, childbearing, and labor supply decisions. How do they impact individual decisions on if, when, and who to marry or divorce, on whether and when to have children, on how much schooling to pursue, how many hours to work, and how to plan for retirement? These questions are more relevant than ever in the face of the changing nature of the American household.

The Penn Wharton Budget Model, the Penn Institute for Economic Research, the University of Pennsylvania Economics Department and the Wharton School will host leading scholars to discuss how household’s labor decisions, financial resilience, and well-being is shaped by policies, and how the microeconomic decisions of the family explain aggregate trends in American society. Breakfast and Lunch will be served during the conference. Dinner will follow.

Click here to register and to see the full agenda.