Policy Topics

Poverty and social policy

Showing 481 - 510 of 1254 results

In the Media

Access to clean water essential to protecting health, stopping spread of COVID-19, says Udow-Phillips

Nov 7, 2020 Bridge Michigan

"For those who cannot afford their water bills, shutoffs not only endanger their lives, but the lives of others they come in contact with. Clean and available water is essential to help stop the spread of COVID-19," said Udow-Phillips in her guest...

In the Media

Levy comments on how the next administration's health plans will affect the U.S. economy

Nov 1, 2020 Reuters

"Being able to accumulate assets is really important if you think about supporting economic mobility,” said Levy, speaking about the boost to health and financial stability for low-income families through a health insurance 'public option'. Read...

News

Michigan Votes - Ford School faculty experts available

Oct 29, 2020

Contact: Daniel Rivkin, [email protected], +1-917-817-6323 Michigan Votes! ANN ARBOR — Experts at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan are available to discuss the election process and results in Michigan...

Side by side photos of Donald Trump and Joe Biden

News

Dynarski examines cost-effective ways to improve global learning on Global Education Evidence Advisory Panel

Oct 28, 2020

A report released by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) looks at “the best investments to improve the quality and take-up of education in developing countries, as the world faces a learning crisis, with the coronavirus pandemic...

News

Third annual Ford School pitch competition focuses on financial inclusion and inequity during summer internships

Oct 27, 2020

Financial inclusion and inequity were focuses of the third annual pitch competition, at which 12 Ford School BA and Masters students presented about their summer internship experiences. Those experiences were online in 2020 because of the COVID-19...

News

Barr and Harris call for more inclusive payments systems

Oct 26, 2020

Ford School Dean Michael Barr and professor of practice Adrienne Harris say the technologies of the “payments revolution,” which enable people to make payments and access bank accounts more easily, can also lead to greater financial...

In the Media

Udow-Phillips reflects on tenure at The Center for Health Research and Transformation (CHRT), Covid-19 response

Oct 24, 2020 Detroit Free Press

"Many people in health care have been saying for a long time that we’re going to face something like [COVID-19]. What I think people were more surprised about was how ill prepared we were as a country," said Udow-Phillips. "I think people were...

In the Media

Stevenson: It's wise to increase minimum wage and provide relief for small businesses

Oct 23, 2020 Washington Post

According to the Washington Post, Stevenson said that lower-wage workers, many struggling with higher levels of unemployment and job insecurity due to the pandemic, should not have to bear the cost of the pandemic by waiting for more equitable...

In the Media

Davenport on whether BLM activism will create change

Oct 19, 2020 Knowable Magazine

"Movements are not places to work out complex ideas. That’s dialogue, reflection, reading, conversing, working through proposals, and that’s not for most people," said Davenport. "I think we’re approaching a countdown to compassion fatigue. As of...

In the Media

Shaefer on the success of the CARES Act

Oct 15, 2020 New York Times

“It wasn’t perfect, but hands down it’s the most successful thing we’ve ever done in negating hardship,” said H. Luke Shaefer. Read the full New York Times article...

News

Poverty Solutions receives grant to develop homelessness data-to-action playbook

Oct 14, 2020

Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan is one of three organizations across the country contributing to a new “Education Leads Home” Data-to-Action Playbook that will offer guidance on how to use student homelessness data to advocate for...

News

Shaefer highlights success of Michigan’s response to COVID’s economic crisis

Oct 9, 2020

“Sometimes, when we’re not looking, government does the remarkable.” That’s the assessment of Ford School professor H. Luke Shaefer, director of Poverty Solutions, on the effectiveness of Michigan’s response to the economic crisis created by...

Luke Shaefer delivers a talk at the Ford School

News

More than $260K awarded for research on confronting, combating racism

Oct 2, 2020

Now that Genesee County has declared racism a public health crisis, what role can residents play in guiding the county’s efforts to eliminate racist policies and practices? That’s one of the research questions University of Michigan faculty will...

A rainy protest with a sign reading "Black Lives Matter"

News

October 2020: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the Ford School

Oct 1, 2020

Updates regarding faculty, staff, and student DEI-related activity at the Ford School Diversifying what and how we teach Based on a generous gift from Hal and Carol Kohn and the Kohn Charitable Trust, the Ford School will establish...

News

New U-M report lifts up Detroit residents' priorities for economic mobility

Sep 25, 2020

A new report from the University of Michigan's Poverty Solutions lifts up more than a decade's worth of input from Detroit residents on how to increase economic mobility and decrease poverty in their city. The community-based research project,...

