social safety net

What would a comprehensive strategy for reproductive rights and access look like, borrowing from the lessons from the fight against HIV? This is the question that Celeste Watkins-Hayes, Joan and Sanford Weill Dean of Public Policy at the Ford School...

Congress is currently considering a $33 billion measure that would adjust the earning requirements and make it easier for many lower-income families to receive the full child tax credit, an average credit that is about $1,130 higher than in 2022....

Attention on government safety net programs and their effects on overall poverty has increased in the run-up to the midterm elections. Associate dean Luke Shaefer, who is also director of Poverty Solutions, has recently appeared in the media...

Katherine Michelmore, Michigan Radio: “It takes a long time to determine whether a policy did something good. I think we’re showing in the short term it certainly is improving the material well-being of very low-income families in the U.S. So that’s...

The University of Michigan's Ford School of Public Policy is kicking off a virtual event series this week with a discussion about the local impact of safety nets on communities of color during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Panelists at Friday's event,...

Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) has suggested that lawmakers pick just one of the family policies in the safety net spending bill. The New York Times asked Luke Shaefer which one he would choose. "The child tax credit is elegant in that it does...

Against the backdrop of the severe U.S. economic downturn caused by the coronavirus, Ford School economics professor Justin Wolfers told ABC News Australia May 31 that the country was ill-prepared to provide a safety net for its citizens. The...

With widespread shutdowns of businesses across the country due to COVID-19, states have seen a dramatic rise in the number of unemployed and those seeking unemployment benefits. This week, unemployment claims jumped 2000% in Michigan, putting the...

Michigan is set to implement Medicaid work requirements in 2020. But Luke Shaefer, professor of public policy and director of Poverty Solutions, warns that the requirement could lead to health coverage losses and an administrative burden on the...

Kristin Seefeldt spoke with Michigan Radio’s “Stateside” this Wednesdsay for a new series that explores the lives of America’s working poor, including “who they are, what challenges they face, and what policy changes might help the most people.” In...

Luke Shaefer's article, co-authored with David Harris, “Fighting child poverty with a universal child allowance,” is featured in the spring 2017 edition of The American Prospect magazine. “Most developed countries provide cash to families with...

Kristin Seefeldt’s (MPP '96, PhD '10) recent op-ed, featured in Making Sen$e on February 2, highlights the need to “fix the social safety need, not shame those who need it.” Seefeldt notes that “the [social] safety net is perpetually under...