Material hardship like food or housing insecurity or inadequate access to medical care are routinely measured. But transportation insecurity has not been, despite its significance in the lives of people with low incomes, and the likelihood that it intersects with other forms of hardship. For this episode, Dr. Alexandra Murphy joins us to discuss her recent co-authored paper, titled, “ How Does Transportation Insecurity Compare and Relate to Other Indicators of Material Hardship in the U.S.? ” Sh...
Aug 08, 2025•29 min
The 1960s and 1970s were a time of tremendous change politically and culturally in the United States. Federal legislation and policy enshrined voting rights and implemented measures to increase equality, but there were still many areas in which those changes fell short for people of color and those living in poverty. In her new book, “ Poverty Rebels: Black and Brown Protest in Post–Civil Rights America ,” Dr. Casey Nichols examines the history and legacy of local, state, and national activism t...
Jun 26, 2025•49 min
The Clinton-era Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 was a significant reform of the welfare system as it had been known. In this episode, Dr. Lucie Schmidt draws on her co-authored paper, “ Did Welfare Reform End the Safety Net as We Knew It? The Record since 1996 ,” to describe the safety net landscape before 1996, and how specific programs and overall coverage have changed since welfare reform was put in place. Lucie Schmidt is the Robert A. Woods Professor ...
Jun 06, 2025•32 min
Many countries use direct cash aid programs as an integral part of their social safety net. In the United States, there have been few national efforts, but more and more guaranteed income programs are being implemented at state, county, and local levels. In this episode, Dr. Lisa Gennetian draws on her co-authored paper, “ Unconditional Cash Transfers for Families with Children in the U.S.: A Scoping Review ,” to provide an overview of cash assistance programs both in the US and in other countri...
Apr 23, 2025•35 min
There are many factors that influence whether Mexican immigrants to the United States are able to achieve upward mobility. In his new book, “ Dreams Achieved and Denied: Mexican Intergenerational Mobility ,” Robert Courtney Smith shares research conducted over twenty years and involving nearly one hundred children of Mexican immigrants in New York City. He examines how being documented or not acts as a master status, and how that is expressed through choices about education, employment, social n...
Feb 24, 2025•38 min
Between 5% and 20% of children in the United States live with a disability. The definition and measurement of disability are constantly changing. Therefore, people with disabilities have been inadequately represented and understudied in research. In this episode, Molly Costanzo shares her research on the economic well-being for households with children with disabilities and recommendations for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers to improve their quality of life. Molly Costanzo is a scie...
Jan 28, 2025•21 min
There are many ways to assess the quality of care that pregnant people receive pre- and post-partum, as well as during delivery itself. Dr. Kathryn Thompson shares her findings on how the care that pregnant Black Medicaid enrollees receive compares to their more affluent white peers, and the policy and practice opportunities for addressing the social determinants of health that are involved. Kathryn Thompson is an Assistant Professor at Boston University’s School of Public Health in the departme...
Dec 18, 2024•27 min
The federal Farm Bill expired at the end of September 2024 and was not reauthorized. Funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has been extended through a Continuing Resolution, but that is a stopgap measure. For this episode, Dr. Colleen Heflin joins us to discuss the recent policy brief that she co-authored with Camille Barbin, titled, “ How Does the Reauthorization of the Farm Bill Impact SNAP? ” Colleen Heflin is a Professor of Public Administration and International A...
Nov 19, 2024•21 min
Menstrual poverty, or unmet menstrual hygiene needs, is defined as a lack of appropriate menstrual products in necessary quantities; access to soap and water for proper hygiene; or ways to dispose of or wash used sanitary materials. The experience of menstrual poverty can have far-reaching impacts on mental and physical health, the ability to work, and consistent school attendance. For this episode, Dr. Anne Sebert Kuhlmann discusses her research on the impacts of menstrual poverty, and what pra...
Oct 31, 2024•34 min
When the Child Tax Credit (CTC) was expanded in 2021 in response to the COVID-19 crisis, it provided more support to parents and on a monthly basis. In addition, some very low-income families were eligible to access the CTC for the first time. In this episode, Dr. Katherine Michelmore shares insights from the paper that she co-authored with Natasha Pilkauskas and Nicole Kovski, titled, “ The Effects of the 2021 Child Tax Credit on Housing Affordability and the Living Arrangements of Families Wit...
