Poverty Solutions

Dorothy Roberts will share her new book Torn Apart and her belief that the only way to stop the destruction caused by family policing is to abolish the child welfare system and liberate Black communities. April, 2022.

This first event in our COVID-19 reflections series will feature a panel discussion on the local impact of safety nets on communities of color during the COVID-19 pandemic. April, 2022.

Luke Shaefer gives the inaugural Hermann and Amalie Kohn Professorship in Social Policy and Social Justice Lecture. November, 2021.

In this talk, H. Luke Shaefer reviews research on the impacts of the largest and most comprehensive expansion of the social safety net in modern times, and where the nation goes from here.

H. Luke Shaefer, Poverty Solutions director and Ford School Kohn Professor of Social Justice and Social Policy, to testify before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis. September, 2021.

H. Luke Shaefer discusses his recent report reviewing the Employer Resource Networks (ERNs) model, followed by a panel discussion moderated by Brent Orrell with Dr. Shaefer, Jason Heyboer of Lacks Enterprises, and James M.

The Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA) has awarded the Gerald R.

Luke Shaefer, Alford A. Young Jr., and Michael S. Barr,  discuss some of the ways that policymakers and communities are attempting to combat poverty during this crisis. July 2020.

WDI and Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan were proud to co-host Efosa Ojomo, co-author of “The Prosperity Paradox: How Innovation Can Lift Nations Out of Poverty" and senior research fellow at the Clayton Christensen Institute,

Shamar Herron, Deputy Director of Michigan Works! Southeast, leads a discussion with providers and participants on the front lines of workforce development about what works and what doesn’t.

Jeff Donofrio, Executive Director of Workforce Development for the city of Detroit leads a discussion about current workforce development strategies and future directions of work and Michigan’s workforce.

Jennifer Erb-Downward, senior research associate at Poverty Solutions, discusses student homelessness and school attendance. 

Are women more likely than men to be in deep poverty, official poverty, and near poverty? Yes, yes, and yes.