Simran Kalkat

Children are increasingly living with adults old enough to receive retiree Social Security payments. We show that Social Security has become an increasingly important income support for children. With the Social Security trust fund projected to be exhausted by 2034, now is the time to start thinking about the role the program plays in keeping children out of poverty.

Executive Summary Around 1 million children in the U.S. live with a grandparent caregiver, defined as a grandparent who lives with their grandchild, is responsible for meeting the grandchild’s basic needs, and does not live with the parent of the grandchild. Over time, the child welfare system has placed greater emphasis on placing foster children with relative caregivers, including grandparents.

Introduction College education is an important driver of both economic mobility for individuals and growth for the economy overall. Educational attainment has increased substantially in recent decades, but gaps in college enrollment and completion rates by socioeconomic status and race or ethnicity are substantial. The gender gap, which historically favored boys and men, closed and reversed so that now women are substantially more likely to pursue and complete higher education than men.