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Discussions of college costs often focus on tuition and fees, but living cost allowances for room, board, and other expenses account for more than half of the total cost of attending college. The allowances, developed by colleges and universities, also affect student eligibility for federal financial aid and the accuracy of accountability systems. This study examined institutional variation in living cost allowances and assessed the consistency of allowances by comparing them to living cost estimates specific to the college's region. Results across multiple specifications indicated that nearly half of all colleges provide living-cost allowances at least 20% above or below estimated county-level living expenses.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the association between employment status and financial resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThis study employed US nationally representative data. A financial resilience index was created based on households' ability to pay for basic living expenses and the resources used to meet such needs. Employment status was categorized into seven groups based on whether the respondent worked for pay in the last seven days, experience of income shock since the start of the pandemic for workers' household and reasons for not working for non-workers' household. A generalized linear model (GLM) model was used to examine the relationship between respondent employment status and household financial resilience. An ordinary least square (OLS) logistic regression with no proportional odds assumption was employed to investigate the association between the respondent's employment status and household ability to pay for basic living expenses. A logistic regression was utilized to explore the relationship between respondent employment status and resources used by the household to pay for basic living expenses.FindingsThe top three least financially resilient households include those in which the respondent's work was affected by the pandemic, the respondent did not work due to being sick with COVID or caring for someone with COVID and the respondent did not work due to fear of COVID.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research should distinguish the reasons for not working when examining the association between unemployment and household financial resilience as well as their overall financial wellbeing. Cross-sectional data cannot establish a causal relationship. Findings using US data may not be generalized to other countries.Practical implicationsWorkers with health and employment risks and financial professionals working with these clients should consider these risks when building household financial safety net. Policymakers should develop measures to allow normal business operations while effectively contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus.Originality/valueThis study created a financial resilience index that considers various household situations, allows both internal and external resources to be utilized to cover basic living expenses and reflects the diverse nature of financial resilience. This study is the first to look into voluntary and involuntary labor force separation for COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 related reasons.

This paper investigates the impacts of increasing prices on the following sectors in Saudi Arabia: electricity, gas, water, manufacturing, agriculture, transport, storage, and communications. It evaluates the changes in producer and consumer prices and household living expenses. The Saudi Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) was developed along with a price multiplier approach used to analyze different simulations. Two findings stand out. First, there are differences in impacts according to household groups and the direction of the effects. Low-income and middle-income households were the most negatively affected by the price hikes. Second, the potential impacts of manufacturing, transport, storage, and communications price shocks are high. For a 50% increase in prices, the overall increases in cost of living for low-income households and middle-income households, as estimated with the SAM price model, are 20.59% and 6.17%, respectively. In contrast, the impacts of electricity, gas and water supply, and agriculture prices are minor, estimated at 2.05% and 2.75%, respectively. This would indicate that special attention should be given to compensatory mechanisms to minimize the adverse effects on low-income and middle-income household groups.

This paper examines the changes in vertical equity across different types of tax filing families during the span of a series of drastic personal income tax reforms in Taiwan. The newly enacted 2016 Taxpayer Rights Protection Act has brought unprecedented challenges to the tax authority’s distributional goal and revenue stability. Utilizing the administrative tax return data collected by the Ministry of Finance’s Fiscal Information Agency between 2016 and 2018, we show that while the income tax has contributed to improving equality in income distribution, the effects, however, were limited and even declined slightly in recent years. We also found that distributions of tax benefits are generally regressive, especially among itemized and special deductions. It is also shown that the personal exemption and the adjustments of basic living expenses provided comparably more relief to households with dependents than to those claiming no dependents. According to our two-parameter metric encompassing the usage rates and the tax-benefit distributions for each deduction, we found that itemized deductions and special deductions, in general, are regressive. Specifically, we calculate and compare different representative families’ tax payments before and after the reform. While the tax reform has helped reduce many tax-filing families’ tax liabilities, most tax benefits generated from the expansion of exemptions and deductions would likely be enjoyed by families with higher incomes. In a broader reform-minded context, the analysis cautions the tax authority in Taiwan and equity pursuing policy makers in other countries not to prioritize an overarching short-term equity goal over long-term revenue stabilization. Phasing out or capping some of the itemized deductions such as donations and special deductions related to discretionary purchasing decisions looks to be a promising reform path toward improving equity and restoring revenue stability.

Many mainstream schools of economics argue that work is a burden, while nonmainstream schools argue that this might not be entirely true. This paper aims to reconcile this difference by suggesting that individuals will balance income and leisure only after the fixed expense for their current living standard is met. Three applications show that the above explanation can reconcile different historical perspectives, explain various discrepancies about labor supply between neoclassical theory predictions and empirical findings, and reconcile the different interpretations about lottery winners’ labor supply.

Financial freedom lets people choose whether and how much to work. In this chapter, readers learn how to calculate how much they'll need for living expenses in retirement, how much their current retirement savings will be worth when they retire, and how much they still need to save each year in order to accumulate a lump sum that will annually earn enough to fund their retirement living expenses. Strategies such as deferring taxes on savings interest can greatly reduce the amount an investor must save each year and still meet the goal.

As every bank needs nostros to settle their transactions, well‐controlled nostros are a key ingredient for a successful bank. This chapter explores what a nostro is and examines the controls a bank has in place to safeguard their cash. Nostros for banks are akin to the savings accounts that everyone have, to receive the salary payments into and pay the living expenses from. A bank will require a nostro for each currency they trade in, which will be held with depository institutions. These accounts are known as vostros from the depository institution's side. Nostros attract interest and fees which vary depending on the balance. The chapter focuses on how cash breaks are controlled. A nostro reconciliation checks that the amounts being paid into and out of a bank's nostro agrees with the bank's expectations.

This paper summarizes the experiences to date of the new EU countries (the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia—the EU8) in the reform of higher education systems in a period of growing demand; changing patterns of access; rapid expansion and increased participation rates; and an apparent dilution of average quality. The study discusses the growing experience with a variety of financing mechanisms in EU8 countries, drawing on detailed country case studies, and seeks to develop some useful lessons from experience, mindful that each country will continue to develop its own solution based on national priorities.

This chapter contains sections titled: Notes About the Author

It wasn’t until Maria met Mrs. Mendoza that she even considered going to college. Mrs. Mendoza was the Vice Principal of Patrick Henry High School. Maria first met her when she was called in to her office on suspicion of “vandalizing” the girls’ bathroom, along with her friends Rosalia and Piper. Seated along the blue vinyl bench crammed into the small entryway between Mrs. Mendoza’s office and the copy machine, the three girls took turns looking sullen, defiant, and terrified.