Poverty Solutions

News

US Department of Education's role in K-12 education, funding local schools: U-M experts can discuss

Feb 14, 2025

As federal policymakers consider the future of the U.S. Department of Education, a new interactive data tool from Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan shows the allocation of federal education funds to local school districts – making the...

Photo of kids running outside a school bus

News

Rx Kids celebration in the news as it expands to Kalamazoo

Feb 9, 2025

More than 1,300 babies and families in the city of Flint have received nearly $6 million in cash prescriptions since Rx Kids launched in January 2024. A birthday bash complete with cupcakes, coloring pages, and other birthday fun, was held Jan. 29...

Adult kissing a baby on the cheek, the baby is holding a teddy bear and wearing a floral headband.

News

Transportation insecurity in Detroit and beyond

Jan 24, 2025

Alexandra Murphy discusses why 36% of Detroiters have trouble getting where they need to go and how a new tool could guide better transportation...

Photo of cars and buses driving on a Chicago street as the Metro train passes overhead on an elevated platform

Publication

Child cash benefits improve child health and development internationally

Jan 7, 2025

Looking at programs from more than 140 countries, a University of Michigan-led study concludes that large-scale, government-funded child cash transfer programs improve child health...

News

Detroit’s reparations task force's slow pace is not a bad thing - Ostfeld

Dec 20, 2024

Ford school professor Mara Ostfeld wrote with coauthors Kamri Hudgins, Erykah Noelle Benson, and Vincent Hutchings, in The Conversation about delays in the release of the Detroit Reparations Task Force report. She explains why it has been difficult...

Publication

Child cash benefits improve child health and development internationally

Dec 17, 2024

Looking at programs from more than 140 countries, a University of Michigan-led study concludes that large-scale, government-funded child cash transfer programs improve child health outcomes.These programs are an evidence-based way for nations to...

State & Hill

Spotlights, fall 2024

Dec 17, 2024

Welcome, changemakersThe Ford School’s Center for Racial Justice proudly welcomes its third cohort of Visiting Fellows: writer, filmmaker, and community organizer Charlene Carruthers; racial justice lawyer, historian, and organizer Amanda Alexander;...

Celeste Watkins-Hayes, Charlene Carruthers, Amanda Alexander, Bianca D.M. Wilson, Dom Adams-Santos

State & Hill

Discourse: Fordies in the news, fall 2024

Dec 17, 2024

“Most likely the perception within the Israel Defence Forces and at the political level within Netanyahu’s war cabinet is that they have the momentum. . . . when one side believes it has the momentum against its adversary, you don’t want to give it...

Javed Ali, Catherine Hausman, Molly Kleinman, Kristin Seefeldt, Betsey Stevenson, Natasha Pilkauskas, Luke Shaefer

Publication

Talk to him: How a conversation can shape public support for women’s rights

Dec 17, 2024

A single conversation with a close family member may not change a young woman’s views on policies protecting their rights, but it can strongly influence young men’s...

Mara Ostfeld speaking at a Poverty Solutions event.

News

Shaefer testifies on state-level paid family leave program

Dec 11, 2024

On December 10, Kohn Professor Luke Shaefer testified before the Michigan State Senate Committee on Housing and Human Services about a new state-level paid family leave program. Shaefer pointed to a recent study by University of Michigan Poverty...

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

News

Rx Kids shows promising results after its first year

Dec 9, 2024

Since its start in January of 2024, Rx Kids has been a lifesaver for young families in Flint Michigan. The program was co-founded by the Ford School's Luke Shaefer and provides Flint residents with $1,500 mid-pregnancy, and $500 each month for the...

In the Media

Rx Kids showing positive early results: Shaefer

Dec 9, 2024 Next City

"So far, RxKids has shown a reduction in depressive symptoms and increases in positive wellbeing, with larger numbers of participants indicating that they feel loved, hopeful and respected. Preliminary outcomes also show lowered anxiety scores...

News

Experts, policymakers highlight new studies showing statewide Paid Family and Medical Leave would benefit workers, economy

Nov 14, 2024

On Wednesday, Nov. 13, advocates and experts held a virtual press conference highlighting the benefits that a statewide paid family and medical leave program would have for Michiganders and the importance of passing the Michigan Family Leave Optimal...

News

Poverty Solutions to support new NIH health equity research hub at U-M

Oct 2, 2024

With the goal of building the science that can strengthen efforts to reverse health disparities—which keep millions of Americans in poorer health due to lack of access to food, health care and other needs—the University of Michigan will receive...

Healthcare team, hands together and celebration in hospital for teamwork success

News

Survey shows Detroiters’ top priorities for city officials going into election

Sep 30, 2024

Crime and safety tops the list of priority issues that Detroit residents want to see city officials address going into the November 2024 election, according to a survey conducted by the University of Michigan in partnership with Outlier...

