Adriana Lleras-Muney
Economics Department
Office Hours: Tuesdays 1-3pm
Bunche 9373
Intergenerational Poverty in America
Assignment 1: Poverty in CA
Your Job:
1.
Download data
from the ACS 2021 (find it here:
https://usa.ipums.org/usa/
)
a.
Decide which variables to include
b.
Only keep individuals from CA.
c.
If the file is too big, select a random sample
d.
The data contains a variable called "poverty" status. You can use this measure as a
check, but I would like you to report at least one alternative definition of poverty
that your group will compute from scratch.
2.
Use software
of your choice to look at this data and to understand who is poor in CA.
a.
How many people are poor in CA? Who are they (age, race, etc)? Where do they
live?
b.
What is the poverty rate in CA? which groups are most likely to be poor?
c.
YOU need to decide which statistics to compute.
d.
Make sure you compute the answer to the questions in the survey.
3.
Write a ONE PAGE memo
for the governor of CA on poverty in California
a.
Submit the memo online
b.
The memo should contain the answers to the questions above and all other
information that you deem relevant (e.g. you could compare CA to other states).
c.
Important backup materials (for example details on how you decided who was
poor) can be included as appendices.
d.
All facts should either be computed by your group or be accompanied by
appropriate citations.
e.
Memo should have 1-inch margins, use single spacing at 12-point font.
f.
You may include figures in the main memo.
4.
Use your data to answer the following online survey before coming to class:
https://forms.gle/JvPGEhhwz6EURR9h7
Grading
Late assignments get a grade of 0. Points will be taken off if you don't answer the survey.
Points will be deducted for not following instructions.
o
Make sure you do not exceed the length and that you follow formatting
instructions
o
Make sure you include citations when relevant
o
Figures if included should include labels, have titles and be self-explanatory
o
Unformatted computer output is not acceptable.
