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Michael Muller-Smith, University of Michigan, “The Direct and Intergenerational Effects of Criminal History-Based Safety Net Bans in the U.S.”

April 23, 2025 @ 12:00 pm - 1:15 pm PDT

Biography: Mike Mueller-Smith is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Michigan and Faculty Associate at the Population Studies Center. His research focuses on measuring the scope and prevalence of the criminal justice system in the U.S. as well as its broadly defined impact on the population. He is the Director of the Criminal Justice Administrative Records System (CJARS), a new data infrastructure project joint with the U.S. Census Bureau that seeks to collect and link extensive amounts of criminal justice microdata with social and economic data held at the Census Bureau. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from Columbia University in 2015, and completed a NICHD Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Michigan’s Population Studies Center between 2015-2017.

The Direct and Intergenerational Effects of Criminal History-Based Safety Net Bans in the U.S.

Abstract:

We study the lifetime banning, as introduced by United States Public Law 104-193, of individuals convicted of felony drug offenses after August 22, 1996 from ever receiving future SNAP benefits. Using a regression discontinuity design that leverages CJARS criminal history records with federal administrative and survey data, we estimate the causal impact of safety net assistance bans, finding significant reductions in SNAP benefit take-up, which creates unintentional spillovers to spouses and children and persist long after ban revocations occurred. While we observe limited changes to other adult outcomes, children’s short- and long-run outcomes worsen, especially those impacted at young ages.

Details

Date:
April 23, 2025
Time:
12:00 pm - 1:15 pm PDT
Event Category:

Venue

4240A Public Affairs Bldg

Details

Date:
April 23, 2025
Time:
12:00 pm - 1:15 pm PDT
Event Category:

Venue

4240A Public Affairs Bldg