PubPol 736 Poverty and Inequality | Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
PubPol 736

PubPol 736 Poverty and Inequality

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Level
Graduate
Term
Winter 2024
Course Section
001
U-M Course Number
31078
Credit Hours
3
Class Size
30

This course examines the nature, extent and causes of poverty and inequality in the US relying on a multidisciplinary literature from sociology, political science, economics, and psychology. The large number of anti-poverty programs that have been tried in the last 30 years underscores the extent of disagreement about the causes of poverty, the situation of the poor, and the role of the government in encouraging income redistribution and social change. This course will explore the problem of poverty, theories of poverty and the implications that these theories have for public policies targeting poverty. We will study issues related to topics such as housing and neighborhoods, structural economic changes like wages and inequality, families and social norms, and mass incarceration to consider how these issues generate and reproduce poverty, lack of opportunity, and inequality.