The Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) is a center for interdisciplinary research into the causes and consequences of poverty and social inequality in the United States.
As one of three Area Poverty Research Centers sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, it has a particular interest in poverty and family welfare in the Midwest.
Marah Curtis was working as a child and family therapist in a residential treatment facility in New York City when she felt compelled to return to school to pursue a Ph.D. She wanted to focus on the larger policies that played such a large role in the lives of her clients. So, Curtis went back [...]
Once upon a time, Jesse Gregory was a record-setting power hitter for the Kenyon College baseball team. These days, Gregory is acclimating himself to the University of Wisconsin-Madison in his first year as an assistant professor in the Department of Economics. Gregory studied physics and economics at Kenyon, a liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio, [...]
The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Institute for Research on Poverty will host an event for undergraduates interested in learning about poverty-related careers on October 4. The panel, “Careers in Poverty Research, Policy, and Practice,” will run from 4-5:30 p.m. at the Pyle Center, and will also be available online as a webinar. No registration for participation [...]
Temporary increases in safety net programs and tax credits for working families helped keep many in Wisconsin from poverty during the recession and its aftermath, a new report by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison finds. The fourth annual Wisconsin Poverty Report study, conducted by the Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP), revealed lower numbers [...]
“It’s about time we started counting the effects of popular noncash and tax-related public programs on poverty,” Professor Tim Smeeding said of the Census Bureau’s November release of new poverty numbers based on an alternative federal measure, the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). Smeeding joins many other economists in praising the SPM for bringing poverty measurement [...]
A researcher with the Wisconsin Poverty Project at the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) is sharing project findings at an upcoming antipoverty summit.
The conference — the Wisconsin Economic Summit: From Poverty to Financial Security — is being organized by Rehabilitation for Wisconsin in Action, a nonprofit organization that supports community rehabilitation programs that enable people with disabilities and economic disadvantages to live and work in their local communities.
Most Americans believe that with due sacrifice of time and effort anyone will be able to prosper and provide their children with a better life. But the reality is that children born into poor families in the United States tend to stay poor and children born into wealthy families generally stay rich.
The Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin–Madison was awarded a five-year national Poverty Research Center grant by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
“It’s really bad out there,” said Timothy Smeeding, director of the UW–Madison Institute for Research on Poverty. “I have never been so depressed. This report is the worst report I’ve seen in 30 years. We’re supposedly a year out of recession and things are still slipping.”
The third Wisconsin Poverty Report released today (Wednesday, May 4), shows that expanded tax credits and food assistance programs helped shield the state’s poorest residents from the worst effects of the recession …
A new research center at UW–Madison promotes child and family well-being through interdisciplinary research and enhanced collaboration and communication among the researchers, policymakers, and practitioners seeking best practices in preventing child maltreatment.
Three researchers with the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison received honors from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to explore the role housing plays in the long-term health and well-being of children, families and communities.
In February 2009, Carole Mottaz and a group of fellow citizens in River Falls — a town in west central Wisconsin — answered the call of a group of local religious leaders. The local leaders were concerned about the growing number of families in the area in need of emergency shelter. At the time, Pierce County lacked an emergency shelter and shelters in neighboring St. Croix County were unable to help all those in need, so Mottaz and friends established Our Neighbors’ Place (ONP) to provide shelter and support services to families in need and help them move toward self-sufficiency.
Historically, the United States and the United Kingdom have stood out among rich nations as having particularly high child poverty rates. But last year Timothy Smeeding (Institute for Research on Poverty Director and La Follette School of Public Affairs faculty) and Jane Waldfogel (Columbia University) published an article in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management that showed how child poverty trends in the United States and United Kingdom had diverged over the past decade, during which the United Kingdom pursued an ambitious war on child poverty.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 contained temporary policy changes to offset or lessen the negative effects of the economic recession. These policies included provisions increasing refundable tax credits for families and larger nutrition assistance benefits for those enrolled in the program. Researchers at the UW-Madison Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) analyzed the effect of the tax and nutrition assistance portions of the ARRA on poverty in Wisconsin, using a broader, more complete measure of poverty developed at IRP.
Researchers at the Institute for Research on Poverty released the second annual Wisconsin Poverty Report [pdf], which is based on the National Academy of Sciences poverty methodology and provides a new, more complete poverty measure. The measure was created as a service to the State of Wisconsin and as part of IRP’s cooperative research agreement [...]
UW-Madison researchers recently teamed up with state agency professionals to complete a report detailing how Wisconsin can protect more children and families from abuse …
Several UW-Madison professors in the Institute for Research on Poverty have published new books that look at the challenges facing the poor.
Experts in the Institute for Research on Poverty continue to play a major role in developing a new national Supplemental Poverty Measure in conjunction from the Census Bureau.
On March 19-20th the International Gender Policy Research Circle — a research circle on the UW-Madison campus supported by Global Studies and the International Institute — together with the Center for Research on Gender and Women and several UW area studies programs organized a workshop featuring cutting edge work engaging with the study of human security from a gendered perspective.
The Institute for Research on Poverty’s Summer Research Workshop, celebrating it’s 20th year this summer, has become a time-honored tradition in the poverty studies community since the meeting’s establishment in 1990.
The Institute for Research on Poverty welcomes two important figures to UW0Madison to present seminars on May 4 and May 13.
The Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program of U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service named the Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) the UW–Madison as the RIDGE Center for National Food and Nutrition Assistance Research following a nationwide competition.
Economists agree that the current recession ranks with the worst economic crises since World War II, and that it is taking a terrible toll on most Americans.
‘Tis the season and L&S faculty and students are racking up the awards – congratulations to all!
The William T. Grant Foundation awarded honors to Maria Cancian and Barbara (Bobbi) Wolfe…
An area of growing interest in poverty research is putting the American Dream to the test, in an international context.
Until recently, disadvantaged dads were conspicuously absent from public discourse about America’s high child poverty rate…
A new book “Changing Poverty, Changing Policies” is out this month and is based on a UW conference hosted by the Institute for Research on Poverty last year.
The State of Wisconsin is joined by many other states in trying new approaches to improve the well-being of families, especially vulnerable families.
In mid-June, the Institute for Research on Poverty hosted its 19th annual Summer Research Workshop, which brought together established and emerging scholars to discuss “Current Research on the Low-Income Population.”
The Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) released the first-ever “Wisconsin Poverty Report,” an up-to-date analysis of poverty, food insecurity and areas of rapidly growing economic need that covers all Wisconsin’s 72 counties.
