In the News
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Ziliak quoted in New York Times article about expansion of feeding programs
UKCPR Director James Ziliak was quoted in an April 4 article in the New York Times about federal expansion of feeding programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the summer feeding program for school-aged children. The multi-billion-dollar expansion of food assistance is in response to growing rates of food insecurity caused by the Covid19 pandemic, as well as an attempt to address shortfalls that fragile families have faced since the Great Recession. The expansion, initiated through executive order directed to the US Department of Agriculture, represents the largest food assistance increase since the founding of the modern food stamp program, according to Ziliak. Read the NYT article.
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Ziliak to chair panel of experts examining Supplemental Poverty Measure
UKCPR Director James Ziliak will chair a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering Medicine panel tasked with evaluating and recommending improvements to the nation’s Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). The SPM is used by the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics to improve understanding of how lower income people are affected by the economy. Read more.
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Ziliak quoted in Washington Post on tax credit proposal
UKCPR Director James Ziliak was quoted in a Jan. 22 Washington Post article about an economic stimulus proposal currently under discussion by the administration of Joe Biden. The plan, which is currently in development with Congressional leaders, would direct recurring monthly payments to American families and potentially increase child tax credits, according to unnamed administration officials. Read more.
Mission Statement
The University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research (UKCPR) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit academic research center established in 2002. Our research informs evidence-based policy on the causes, consequences, and correlates of poverty, inequality, and food insecurity in the United States.
UKCPR is a member of the Collaborative of Poverty Centers sponsored by the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin–Madison with underwriting from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The other member poverty centers are located at Columbia University, Howard University, Stanford University, University of California-Davis, University of California-Irvine, University of Michigan, and University of Washington. The goal of the CPC is to improve the effectiveness of public policies to reduce poverty and inequality and their impacts on the well-being of the American people.
Spotlight
Charles Hokayem is the chief of the Income Statistics Branch at the U. S. Census Bureau. The branch is part of the Social, Economic, and Housing Statistics Division.
The SEHSD Division is responsible for gathering and analyzing data on many U.S. economic topics, such as housing occupancy and use, labor and income, and other socioeconomic characteristics of American households, families, and individuals.
Data available through the Division include major data sets, such as the Survey of Income and Program Participation, the American Community Survey, the Current Population Survey, and the American Housing Survey. SEHSD also develops new data tools and provides subject matter experts on a wide range of topics covering income, poverty, health insurance, disability, homeownership, wealth, marriage, and fertility.
As Chief of Income Statistics, Charles oversees development of income and inequality statistics, survey design, and evaluation of income and inequality statistical products for accuracy and quality.
Charles received his doctorate in economics from the University of Kentucky in 2010 and most recently served as administrator at the Kentucky Research Data Center, which is housed in the Gatton College of Business and Economics.
His recent work has appeared in the Journal of Survey Statistics and Methodology and the Journal of Political Economy.
Visit Charles’ LinkedIn page.