COVID-19 insights and action

Our faculty, staff, students, and alumni are leading the charge on public policy responses to and analysis of the COVID-19 crisis.

Our population, our health care and economic systems, our workforce, housing, and security have all be affected, with some damage yet to be fully seen. The pandemic has laid bare our world’s racism, economic injustice, and other social and structural inequalities: the virus touches all, but the most significant and direct impacts have been and will continue to be on vulnerable people and communities.

Since mid-March 2020, our community has pulled together to find solutions.

Whether it is ensuring that our most vulnerable residents have their basic needs met, assessing the damage to our economy, gathering insights about health preparedness and responses on the ground from Michigan to Mozambique, addressing national security concerns, or providing critical information to residents and small businesses so they can stay afloat, Ford School faculty, students, and alumni are engaged and committed.

Research insights

New policy brief reviews evidence of the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on young children's learning and ECE programs, highlighting inequities, and points to solutions

How has COVID-19 impacted young children's educational experiences and learning outcomes? How has the pandemic impacted early childhood education...

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Development economist Dean Yang and his team find that teaching and financial incentives to learn are complementary methods to improve COVID knowledge in Mozambique

Celeste Watkins-Hayes shows how shoring up and expanding the HIV safety net can target health disparities exposed by COVID-19—and fight two of the present day's most impactful infectious diseases.

In a study that tracks 5,000 migrants across north and central India, Yusuf Neggers finds that women are more affected by the lockdowns than men.

Policy engagement

Stevenson addresses child care in Senate committee testimony

The importance of access to child care in the economic recovery was emphasized by Ford School economics professor Betsey Stevenson in testimony...

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Photo of a DMACS surveyor and a Detroit resident speaking on the front porch of his home

Detroit Metro Area Communities Study (DMACS) finds that among Detroiters who have not received any doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, nearly 8 out of 10 cited concerns about the safety of the vaccine among their reasons. The results are part of a series of rapid-response surveys measuring the impact of the pandemic on Detroit residents.

COVID-19 Consulting Corps students partnered with the Michigan Townships Association to provide guidance in the face of pandemic challenges.

Youth Policy Lab Fellow Avazeh Attari helped develop the new Michigan policy inspired by the G.I. Bill.

Faculty expert

Betsey Stevenson

Professor of Public Policy and Economics

Stevenson is a labor economist who publishes widely about the effects of the pandemic on the labor market, particularly for women and families. In September she testified to the House Ways and Means Committee on the consequences of inaction on COVID tax legislation.

Paula Lantz

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs; Professor of Public Policy, James B. Hudak Professor of Health Policy

Lantz led a distinguished group of Michigan public health experts in filing an Amicus Curiae brief defending Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-at-home orders, stating these actions prevented 3,500 COVID-19 deaths. In 2020 she was named to the National Academy of Social Insurance COVID-19 Task Force which examines the potential impacts of the pandemic on the population, the society, and the economy, and the accompanying implications for social insurance programs in the United States.

Policy engagement

Shaefer testifies about the impact of the Child Tax Credit before the U.S. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis

On September 22, Luke Shaefer, the Hermann and Amalie Kohn Professor of Social Justice and Social Policy, testified before the U.S. House Select...

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Photo of Luke Shaefer testifying before the U.S. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis

Lin joined U-M Professors to conduct a survey in over a dozen locations around the world which looked at how people feel about the disease and prevention efforts, anxiety, vaccination, and blame.

The Michigan Public Policy Survey measures the attitudes about the direction of the state, and the performances of the governor and the legislature amidst pandemic.

Faculty Expert

Luke Shaefer

Hermann and Amalie Kohn Professor of Social Justice and Social Policy; Associate dean for research and policy engagement at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy; Director of Poverty Solutions; Professor of Social Work.

Shaefer was named special counselor to the director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and throughout the pandemic advised on the agency's decision to defer work requirements for those receiving TANF benefits, has played a supporting role in the process of rolling out new food assistance benefits, and facilitated connections between U-M housing experts and the state that helped in the Governor’s decision to halt evictions as families struggle with job loss caused by the downturn.

View Shaefer's profile