Word cloud with issues most important to Detroiters

News

Katherine Michelmore wins the 24th David N. Kershaw Award and Prize

Sep 25, 2024

Katherine Michelmore, associate professor of public policy at the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy has been awarded the 2024 David N. Kershaw Award and Prize for her contributions as a leading scholar and educator on...

News

Kristin Seefeldt named acting director of Poverty Solutions at U-M

Sep 23, 2024

Kristin Seefeldt has been named acting faculty director of Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan for the 2024-25 academic year while inaugural faculty director Luke Shaefer is on sabbatical.Seefeldt, who has served as associate faculty...

News

Racial and gender bias in U.S. crime victim compensation programs highlighted in new report

Sep 18, 2024

Significant racial and gender disparities exist in U.S. crime victim compensation programs, revealing Black and Indigenous people as well as survivors of gender-based violence face unique challenges in obtaining financial support, according to a new...

News

2024 Pitch Competition: Nia Knox at UM Poverty Solutions

Sep 16, 2024

Eleven talented students showcased what they learned during their summer internship at the Ford School 7th Annual Policy Pitch Competition. Undergraduate and graduate students spent three minutes sharing their key deliverables, policy impacts, and...

News

Shaefer’s Injustice of Place wins the Richard A. Lester Book Award

Sep 10, 2024

Ford School professor Luke Shaefer’s book, The Injustice of Place: Uncovering the Legacy of Poverty in America (Harper Collins, August 2023) is the recipient of the 2023 Richard A. Lester Book Award at Princeton University. Shaefer, the Hermann and...

Publication

Key insights from the first citywide maternal and infant cash prescription program

Aug 14, 2024

A recent survey conducted by Rx Kids provides valuable insights into how Rx Kids is improving the lives of City of Flint families. These survey findings share the much-anticipated early results from Rx Kids.A prescription for health, hope, and...

Publication

Lack of trust in political system main reason some Detroiters won't vote

Jul 31, 2024

Distrust in the political system is the most commonly cited reason that eligible voters in Detroit say they don't plan to vote in November, according to a University of Michigan survey.The survey, fielded by U-M's Detroit Metro Area Communities...

American Flags and Pins on White Background

Publication

Detroiters’ perceptions of their neighborhoods shifted after Strategic Neighborhood Fund investments

Jul 22, 2024

A study drawing on survey data from the past five years shows that while neighborhood satisfaction fell across Detroit as the pandemic unfolded, neighborhoods that had received targeted infrastructure improvements proved more resilient.The survey...

News

Research shows far-reaching costs of eviction filings to tenants—regardless of the outcome in court

Jul 16, 2024

A new study from the University of Michigan documents the far-reaching costs of eviction filings for Pennsylvania tenants who had eviction cases filed against them but experienced a “best-case scenario” in court, meaning they had legal...

Photo of homes in Detroit's Chaldean Town neighborhood

News

Cost of living tops Detroiters’ priorities for US government

Jul 8, 2024

With Michigan poised to be a pivotal state in the 2024 presidential election, Detroiters have weighed in on their priorities for the U.S. government.Cost of living and inflation is the issue Detroiters mentioned most when asked about the top issues...

News

Michigan metro areas divided on views on legal immigration, U-M survey shows

Jun 27, 2024

Immigration consistently shows up as the most important problem facing the U.S. in national public opinion polls, but less information has been available to understand how Michiganders view immigration.With Michigan poised to be one of the most...

Photo of an American flag backed by a gray sky

News

U-M experts explore ramifications of housing crisis on economy, emotional well-being and more

Jun 10, 2024

ANN ARBOR—The need for affordable and accessible housing is an issue that transcends political affiliation—even as it rises in significance to voters—and matters as much to our emotional and mental health as our financial well-being.Two University...

Illustration with a house and money symbols balanced on a scale

News

Child care workers caught in middle of Michigan’s broken child care system

May 10, 2024

A teacher has a question, notes for families await delivery to classrooms, and a little girl arriving at Blackbird Child Care Center in Harbor Springs needs her rain boots swapped for shoes. Sadie Riley-Flemming responds to it all with a...

Photo of Sadie Riley-Flemming, director of Blackbird Child Care Center in Harbor Springs, greets a girl on April 19, 2024. Photos by Molly Hauxwell Currier for the University of Michigan.

State & Hill

Spotlights, spring 2024

Apr 24, 2024

A prescription for equityAs the first city-wide experiment of its kind, Rx Kids provides cash payments for new parents—and new promise for eradicating early childhood poverty. Flint's high child poverty rates came into focus nearly 10 years ago when...

Photo of Gretchen Whitmer and Rx Kids co-directors Luke Shaefer; Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, and others in front of RxKids banner

State & Hill

Katherine Michelmore and Natasha Pilkauskas on policy rooted in evidence and facts

Apr 24, 2024

Ford School students take on a variety of different roles after graduation—some do research, some will engage in advocacy, others will become civil servants. As instructors of two of the core research methods courses that our students take, we have...