It’s Happening in Michigan – How Can We Alleviate Poverty in Michigan and Beyond?

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Featured speaker:
H. Luke Shaefer , UM School of Social Work

MI Senate Binsfeld Office Building, Room 5550, 5th Floor 201 Townsend St., Lansing, MI 48933 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

View PDF

Some Michigan residents are living on cash incomes of $2 or less per day, while others are carrying high levels of debt, struggling to pay for their housing and other necessities, and reducing their chances for overall upward mobility. How do we better provide access to work opportunities and support systems that will aid families in need? What is working to prevent or alleviate poverty? What is not?

Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan is examining these challenges from a variety of disci- plines and testing the most promising solutions through research interventions, partnering with policy- makers and the community. In the past four years, the good news is the percentage of Michigan residents living below the poverty line has dropped from 17.4 percent to 14.9, and child poverty has dropped four percentage points during this period. There are more Michiganders employed now than in 2012, and the median household income has risen. Yet, despite these promising trends, challenges persist as Michigan remains 33rd and in the bottom half of states battling poverty. We can do better. Please join us as UM Professor Luke Schaefer shares projects designed to deliver concrete results that will aid Michigan’s poor — expand their economic opportunities, and reduce their educational and health disparities.

H. Luke Shaefer is Director of Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan. He is also an Associate Professor at the School of Social Work and the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. Dr. Shaefer’s research on poverty and social welfare policy in the United States has been published in top peer-reviewed academic journals, including the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management and the Amer- ican Journal of Public Health, supported by the National Science Foundation.

Dr. Shaefer has presented his research at the White House and before numerous federal agencies, and he has testi ed before the U.S. Senate Finance Commit- tee. His work has been cited in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Na- tional Review, The Atlantic, Vox, the LA Times and Huf ngton Post. He has been featured on “Marketplace” and CNBC’s “Nightly Business Report.” His recent book with Kathryn Edin, “$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America,” has been named one of the 100 Notable Books of 2015 by the New York Times Book Review, and won the Hillman Prize for Book Journalism.

Author: Veronica A. W. Johnson, Ph.D

Director of the Lansing Service Center | [email protected] | 517-372-7801

Read Full Article at The Michigan Daily

Cynthia Wilbanks: University of Michigan Vice President for Government Relations

Wednesday, Gov. Rick Snyder suggested a 2 percent increase in funding for the state’s higher education budget during the 2018-2019 fiscal year. According to a University of Michigan press release, the proposed plans would provide the University’s Ann Arbor campus with $320.8 million. The budget would also provide the Dearborn campus with $26.1 million, a 2.6 percent increase, and the Flint campus with $23.6 million, a 2.3 percent increase.

Cynthia Wilbanks, University vice president for government relations, was pleased with the announcement.

“Investing in higher education provides greater opportunities to our residents and is absolutely critical for our state’s continued economic growth,” Wilbanks said in a statement to The University Record. “We look forward to working with our representatives in the state House and Senate as this budget process proceeds.”

Author: Remy Farkas

The Michigan Daily

Michigan’s Demographic and Economic Outlook over the Next 30 Years

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Featured speaker: Professor Emeritus George Fulton, UM College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

Anderson House Office Building Mackinac Room, 5th Floor
124 N. Capitol Ave, Lansing, MI 48933
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

View PDF

Dr. George Fulton, renowned economist at the University of Michigan, has been forecasting Michigan’s economy for several decades. To aid our quest for a stable Michigan economy, Professor Fulton presents a “a diagnosis, a prognosis and a prescription”. His presentation will feature a numerical portrayal of where the economies of the state and its counties are heading through 2045 while undergoing a dramatically changing demographic pro le (diagnosis). Out of this data, ve lessons are suggested that are critical to planning for the long run (prognosis). Then, several policy issues indicated by these lessons are identified (prescription). Please join us in welcoming Professor George Fulton for this enlightening and engaging discussion!

George Fulton received his PhD in Economics from the University of Michigan. He is currently Director Emeritus and Research Professor Emeritus of RSQE, the forecasting unit in the Department of Economics at the University of Michigan. Professor Fulton has been forecasting economic and social activity in the state of Michigan for four decades and has been regularly featured in the Consensus Revenue Estimating Conferences. Last year he was presented a Distinguished Speaker Award by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and the State Treasurer. In 2015 he received the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Economic and Demographic Analysis from REMI, a prominent national forecasting organization. The Award has since been named in his honor.

Author: Veronica A. W. Johnson, Ph.D

Director of the Lansing Service Center | [email protected] | 517-372-7801