Demand Shocks, Shifts in Welfare Policy Regime, and the Well-Being of Workers and Their Families

This dissertation examines through three stand-alone papers how changes in product demands and shifts in welfare policy regime affect the well-being of workers and their families. The first paper, presented in chapter 2, investigates empirically how the industrial structure of local labor market affect manufacturing workers' adjustment to import competition. The second paper of the dissertation, presented in chapter 3, studies the relationship between the decline of traditional cash welfare between 2001 and 2015 and two direct measures of well-being among households with children: household food insecurity and public school child homelessness. The final paper, presented in chapter 4, explores the theoretical role of migration in labor market adjustment to regional demand shocks and investigates empirically how migration frictions have evolved between 1940 and 2000 and its implications. The findings from this dissertation highlight the significance of local socioeconomic factors in the well-being of workers and their families. In developing policing that aim to address economic hardships, it is therefore crucial to pay attention to local context and the variation in economic opportunities and public resources across place and time.PHDSocial Work & EconomicsUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151690/1/wuph_1.pd