Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction / Maude Toussaint-Comeau and Bruce Meyer -- Bringing together policymakers, researchers, and practitioners to discuss strategies for improving economic mobility / Maude Toussaint-Comeau -- Past trends and projections in wages, work, and occupations in the United States / David Autor -- The earned income tax credit, welfare reform, and the employment of low-skilled single mothers / Hilary Hoynes -- Reflections on economic mobility and policy / Bruce D. Meyer -- Helping low-wage workers persist in education programs : lessons from research on welfare training programs and two promising community college strategies / Lashawn Richburg-Hayes -- Financial aid and older workers : supporting the nontraditional student / Bridget Terry Long -- Can residential mobility programs improve human capital? Comparing social mechanisms in two different programs / James Rosenbaum -- What might improve the employment and advancement prospects of the poor? / Harry J. Holzer -- What we know about the impacts of workforce investment programs / Burt S. Barnow and Jeffrey A. Smith -- Correctional programs in the age of mass incarceration : what do we know about "what works" / John H. Tyler and Jillian Berk -- Comparing apples to oranges when evaluating community-based programs and services / Robert LaLonde.