In 2014 the Russell Sage Foundation completed a major initiative to assess the effects of the Great Recession on the economic, political, and social life of the country. Officially over in 2009, the Great Recession is now generally acknowledged to be the most devastating global economic crisis since the Great Depression. Prolonged economic stagnation is likely to transform American institutions and severely erode the life chances of many Americans. To understand these effects across a broad swath of social and economic life, the Foundation identified 15 areas of inquiry—such as retirement, education, income and wealth—and funded proposals for innovative projects from a distinguished team of scholars.
Four new Recession Briefs summarizing research from the Great Recession initiative now are available for download. These reports include investigations of the impact of the recession on the health of families with children, research on changes to the criminal justice system as a result of the recession, and an analysis of the recession’s impact on car and home ownership, particularly for minority families.
 |
Families in the Great Recession: Differences by Family Structure and Race/Ethnicity While the impacts of the Great Recession on Americans' wealth is well understood, we know less about how the recession impacted home and car ownership among families with young children, particularly low- and moderate-income and Black and Hispanic families, whose assets are likely to be fairly modest and thus more vulnerable to economic downturns. How did the effects of the recession on home and car ownership vary by family structure (married, cohabiting, and single parents) and race/ethnicity? |
 |
The Great Recession and Mothers' Health Given the now well-known effects of the Great Recession on economic outcomes of individuals and families, researchers have turned to the question of how this major economic downturn affected domains of family life, including parents' health and health-related behaviors. It has been argued that recessions could actually improve health, because additional leisure time could be devoted to physical activity or healthful pursuits. People may also have less money available to engage in negative health behaviors like drinking or smoking. Still, recessions are stressful and induce drops in income or wealth, both of which could compromise health or increase risky behaviors. How did the Great Recession affect the physical well-being of mothers? |
 |
The Great Recession and Fathers' Health Economic recessions can have detrimental impacts on individual and family wellbeing. Previous research indicates that recessions increase stress due to unemployment and reductions in income. The uncertainty or anticipation of losing a job also causes stress, which tends to have negative effects on physical health, and increase risky or health-compromising behavior, like smoking or binge drinking. How did the Great Recession specifically affect the physical health and health behaviors (such as binge drinking, smoking, and drug use) of men with children? |
 |
The Great Recession and State Criminal Justice Policy: Do Economic Hard Times Matter? Although the United States still imprisons a higher proportion of its population than any country in the world, in recent years, the decades-long trend of increasingly punitive criminal justice policies and a growing prison population has subsided. Changes unimaginable ten years ago, such as the decriminalization of certain low-level drug offenses, the closing of prisons, and a decline in the overall prison population have occurred. To what extent did the Great Recession influences these shifts? |
Recent Books