Publication

Employer Resource Networks hold promise to increase retention and improve productivity of entry-level workers - Shaefer

Sep 24, 2020

Employer Resource Networks (ERNs) involve local networks of employers collectively providing work support services to their entry-level workforce. In a paper published for the American Enterprise Institute, Hermann and Amalie Kohn Professor of...

Publication

Parthasarathy’s report shows innovation policy ignores marginalized communities

Sep 23, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed policymaking biases that have ignored poor and marginalized communities, argues Ford school professor Shobita Parthasarathy. In a paper, Innovation Policy, Structural Inequality, and COVID-19, published in the...

Professor Shobita Parthasarathy leads a discussion in the Betty Ford Classroom

News

Michael Barr joins Kresge Foundation Board

Sep 21, 2020

Ford School Dean Michael Barr has been appointed to serve on the Board of Trustees of The Kresge Foundation. The Foundation was founded in 1924 to promote human progress and today fulfills that mission by building and strengthening pathways to...

In the Media

Stevenson discusses rising permanent unemployment and smart investments on BBC

Sep 18, 2020 BBC World Service

“Permanent unemployment is much harder to solve... It's going to be a long slog getting folks back to work and it's not clear that we're going to get the kind of support from the government that we need, but I do think that policy can mitigate some...

News

Kohn gift establishes two new social policy professorships at the Ford School

Sep 17, 2020

The Karl and Martha Kohn Professorship of Social Policy will advance societal equity and inclusion in the United States. The Arlene Susan Kohn Professorship of Social Policy will address the rights of the disabled in the United States. With a $5...

Karl Kohn, Martha Kohn, and Arlene Susan Kohn

In the Media

Shaefer: Record high 2019 U.S. median income sobering in comparison to coronavirus impacts

Sep 15, 2020 Reuters

“No one yet knows the full impact of the economic and public health crisis that is consuming our lives today and disproportionately impacting the poorest American families,” said H. Luke Shaefer. Read the full Reuters article...

In the Media

Stevenson testifies on the effects of fiscal relief inaction

Sep 11, 2020 Law 360

"One of the problems we've seen is that high-income households have really boosted their savings [with CARES Act funding]. And when you're saving, you're not spending and that's part of what's caused the economy to contract." Read the full Law...

News

Joy Rohde selected as an Institute for Advanced Study Scholar

Sep 2, 2020

Today’s debates about the use of big data, algorithms and computer models in policy-making have deep historical roots. Historian and Ford School professor Joy Rohde argues that the intersection of computing, social science, and public policy is as...

News

Young and Lewis comment on rise in Black gun ownership

Aug 31, 2020

The economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and the upcoming presidential election and the need to assert gun rights are spurring increases in gun ownership, according to an article in the Detroit Free Press . And in the midst of these...

News

Students support local organizations to improve equity

Aug 28, 2020

One element of the struggle for economic equity in Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC) communities is the intentional denial of support networks that provide funding, customers, connections or other resources for businesses and...

Three people, wearing masks, at a meeting.

Alumni spotlight

Caroline Andridge (BA ‘14) keeps a person-centered approach to humanitarian relief

Aug 27, 2020

Even in high school, Caroline Andridge (BA '14) had a vision of shaping policy that would impact an individual’s quality of life. She came to Michigan already intending to apply to the Ford School. She said: "I was drawn to the ability to dig...

Alumni spotlight

Sen. Chang (MPP/MSW ‘14) commitment to public service

Aug 21, 2020

Senator Stephanie Chang (MPP/MSW '14) entered graduate school with the long-term goal of running a non-profit. With community organizing experience under her belt, she started at the Ford School and School of Social Work to enhance her quantitative...

News

Detroit unemployment rate drops, but 1 in 5 residents in financial trouble

Aug 13, 2020

More Detroiters have returned to work amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but many families continue to have difficulty affording basic necessities and worry more hardship is ahead. That's according to the latest representative survey of Detroiters from...

News

Barr seeks financial inclusion for underserved communities

Aug 12, 2020

Throughout his career in academia and in government, Ford School Dean Michael S. Barr has sought ways to help low-income people get better access to the financial system, and to change the financial system to work better for low-income...

Alumni spotlight

Bart Édes (MPP ‘87) forges international partnerships to assist Asia’s developing countries

Aug 11, 2020

As the Asian Development Bank’s North American representative, Bart Édes (MPP '87) raises awareness of the economic, environmental and social challenges facing Asia and the Pacific, and builds partnerships in Canada and the United States to meet...