James Morgan launched this early ISR panel study, intended to track the same individuals over time. The study now has followed American families for more than 40 years, looking at employment, retirement, income, expenditures, wealth, pensions, health, insurance, marriage and childbearing, mental health, and philanthropy. Having started with 5,000 families, ISR by 2008 was interviewing some 8,000 families, consisting of more than 65,000 members across four generations. Among its accomplishments, the study has led to key inter-generational analyses and a more nuanced understanding of the dynamics of poverty.
