Departments and Research Centers

Poverty Solutions

Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan informs and tests innovative solutions for the prevention and alleviation of poverty, leveraging the immense intellectual assets and academic scope of the university to make a major impact on the

Showing 91 - 120 of 395 results

News

Suburban Detroit Water Unaffordability: Causes, Consequences, and the Need for Comprehensive Policy Interventions

May 16, 2023

A policy brief from Poverty Solutions outlines the need for policy reform in the delivery of clean water, based on assessments of economically diverse communities in the Detroit area. Michigan is blessed with a significant portion of the world’s...

News

Shaefer's Flint collaboration making news

May 12, 2023

A new program that will grant Flint families with new babies $7,500 has been making the news, as it addresses "one of the most fundamental social determinants of health: poverty." The program, Rx Kids, received an initial grant of $15 million from...

Photo of Luke Shaefer seated in Weill Hall's Great Hall

News

Mott Foundation intends grants to support direct payments to pregnant and first-year Flint mothers

Apr 20, 2023

The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation intends to grant up to $15 million over three years to Michigan State University to support the launch of Rx Kids, an innovative initiative to provide direct cash payments to mothers in Flint during pregnancy and...

News

U-M report on Detroiters’ opinions of reparations gains traction in media

Apr 18, 2023

The Center for Racial Justice, the Detroit Metro Area Communities Study, and Poverty Solutions released a new report detailing Detroiters’ opinions on reparations and racial inequity in March 2023. Since its release, multiple news outlets picked up...

In the Media

Branche-Wilson on the need for businesses to accept cash

Apr 18, 2023 Crain's Detroit Business

Afton Branche-Wilson, assistant director of community initiatives for Poverty Solutions, Crain's Detroit Business: “From a business perspective, you want a customer base as wide and diverse as possible. To say you only want folks who keep money in a...

Photo of jars of money, one each labeled for travel, education, car, health, and house.

In the Media

Erb-Downward discusses trends between poverty and school choice in Detroit

Apr 10, 2023 Chalkbeat Detroit

Jennifer Erb-Downward, Chalkbeat Detroit: "The deeper someone is in poverty, the more challenges they face, and that has a huge impact on a child’s ability to participate in their...

News

March Jobs Report: Strong, if slowing, labor market continues as Black unemployment falls to a record low

Apr 9, 2023

In March, employers added 236,000 jobs as the economy continued to expand. Job growth is slowing, with most job growth in the past month occurring in the sectors that have been the slowest to recover from the pandemic. The unemployment rate ticked...

In the Media

Unemployment benefits are “the most arcane and complicated” government program - Shaefer

Apr 6, 2023 NPR Marketplace

Luke Shaefer, NPR Marketplace: "There is undoubtedly a set of people who actually are eligible for benefits and should be getting...

Photo of Luke Shaefer in the Ford School's Towsley Reading Room

In the Media

Cooney on Detroit guaranteed income proposal

Apr 4, 2023 WDET

Patrick Cooney, WDET: "It’s no surprise that when people get cash material hardship drops. But the fact that material hardship was so high in the first place in the richest country on Earth…that is a big...

News

National Academy of Sciences appoints Shaefer chair of new committee on economic and social mobility

Apr 3, 2023

As inequality and downward social mobility are on the rise in the United States, research on the causes and solutions is urgently required. To influence the direction of future research, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine...

News

Detroiters' views on reparations connected to perception of racial wealth gap, other inequality

Mar 29, 2023

Detroiters' perceptions of the racial wealth gap, the legacy of slavery and other forms of racial inequity are strongly connected to their support for reparations and policies that address racial inequity. Overall, 63% of Detroit residents...

Detroiters Reparations Racial Inequality March 2023 policy brief image

News

We must change hearts to achieve equality - Alemu

Mar 19, 2023

What is the best way to combat racism -- change policies or change hearts? That is the question Matthew Alemu (MPP '09, PhD) contends with in an essay for Bridge Detroit. "Racism resides where society and policy have yet to tackle it directly,...

In the Media

Shaefer: SNAP cuts will hurt families

Mar 19, 2023 Michigan Advance

Luke Shaefer, Michigan Advance: "I want to stress how incredibly successful the expansion of the safety net was during the COVID crisis — the expansion of SNAP, extended unemployment insurance, the expanded child tax credit, as well as rental...

News

Poverty Solutions marks impact of action-based research in 2022

Mar 15, 2023

From informing how the U.S. Census estimates populations to reimagining land contracts as a path to homeownership and inspiring state legislation that would aid homeless youths, Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan continued to tackle the...

