In the News
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Poverty scholars condemn opinion piece of NYU professor
A group of leading poverty scholars and directors of the National Collaborative of Poverty Centers has issued a strong statement of criticism of a recent opinion piece in the journal Society, authored by Lawrence Mead, a political scientist at New York University. The July 2020 article -- drawn from his book Burdens of Freedom: Cultural Difference and American Power -- has received widespread condemation from the academic community. (Read entire article).
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Podcast from AEPP discusses food insecurity and Medicaid
A new podcast from Applied Economc Perspectives and Policy features a discussion between AEPP Managing Editor and UKCPR Research Affiliate Craig Gundersen, Winthrop University Assistant Professor of Economics Nick Moellman, and Oklahoma State Professor of Agribusiness Bailey Norwood about the impact of Medicaid expansion on food security and how online surveys contribute to the understanding of food insecurity in the U.S. The discussion elaborates on two recent articles from AEPP. Moellman discusses his article Healthcare and hunger: Effects of the ACA, Medicaid expansions and food insecurity in America, while Bailey discusses his research on Can Internet surveys mimic food insecurity rates published by the U.S. Government? Listen to the podcast.
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Hardy appears on MSNBC; quoted in WSJ
Bradley Hardy, associate professor of economics and American University and UKCPR research affiliate, has appeared in two national media outlets for expert commentary about the disparate impact of SARS-CV-2 on minority populations in the United States. He was a featured commentator on MSNBC's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell on June 12. View Hardy's appearance on MSNBC. Hardy was also quoted in an article in the Wall Street Journal about how the pandemic has wiped out record levels of employment and wages for African-Americans achieved during the past 10 years. Hardy noted that the pandemic impact exposed a range of economic insecurities experienced by African-Americans, including lack of access to medical care and concentrations in low-wage jobs. Access the article. Note that an online subscription to the Wall Street Journal is required.
Spotlight
Rajeev Darolia is an associate professor in the Martin School of Public Policy and Administration at the University of Kentucky. His research focuses on college outcomes, especially as they relate to attendance at for-profit institutions.
Rajeev’s paper in the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy (co-authored with S. Cellini and L. Turner) addresses the issue of where students go when for-profits lose federal aid resources. The authors find that while for-profit enrollment decreases, the trend is offset by higher enrollment in community colleges. They also find suggestive evidence that students who transition to community colleges are less likely to default on their student loans. Read the AEJ paper.
Rajeev’s research has appeared in the Annals of the American Academy of Political Science, Education Finance & Policy, and the Journal of Public Economics. His research has been cited in a range of popular press articles.
His paper in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, titled “Do employers prefer workers who attend for-profit colleges? Evidence from a field experiment,” found that there is no evidence of hiring preferences for those attending for-profits, compared to community college graduates. That 2015 paper received coverage in national publications ranging from the Wall Street Journal to Salon and Mother Jones.
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.