Both scholars and citizens suspect economic elites have great influence on politics. Yet the scholarly research on money in politics has generally concluded that wealthy individuals and interest groups cannot simply ‘buy votes’ in institutions like Congress. This has led some to argue that the influence of money upon American political life is either "not much" or under estimated. The research findings in this tradition have mostly looked at the effects of campaign contributions upon Congressional roll call voting.
The Care Work in the United States working group examines the social and economic implications of how care (child care, elder care, care for the disabled) is provided to dependent populations in the U.S. today. As women have moved into the formal labor force in large numbers over the last forty years, care work—traditionally provided primarily by women—has also shifted increasingly from the family arena into the formal economy. The working group will tackle the difficult policy problems that arise from the fact that market care is not a perfect substitute for family care.
The Immigration and Intergenerational Mobility in Metropolitan Los Angeles study, conducted from 2004-2008, focuses on assimilation patterns among six Latino and Asian groups in metropolitan Los Angeles to determine how well today’s immigrants are integrating into mainstream U.S. society. This multi-stage, multi-method survey collected data from nearly 5,000 immigrants representing more than three generations about their social, cultural, and economic experiences.
The Foundation’s Consumer Finance Working Group began in November 2009 and concluded in June 2014. The group conducted behavioral research on consumer financial decision making and explores its implications for regulating retail financial products such as mortgages, credit cards and annuities. Co-funded with the Sloan Foundation, the group also brought together leading social scientists and policymakers to examine innovative regulatory designs and strategies.
The Foundation's Working Group on Cross-National Research on the Intergenerational Transmission of Advantage seeks to better understand the relationship between inequality and economic mobility. Using a life-course approach, thirty-eight researchers in ten countries compared whether and how parents' resources transmit advantage to their children at different stages of development.