Oct 01, 2024•29 min
Black-Led Organizations (BLOs) are organizations led by an Executive Director and have a majority of full-time employees identifying as African American. BLOs face challenges (e.g., limited funding, diminished agency, exploitation) which can be explained through the framework of racialization. In this episode, Dr. Greg Wilson discusses his research paper titled “An Invisible Impediment to Progress: Perceptions of Racialization in the Nonprofit Sector” that analyzes racialization of BLOs in Madis...
Sep 03, 2024•34 min
Minimum wage workers, especially those with children, face barriers to affordable child care. Child care costs can prevent working parents who earn minimum wage from participating in the labor market. Alternately, many child-care workers also face financial barriers because they, too, earn minimal wages. Therefore, increasing the minimum wage would alleviate financial burdens for both parents and child-care workers. In this episode, both Dr. Anna Godøy and Dr. Jennie Romich discuss their researc...
Aug 15, 2024•28 min
There are more than 17 million renters in the rural Unites States. While popular perceptions of eviction may be that they are predominantly an urban issue, low-income rural renters face some unique challenges in finding and maintaining secure housing. Dr. Carl Gershenson shares insights from his extensive work on eviction, and in particular from the paper that he co-authored with Dr. Matthew Desmond, titled “ Eviction and the Rental Housing Crisis in Rural America .” Carl Gershenson is Lab Direc...
Jul 16, 2024•37 min
Homeownership is one of the most common ways to accumulate wealth and promote intergenerational economic mobility in the United States. But even with laws and policies designed to ensure equal access to housing and financing, access to mortgage credit is far from equal. Factors like the race, gender, and age of the applicant can result in less favorable loan terms and higher rates of denial and default. Dr. José Loya discusses his research on how different demographic factors affect access to mo...
Jun 20, 2024•36 min
COVID-19 interrupted life on multiple levels for many people regardless of race, economic class, or citizenship. For Latina mothers who either lacked legal status or were part of a mixed-status household, the pandemic intensified the challenges they faced even before this health and economic crisis. In their paper, “No Calm Before the Storm: Low-Income Latina Immigrant and Citizen Mothers Before and After COVID-19,” Dr. Marci Ybarra and Francia Mendoza Lua share insights gained through interview...
Apr 01, 2024•32 min
Experiencing poverty in childhood can hinder a person’s opportunities throughout their own lifetime, and those of their children and grandchildren as well. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recently released a report titled “ Reducing Intergenerational Poverty .” For this episode, we're joined by Jesse Rothstein, who served as a member of the committee that produced the report. He shares the research and findings on several of the key drivers of intergenerational pove...
Mar 19, 2024•28 min
Black Meccas are cities where it appears that Black communities thrive more-so than other places in the United States. However, the housing values of Black-owned properties in these areas are substantially lower compared to their white counterparts, revealing the presence of wealth inequality even in cities where Black people are thought to experience better overall economic well-being. In this episode, Dr. Maretta McDonald discusses her recent co-authored paper “Wealth Matters: Home Ownership, ...
Feb 23, 2024•28 min
Where you live can affect the quality of education you receive, your chances of finding a good job, and even how long you might live. In their new book, “ The Injustice of Place: Uncovering the Legacy of Poverty in America ,” Dr. Luke Shaefer and his co-authors Kathryn Edin and Timothy Nelson create a new way of looking at poverty, called the Index of Deep Disadvantage. Their team spends time in and learns about the communities that have the worst scores, and find that legacies of profound racis...
Jan 26, 2024•37 min
Child Protective Services (CPS) involvement is common, especially for children experiencing poverty, or who are Black or Native American. About a third of children are subject to a CPS investigation before their 18th birthday, but research shows reducing child poverty could help change this. In this episode, Dr. Jessica Pac discusses the recent paper she co-authored titled, “The Effects of Child Poverty Reductions on Child Protective Services Involvement.” Jessica Pac is an Assistant Professor o...
Jan 08, 2024•21 min
Reparations for Black Americans is not a new idea—before the U.S. Civil War had ended, there was a proposal to provide freed Black people with “40 acres and a mule.” That did not materialize, and in the ensuing century and a half, the Black descendants of formerly enslaved people have faced systemic injustices, discrimination, and violence. In this episode, Professor William “Sandy” Darity, Jr. and Kirsten Mullen explain what a meaningful reparations program for Black Americans would entail, how...
