American Rescue Plan

U-M researchers play role in reimagining social safety net in Ann Arbor and beyond For the nearly three decades Kristin Seefeldt (MPP ’96, PhD ’10) has lived and worked in Ann Arbor, her professional life studying and teaching about poverty...

Michigan local officials are reporting alarm at the lack of housing options across the state. Those concerns include single-family homes and multi-family units, and cut across affordable, entry-level and mid-level housing availability.  The...

Michigan local governments are facing challenges in spending the $4.4 billion which was allocated to them in the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), according to a new survey.   The funds were intended to support local governments to stabilize...

A majority of Michigan local leaders' assessments of their fiscal stress this year remain essentially unchanged compared to both 2021 and 2020, despite significant infusions of federal and state aid in recent years.  The findings come from the...

A survey of Michigan local government leaders on the federal American Rescue Plan Act funding and uses finds the top spending priorities are on capital improvements, infrastructure and public safety.  Further, the state's largest jurisdictions...

A new policy brief from Poverty Solutions initiative offers recommendations for ways to target funding to key programs and priorities, focus on program implementation, and consider long-term impacts as Washtenaw County leaders decide how to allocate...

U.S. households were in a better financial position, on average, at the end of last year than in 2019, despite widespread joblessness and economic uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new University of Michigan...

Ford School economics professor Betsey Stevenson testified before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, in a hearing  about "how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted the already struggling child care sector, and the resulting...

Betsy Stevenson weighed in on labor market recovery, the job market, the tampon tax, and more.  On labor market recovery While most of the United States seems to be recovering from the worst parts of the pandemic, the job crisis it caused is...

With the international community getting behind climate goals at the COP26 summit this week in Glasgow, Barry Rabe weighed in on what that means in the U.S. context. Appearing on The Heat with Anand Naidoo on CGTN America, Rabe expressed doubts...

Since 2010-11, the David Bohnett Foundation Leadership and Public Service Fellowship has provided three talented master’s students each year with a funded internship with the City of Detroit. The 2021 fellows—Adam Flood (MPP/MPH ‘22), Kristina...

On September 22, Luke Shaefer, the Hermann and Amalie Kohn Professor of Social Justice and Social Policy, testified before the U.S. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis. The hearing also included four other invited experts to speak...

New evidence shows the federal expanded Child Tax Credit has had a positive impact on low-income families, decreasing childhood hunger and poverty. Those benefits are set to run out at the end of the year, but an extension is making its way through...

As the pandemic continues to drag on, those most affected continue to face adversity — including young children. According to a recent opinion piece authored by Christina Weiland, associate professor of education and faculty co-director of the...

How has COVID-19 impacted young children's educational experiences and learning outcomes? How has the pandemic impacted early childhood education (ECE) programs and the ECE workforce? A new report from the Education Policy Initiative (EPI) at the...

The New York Times highlighted a recent study by Luke Shaefer and Patrick Cooney, released by Poverty Solutions, which shows, "that sharp declines in food shortages, financial instability and anxiety coincided with the two most recent rounds of...

Celeste Watkins-Hayes and Luke Shaefer comment in the New York Times about the permanent expansion of the child tax credit in President Biden's proposed American Families Plan.   The simplicity of the plan cuts through old ideas of who’s...

A new website from Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan offers step-by-step guidance for parents to ensure they receive the expanded Child Tax Credit, which is worth up to $3,600 per child, per year. The American Rescue Plan Act of...

Patrick Cooney and Luke Shaefer write an opinion for Bridge Michigan. "While a lot of people are hurting right now, we have also found the data tell a pretty simple story: when government acts to buffer families by stabilizing their finances,...

A recent New York Times article cites Luke Shaefer and Kathryn Edin’s 2015 award-winning book, $2.00 a Day as a marker that led to the passage of important elements of the $1.9 trillion “American Rescue Plan” which includes temporary measures to...

As the Biden administration embarks on its first hundred days, experts from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy have produced a series of policy briefs on key issues. Download the PDF of this brief or read the web-formatted version...

“To me, it’s the most transformational thing that’s under discussion, and nobody’s talking about it,” said Luke Shaefer. Read the full article in the New York Times...

As the Biden administration embarks on its first hundred days, experts from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy have produced a series of policy briefs in their areas of expertise. All of the prepared briefs can be downloaded...