Research on the long-term effectiveness of poverty alleviation programs in the U.S. is the focus of a new, $1.3 million institute at the University of California, Irvine. Launched Jan. 1, the Economic Self-Sufficiency Policy Research Institute is led by Chancellor’s Professor of Economics David Neumark, who has directed UC Irvine’s Center for Economics & Public Policy since 2011.
“Spending on programs and policies to reduce poverty and increase economic self-sufficiency is significant – easily over $100 billion per year,” Neumark said. “There’s lack of evidence on the long-term effects of these programs and policies. We know a lot about who gets what in the short term but very little about whether these programs enhance the ability of individuals and families to become economically self-sufficient in the longer term.”
The new center aims to fill this research gap through targeted studies in major policy areas that influence economic self-sufficiency. These include minimum wages, the earned income tax credit and local economic development incentives – subjects in which Neumark is a widely cited expert – as well as other topics to be pursued by affiliated faculty from UC Irvine and across the country.
“This research agenda is intended to change the conversation from the short-run redistributional impacts of these policies to their long-run effects,” he said. “A specific focus will be on whether these programs enable people to benefit from government assistance in the short term and to become economically self-sufficient in the long term.”
In 2017, the Economic Self-Sufficiency Policy Research Institute will launch a national grant competition to fund as many as four projects focused on poverty alleviation policies that promote economic self-sufficiency. It will translate completed research on income, work and self-sufficiency into impact reports that will be deployed through targeted op-eds; briefings for policymakers, legislative committees and other government bodies; and a social media campaign intended to give the digestible information its widest reach.
“ESSPRI ultimately seeks to improve policies designed to make individuals economically self-sufficient,” Neumark said. “By studying the long-term effectiveness of these programs, we can begin to find ways to improve policy to further policy success.”
The Center for Economics & Public Policy and its successful model of policy-oriented research will be absorbed into the new institute, which was funded by the Laura & John Arnold Foundation. Learn more about the Economic Self-Sufficiency Policy Research Institute and its work online at www.esspri.uci.edu.