Dec 05, 2023•47 min
Many people suffer from not getting enough sleep from time to time. But for many people of color and those who are living in low-income neighborhoods and housing, additional factors may contribute to chronic poor sleep quality. Those factors can have long-term impacts on their health and well-being, including higher rates of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, obesity, and depression. In this episode, Dr. Dayna Johnson shares her research into how experiences of racism, variabl...
Nov 27, 2023•36 min
Wisconsin is one of a few states with a Birth Cost Recovery program, which bills unmarried, non-custodial fathers for the birth costs of their child when the mother is on Medicaid. But the impacts of these policies on the children and both parents have not been studied closely. In this episode, Dr. Tiffany Green discusses the report that she co-authored titled, “ Effects Of Medicaid Birth Cost Recovery Policy Changes On Child Support Outcomes ,” which draws on IRP’s Wisconsin Administrative Data...
Nov 08, 2023•20 min
Whether renters have access to safe, high-quality housing has serious implications for health and health equity. Local housing policy often focuses on community residents’ particular needs, yet state law can preempt local ordinances, frequently with detrimental results. In this episode, Dr. Jamila Michener discusses two of her recent papers, “ Entrenching Inequity, Eroding Democracy: State Preemption of Local Housing Policy ” and " Racism, Power, And Health Equity: The Case of Tenant Organizing ...
Oct 24, 2023•42 min
Family child care is the care of non-relative children within the providers' home. Thirty percent of family child care professionals are women of color, and oftentimes the cultural assets they contribute to the field of early care and education are diminished or disregarded. In this episode, Dr. Crystasany Turner discusses her research highlighting both the strengths and challenges faced by family child care professionals, future research, and practices to support family child care professionals...
Oct 06, 2023•23 min
In his new book, Dr. Zachary Parolin explores three perspectives on poverty—poverty as a risk factor, poverty as an expression of access to current resources, and poverty as a stratifying factor—and how they affected people during the COVID-19 pandemic. He advocates for policy approaches that will both prepare us for the next large-scale economic disruption and provide timely assistance when upheaval occurs, and makes the case for more frequent, and more nuanced poverty measures. Zach Parolin is...
Sep 07, 2023•32 min
The federal government established a temporary water assistance program to alleviate the burden of water costs on households during the COVID-19 pandemic. Establishing a permanent water assistance program can increase long-term water affordability for households. In this episode, Dr. Manny Teodoro discusses the report he co-authored for the National Association of Clean Water Agencies that assessed options for a permanent federal water assistance program and shares how extending SNAP benefits wo...
Aug 29, 2023•38 min
There are known protective factors that can help young people exiting foster care to thrive by reducing or eliminating the challenges that they often face. By measuring resilience over time, and viewing it as “a state, not a trait,” there is more opportunity to create networks and systems to support these young people as they transition to adulthood. In this episode, Dr. Svetlana Shpiegel discusses her co-authored paper, “ Resilient Outcomes among Youth Aging-Out of Foster Care: Findings from th...
Jul 12, 2023•35 min
While non-standard work is not a new concept, technology has fueled a recent rise in independent contracting, freelancing, temporary, on-call, and “gig" work. Much of the research on non-standard work has focused on its precarious nature and lower economic security for active workers. In her recent paper, " The Retirement Implications of Non-Standard Work ," Dr. Mina Addo turns her attention to the impacts on retirement security for the large numbers of U.S. workers are participating in non-stan...
Jun 27, 2023•26 min
Probation is often considered to be a kinder, gentler alternative to incarceration. But there are significant financial and emotional costs associated with home confinement that affect not just the person who is under supervision, but their families and communities as well. In this episode, we hear from Dr. Brittany Battle . She is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Wake Forest University and is also the co-founder of Triad Abolition Project , a grassroots organization based in Winston-Salem...
May 11, 2023•24 min
Self-employment can be a choice, or undertaken by necessity. In the United States, on average, 10 to 12% of the labor force is engaged in some form of self-employment. That proportion can be higher in times of economic downturns, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic. But low- and middle-income workers face many obstacles to being successful in their entrepreneurial activities. In this episode, Dr. Daniel Auguste joins us to discuss the paper that he co-authored with Stephen Roll and Mathieu Desp...
Apr 25, 2023•29 min
