What's New - January 2002

Site of the Month: Economic Policy Institute

Much of the time, economic analysis tends to focus on aggregate measures of activity--how big is the economy, how fast is it growing (or contracting). But an equally important question in economic policy deals with questions of distribution: How are different groups in the population fairing? How does your state rank in terms of poverty, inequality, and low wage work?

It's often hard to find good information on distributional issues. One of the best sources of data and analysis on the subject is the Economic Policy Institute's "State of Working America" publication. A summary of its state level data is available in the Datazone section of the EPI website. On a single page for each state you'll find data on median family income, poverty, the share of jobs paying poverty wages, and unemployment.

Start with an easy to use clickable map of the US, and get a customize narrative summary of the data for each state, plus a link to an Adobe acrobat pdf file with that state's data.
http://www.epinet.org/datazone/states/usmap/index.html

New Links Added

To begin the new year, we offer you an assortment of links focusing on children and family welfare.

Census Bureau
-Child Care Establishments
Data on child care establishments, by state, 1977-97.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0055.html

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
-Mothers without Health Insurance
Characteristics of mothers of young children without health insurance, by state.
Published May 2001.
http://www.cbpp.org/5-10-01health-pr.htm

Child Trends
-Facts at a Glance
Data on teen births and sexual activity, states and large metro areas.
http://www.childtrends.org/factlink.asp

-Indicators of Child, Youth, and Family Well-Being
Inventory of indicator projects with a state and local focus.
http://www.childtrends.org/r_invres.asp

Food and Nutrition Service, USDA (Office of Analysis, Nutrition, and Evaluation)
-FNS Reports
Links to reports and studies on FNS programs, many with state detail.  The included programs are:  the Food Stamp Program; the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC); Child Nutrition Programs (National School Lunch, School Breakfast, Child and Adult Care, Summer Food Service and Special Milk); and Food Distribution Programs (Schools, Emergency Food Assistance, Indian Reservations, Commodity Supplemental, Nutrition for the Elderly, and Charitable Institutions).
http://www.fns.usda.gov/oane/default.htm'

-Program Data
Statistical information on activity in all major Food and Nutrition Service Programs. State data provided for latest five years and latest month.  
http://www.fns.usda.gov/pd/

Kaiser Family Foundation
-State Health Facts On Line
State-level data on demographics, health status, and health policy, including health coverage, access, financing, and state legislation. Provides individual state profiles and 50 state comparisons.
http://www.statehealthfacts.kff.org/

Zero Population Growth
-Kid-Friendly Cities Report Card (2001)
Data and grades for 239 cities regarding factors that affect the health and well-being of children. Indicators cover health, education, public safety, economics, environment, and community life. Published 2001.
http://www.kidfriendlycities.org/2001/

"Long-Form" Type Data from Census 2000 Supplementary Survey

Sample data from Census 2000 (on income, education, housing structure and costs, commuting, etc.) are still almost a year away, but in the meantime users can access data on the same subjects from the Census 2000 Supplementary Survey (sample: 700,000 households) in the American FactFinder. In mid-November, the Census Bureau released the second wave of data from this survey, with data on
cities and counties of 250,000 or more people. (US and state data were released previously.) (Released November 14, 2001)
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01cn190.html

ES-202 Data Switches to NAICS

Here it comes. Here it comes. It's not your 19th nervous breakdown, although it may seem like it. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has officially announced that 2000 will be the last year for which they tabulate Covered Employment and Wages (CEW or ES-202) data on a standard industrial classification code basis. From 2001 onward, the data will be tabulated according to the North American
Industrial Classification System (NAICS). While a big improvement in classification of economic activity, the switch to NAICS presents data users with the mother of all series breaks. So, if you haven't made the switch yet, start getting ready now.

You can read the BLS announcement at: 
http://www.bls.gov/cew/cewnaics.htm

To see what NAICS data looks like, you can study the data released by the Census Bureau for the 1997 Economic Census and the 1997 and 1998 County Business Patterns publications. You'll find these on the web at:
-Economic Census
http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/ec97stat.htm

-County Business Patterns
http://www.census.gov/epcd/cbp/view/cbpview.html