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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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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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.
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Faculty Expert
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.
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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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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.
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Related videos
Faculty insights on how the pandemic has changed our world and what we can do to mitigate its effects.
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Christina Weiland: How the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted young students’ learning Aug 5, 2021
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Crucial Conversations: The Pandemic's Disproportionate Impact on Women Mar 29, 2021
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Paula Lantz - COVID-19: From Epidemiology to Equity Jun 17, 2020
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Combating poverty and inequality amidst a pandemic Jul 15, 2020
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Michigan Minds: How COVID-19 is impacting Detroit Residents Jun 3, 2020
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Michigan Minds: Local Government Fiscal Health During COVID-19 Apr 27, 2020
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Adrienne Harris on the impact of the coin shortage due to COVID-19. Check out the video from VICE.
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Rebecca Cohen
Senior Communications & Outreach Strategist
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