Federal EITC Kept 2 Percent of the Population Out of Poverty Greatest Poverty Reductions in Texas, North Carolina, and Arizona

This brief documents the proportion of Americans who would have been poor absent the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), all else being equal, across 2010–2014. It consists of a pooled sample using the Current Population Survey (CPS) Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) between the years of 2011–2015. Authors Douglas Gagnon, Marybeth Mattingly, and Andrew Schaefer examine Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) rates as well as hypothetical increases in the rates of poverty in the absence of federal EITC benefits. They report that the proportion of people who are poor in the United States as measured by the SPM would increase by two percentage points without EITC dollars. In addition, children are especially at risk of becoming poor without EITC benefits, as 1 out of every 25 would become poor without the EITC. The authors also highlight variability across states, noting that the federal EITC led to the greatest poverty reductions in the states of Texas, North Carolina, and Arizona

State EITC Programs Provide Important Relief to Families in Need

In this brief, authors Douglas Gagnon, Marybeth Mattingly, and Andrew Schaefer discuss the estimated effects of state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) benefits on rates of poverty in 2010–2014 using the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement. They report that, on average, individuals in states with refundable state EITCs receive a 17.6 percent match of their federal EITC benefit, and the state supplement pulls an estimated 0.3 percent of these states’ combined populations out of poverty. Children receive the greatest benefit, as state EITCs reduce child poverty by 0.7 percentage point overall. Even those who remain poor after receiving state EITC benefits get a sizeable boost: on average these families receive $455, which amounts to 2.4 percent of their total family earnings. The authors also examined state EITC receipt by family characteristics, finding larger average benefits for metropolitan and non-white- and Hispanic-headed households. Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Nevada, and Texas would experience the greatest estimated reductions in child poverty rates if they were to adopt a state EITC

Undulatory swimming in fluids with polymer networks

The motility behavior of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans in polymeric solutions of varying concentrations is systematically investigated in experiments using tracking and velocimetry methods. As the polymer concentration is increased, the solution undergoes a transition from the semi-dilute to the concentrated regime, where these rod-like polymers entangle, align, and form networks. Remarkably, we find an enhancement in the nematode's swimming speed of approximately 65% in concentrated solutions compared to semi-dilute solutions. Using velocimetry methods, we show that the undulatory swimming motion of the nematode induces an anisotropic mechanical response in the fluid. This anisotropy, which arises from the fluid micro-structure, is responsible for the observed increase in swimming speed.Comment: Published 1 November 2013 in Europhysics Letter

A Demographic and Economic Profile of Duluth, Minnesota, and Superior, Wisconsin

In this brief, authors Andrew Schaefer, Marybeth Mattingly, and Douglas Gagnon present a demographic and economic profile of Duluth, Minnesota, and Superior, Wisconsin, with a specific focus on families with children. Analyzing data from the American Community Survey and U.S. Decennial Census on family income and poverty, they compare—wherever possible—conditions in Duluth and Superior to those in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the nation as a whole. They report that, in both Duluth and Superior, poverty among families with children has increased substantially in the last 15 years; by 2010 and 2015, family poverty was higher in each city than across the nation or statewide. In St. Louis County, Minnesota—home of Duluth—low income families have experienced declines in their income over the past 40 years, while income has grown for more well-off families

X,Y,Z-Waves: Extended Structures in Nonlinear Lattices

Motivated by recent experimental and theoretical results on optical X-waves, we propose a new type of waveforms in 2D and 3D discrete media -- multi-legged extended nonlinear structures (ENS), built as arrays of lattice solitons (tiles or stones, in the 2D and 3D cases, respectively). First, we study the stability of the tiles and stones analytically, and then extend them numerically to complete ENS forms for both 2D and 3D lattices. The predicted patterns are relevant to a variety of physical settings, such as Bose-Einstein condensates in deep optical lattices, lattices built of microresonators, photorefractive crystals with optically induced lattices (in the 2D case) and others.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Universal Heat Conduction in YBa_2Cu_3O_6.9

The thermal conductivity of YBa_2Cu_3O_6.9 was measured at low temperatures in untwinned single crystals with concentrations of Zn impurities from 0 to 3% of Cu. A linear term kappa_0/T = 0.19 mW/K^2.cm is clearly resolved as T -> 0, and found to be virtually independent of Zn concentration. The existence of this residual normal fluid strongly validates the basic theory of transport in unconventional superconductors. Moreover, the observed universal behavior is in quantitative agreement with calculations for a gap function of d-wave symmetry.Comment: Latex file, 4 pages, 3 EPS figures, to appear in Physical Review Letter