News

February Jobs Report: Job Growth Shows No Signs of Slowing

Mar 10, 2023

The U.S. labor market grew by 311,000 jobs in February. Unemployment ticked up to 3.6%, while the number of employed expanded and the labor force participation rate also ticked up. Since October 2022, labor force participation has expanded slowly...

News

President Ono salutes the Ford School, Luke Shaefer, in Inauguration address

Mar 8, 2023

As President Santa. J. Ono was inaugurated as the 15th president of the University of Michigan on March 8, he laid out a vision for change and challenge to continue to address the world’s greatest problems. In his address to an audience of students,...

News

Many households will struggle with ending of federal pandemic aid

Mar 1, 2023

The federal government has ended its pandemic aid for millions of low-income families on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. The average person will receive about $90 less in benefits per month, possibly hundreds of dollars...

Photo of a nearly empty fridge, with only an apple inside

News

Ford School welcomes local and state elected officials to boost collaborative work

Feb 16, 2023

Elected officials from local, county, and state government came to the Ford School to hear about the potential for collaborations with their offices and the School’s faculty, research centers, and students. Fifteen members of the Michigan State...

Local Public Officials at the Ford School

News

Beyond Rhetoric offers road map for responding to racism as a public health crisis

Feb 9, 2023

A group of local leaders and public health researchers are sharing their process for responding to racism as a public health crisis, with the goal of supporting other municipalities and organizations in addressing the links between racism and health...

Photo of a road and crosswalk in Flint near the University Pavillion

News

Shaefer joins Detroit mayor and partners to help residents access tax credits

Feb 2, 2023

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan has joined with a coalition of community partner agencies to announce the 2023 tax credit campaign to enable residents to access millions in federal tax credits. Duggan also outlined that the city’s new plan provides...

News

Poverty Solutions report on police reform widely referenced in wake of recent alleged police abuse

Jan 31, 2023

Following the death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of the Memphis police, national attention is once again focused on the use of force by police. The Detroit Free Press, among other outlets, turned to a report written by Trevor Bechtel, Mara C....

In the Media

Americans' increasing requests for assistance a sign that "people are hurting"

Jan 26, 2023 USA Today

USA Today: The report's other finding that 55% of surveyed adults sought benefits shows how much people are hurting, said Luke Shaefer, a leading expert on social safety nets and professor at the University of Michigan. “The best indicator we...

News

Gun control measures associated with reduced police use of force

Jan 24, 2023

As police departments and activists look for strategies to reduce excessive use of force by police, new research from the University of Michigan shows limited data, lack of transparency and irregular implementation of reforms make it difficult to...

Publication

Public bank could address Chicago residents' complaints about private bankers, lenders

Jan 22, 2023

New research from the University of Michigan points to the potential of public banking to better serve the financial needs of Chicago residents as the volume of complaints about private banking services has increased exponentially over the past...

News

December jobs report: Healthy job market increasingly matches pre-pandemic employment patterns

Jan 6, 2023

Employers added 223,000 jobs in December 2022, capping a year marked by record low unemployment and high job growth. The unemployment rate fell to 3.5% with a slight increase in the labor force participation rate and employment rate, according...

News

Puerto Rican Opinion Lab: Understanding how U.S. policies affect islanders

Jan 5, 2023

Mara Ostfeld, PhD, associate faculty director at Poverty Solutions, assistant research scientist at the Ford School of Public Policy, research director at the Center for Racial Justice, and faculty lead for the Detroit Metro Area Community Study,...

Publication

75% of unemployed Detroiters expect to return to work soon as unemployment rate drops

Dec 11, 2022

As more Detroiters return to work amid the pandemic recovery, the greatest declines in unemployment have been for residents of color and people with low incomes—although those groups continue to experience higher-than-average unemployment...

News

Ostfeld partners with University of Puerto Rico to create stronger survey data

Dec 7, 2022

Collaborating with the University of Puerto Rico and acting as primary investigator, Ford School professor Mara Ostfeld, helped launch the Puerto Rican Public Opinion Laboratory (LabPOP). LabPOP aims to be the first to obtain data about the...

News

Ostfeld appointed research director of the Center for Racial Justice

Dec 5, 2022

Political scientist Dr. Mara Celicia Ostfeld has been named the inaugural research director of the Center for Racial Justice (CRJ) at the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy. In this role, Ostfeld will lead the development of the...

Mara Ostfeld speaking at a Poverty Solutions event.

News

Tompkins-Stange weighs in on no-strings-attached donations

Dec 5, 2022

Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott is changing the world of education philanthropy by giving no-strings-attached, multimillion-dollar donations to schools. Megan Tompkins-Stange, associate professor of public policy, analyzed the donations, and the...