Poverty Solutions

News

U-M project to study links between free school meals, student performance and well-being

Sep 10, 2026

Ford School researchers will examine whether Michigan's statewide free school meals program is linked to improvements in students' academic performance, attendance, graduation or progression, and discipline outcomes.

In the Media

Many factors lead to rise in multigenerational households - Pilkauskas

Aug 28, 2026 The San Francisco Standard

More American children now live in multigenerational households than during agrarian times in the late 19th century, according to Ford School professor Natasha Pilkauskas.

News

Water shortages in Puerto Rico: U-M experts available to discuss

Aug 28, 2026

Mara Ostfeld is available for comment to discuss Puerto Rico's water shortage.

Mara Ostfeld speaking at a Poverty Solutions event.

News

Ford School faculty awarded U-M Strategic Initiative Fund grants

Aug 26, 2026

Ford School faculty to lead on: a new center for democracy, a Detroit-centered civic engagement platform, a food hardship tracker, practical insights about Michigan's clean energy and mobility transition, and shipbuilding revitalization.

University of Michigan flag flying over the Michigan Union

News

Nicole Sherard-Freeman to join Luke Shaefer for featured keynote conversation at Kohn Social Policy Conference

Aug 20, 2026

The conversation will explore how leaders across sectors can work together to strengthen the systems that shape opportunity, stability, and well-being. It will connect directly to the conference's central question: What can a city do to promote human...

Portraits of Nicole Sherard-Freeman and Luke Shaefer.

News

State media outlets cover latest poverty report

Aug 16, 2026

Media outlets throughout Michigan shared analysis by U-M Poverty Solutions that nearly 40% of state residents are struggling to afford basic needs

map of Michigan with colored county lines

Publication

Earned Income Tax Credit has real effect on intergenerational poverty

Aug 12, 2026

Ford School professors Katherine Michelmore and Natasha Pilkauskas find that children whose parents received the Earned Income Tax Credit were less likely to live in poverty or near poverty as adults.

News

About 4 in 10 Michiganders struggle to afford basic needs, same as last year

Aug 4, 2026

An updated Michigan Poverty and Well-Being Map shows nearly 40% of Michiganders are struggling to afford basic needs.

News

Ford School to host inaugural Kohn Social Policy Conference in Detroit

Jul 24, 2026

The University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy is establishing the Kohn Social Policy Conference, a biennial convening designed to examine emerging social policy challenges and practical, evidence-informed solutions.

News

Housing bill set to become law: Ford School experts can comment

Jul 10, 2026

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is scheduled to become law at the end of July 10. Ford School experts can comment on its potential effects.

In the Media

Ostfeld on ICE enforcement impacting Michigan immigrants' lives

May 27, 2026 Stateside

Mara Ostfeld explains new research about what enhanced ICE enforcement is doing to the lives of immigrants.

News

Hausman, Michelmore, and Pilkauskas promoted to full professors

May 22, 2026

The Regents of the University of Michigan approved promotions for Catherine Hausman, Katherine Michelmore, and Natasha Pilkauskas—all to professor of public policy, with tenure.

Publication

U-M and MSU team partner to study impact of prenatal and infant cash prescription program in Flint, Michigan

May 11, 2026

A new peer-reviewed study published in JAMA Pediatrics provides rigorous, population-level evidence that the Rx Kids program, the nation’s first community-wide prenatal and infant cash prescription program, is associated with substantial reductions i...

State & Hill

Faculty news, spring 2026

May 7, 2026

Ford School experts are publishing research, sharing their knowledge, and getting recognized.

A series of six headshots of people smiling

State & Hill

Shaefer’s new role in Detroit

May 7, 2026

In January, Luke Shaefer was appointed chief executive of Health, Human Services & Poverty Solutions for the City of Detroit. His data-driven vision targets systemic change.

Luke Shaefer standing at podium giving speech during a press conference

State & Hill

Danziger's third act

May 7, 2026

After decades as a renowned poverty scholar at U-M and president of the Russell Sage Foundation, Sheldon Danziger, the Henry J. Meyer Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Public Policy, began his ‘third act’ last fall, taking the helm as p...

Sheldon Danziger and colleagues at a conference posing for a photo

Policy Matters

Poverty Solutions RA convenes peers for hands-on workshop to redesign government services

Apr 13, 2026

Lauren Parker (MPP '26) discusses her experience helping develop the Public Policy Lab's workshop about human-centered design, which provided students, faculty, and staff an opportunity to learn about service design and how human-centered design proc...

News

Service Design Weekend allows students to re-imagine government

Apr 8, 2026

Departments across campus came together on March 27 and 28 for an interdisciplinary weekend focused on public service design – how people, processes, and tools come together to deliver effective government services.

Conference attendees in the Great Hall talking

News

Ostfeld and Stragand discuss gun violence research in Detroit and lack of institutional trust

Mar 15, 2026

The Hispanic community in Detroit is not unfamiliar to gun violence and institutional harm under immigration policies. The Ford School's Mara Ostfeld and Sam Stragand share how recent policies have impacted community trust levels for law enforcement,...

News

When ICE sweeps a community, public health pays a price – and recovery will likely take years

Feb 27, 2026

Poverty Solutions faculty affiliate William D. Lopez co-authors an op-ed for The Conversation about the health impacts of the recent immigration raids.

News

New Poverty Solutions interview series highlights intersection of poverty and social systems

Feb 18, 2026

Stacked Deck, a new video interview series from the Ford School’s Poverty Solutions, invites people with various types of expertise to share their views on the intersections between poverty and U.S. social systems and explore ways to create a future ...

A promotional graphic with a yellow background titled "Stacked Deck: with Kristin Seefeldt"

In the Media

Seefeldt finds mixed results from Ann Arbor's guaranteed basic income program

Feb 2, 2026 WDIV

The Ford School's Kristin Seefeldt has analyzed the city of Ann Arbor's first year of a guaranteed basic income program.

News

Poverty Solutions leverages research to respond to social changes

Jan 30, 2026

Poverty Solutions published their annual impact report detailing different policy areas they focused on and different milestones they reached in 2025.

Collage of Poverty Solutions faculty and students

News

Nearly half of Detroit seniors spend at least 30% of their income on housing costs − even as real estate values fall

Jan 22, 2026

Amanda Nothaft, Director of Data and Analysis at Poverty Solutions, discusses how Detroit seniors are impacted by declining housing values and high housing costs in The Conversation.

News

Ann Arbor residents spend guaranteed income on food, household supplies, housing

Jan 21, 2026

A new report on the Guaranteed Income to Grow Ann Arbor (GIG A2) pilot program, which was designed and implemented by Poverty Solutions, found that the top ways that guaranteed income recipients spent the money in 2024 was food, household supplies, a...

Seefeldt and Emily Shupp Parker tabling outside for GIG A2

News

Luke Shaefer named Chief Executive of Health, Human Services & Poverty Solutions for City of Detroit

Jan 12, 2026

Ford School professor Luke Shaefer has been named to the newly-formed role as Chief Executive of Health, Human Services & Poverty Solutions for City of Detroit.

State & Hill

Michigan redefines support for new families

Dec 8, 2025

Rx Kids, the nation’s first community-wide prenatal and infant cash program, has improved infant health, reduced evictions, and achieved a high return on investment. Now, with new state commitments, it will reach about one-third of all births statewi...