Following changes to federal cash assistance programs in 1996, low‐income families now rely on a set of social programs: the Earned Income Tax Credit, food assistance, publicly funded health insurance, and child‐care subsidies. In this review, we present evidence on the effects of these programs on families' economic circumstances, families' psychological well‐being and functioning, and children's developmental outcomes. Social safety net programs improve families' economic circumstances, thereby achieving their primary goal. Few studies have examined impacts on children's developmental outcomes but overall, programs improve children's academic, behavioral, and physical well‐being. Even fewer studies have examined impacts on parents' psychological well‐being or family functioning, leaving gaps in the literature. The review concludes with discussions of the Great Recession and whether effects found during stronger economic times generalize to the most recent economic crisis, and with a discussion of social safety net policies in countries outside the United States.

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This study uses a North Carolina administrative data set to analyze racial segregation and student achievement in Wake County during race-based and income-based school assignment plans. We find a modest increase in the level of racial segregation in Wake schools during the income-based plan, but compared with other large districts in the state, Wake County remained relatively desegregated. We also find a small increase in reading and math test scores and a narrowing of the Black-White test score gap. Our analysis indicates that the improvement in math scores may be partially due to school composition changes attributable to the income-based assignment plan.

We newly apply the concept of self-affirmation typically used in the domain of health and education to the domain of parenting. Recruiting parents of children age 13 or younger (n = 1,044), we test how eliciting positive self-concept affects interest in receiving parenting materials and participating in a parenting program. We find that an adapted, pride-based written self-affirmation exercise increased parents' positive self-concept and their interest in parenting programs and resources, particularly among parents with a high baseline fear of judgment associated with seeking help. Implications for applying insights from psychology as a strategy to mitigate fear of judgment to optimize participation in an evidence-based parenting program at scale are discussed.