Social and Economic Inequality
Economic growth and development depend upon all citizens having the opportunity to maximize their potential, whether this is in terms of family formation, career path, or other long-term objective. MPRC researchers study inequalities by race / ethnicity, social class, age, gender, context, and nativity / immigration status in this and other signature themes.
MPRC research in this category is unique in its focus on key institutional contexts. Although population research usually focuses on the individual or family as the unit of analysis, from an ecological perspective, the individual and family are nested in a set of broader institutional contexts. Such institutions include prisons, the criminal justice system, health care systems, family and welfare policy, the labor market, the military, firms, schools, states, or countries as the context for population-related behaviors.
Areas of focus include :
- Individual and family inequality
- Schools and colleges
- Organizations and firms
- Criminal justice system
- Military
Examples of current projects in these areas are listed here.
Confronting Racism in Environmental Health Sciences
Commentary by Devon Payne-Sturges and others presents recommendations for a path toward eliminating racial inequities
Care Coordination for African American and Hispanic Adults with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias
National Institute of Aging R01
Gender, Transport, and Employment in Mumbai
Maureen Cropper and colleagues examine mobility patterns and a gender gap
High Frequency Business Dynamics During COVID-19
John Haltiwanger and colleagues examine labor market issues using new Census data sets
Examining and Addressing COVID-19 Racial Disparities in Detroit
Governance Studies at Brookings paper
Using Big Data to measure discrimination impacts on birth outcomes
New National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities grant
Business Formation: A Tale of Two Recessions
Working paper by John Haltiwanger, with Ermin Dinlersoz, Timothy Dunne, and Veronika Penciakova
Improving Educational Equity and Engagement During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond
Amy Lewin and Kevin Roy work with Montgomery County, Maryland, public schools
Engaging Women in the Market for Mobile Money
Faculty Associate Jessica Goldberg awarded National Science Foundation three-year grant to examine questions of participation and impact for women
Work mobility during COVID
NSF Rapid Response project will examine job restructuring, policy effects
Investigating Determinants of Educational Attainment and Achievement in Mexico
NSF award funds collaboration between scholars at the University of Maryland and the University of Pennsylvania to study the effects of supply-side and demand-side policies
Promoting Economic Recovery After COVID-19
Melissa Kearney and colleagues offer bi-partisan plan for economic recovery
NSF RAPID Study on the 2020 Coronavirus Social Impacts
Long Doan along with Faculty Associates Liana Sayer, Sociology, and Jessica Fish, Family Science, will examine the social impacts of the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic.
Standard measures of Unemployment make U.S. labor market looks a bit too tight
Katharine Abraham and John Haltiwanger examine U.S. labor market tightness by addressing the limitations of the standard measures
Trends in stratification of pre-marital childbirth
Kirsten Stoebenau and Sangeetha Madhavan examine impact of economic inequality through NICHD R03
The Impact of Work Requirements on Program Participation and Labor Supply
Mary Zaki and her colleagues published a working paper analyzing the effects of work requirements on SNAP participation, beneficiary composition, and labor supply
Climate change is not a simplistic comparison of apartheid but entails global cooperation to deal with it
Alok Bhargava responds to Desmond Tutu's Comparison of Climate Change as Developed Countries' "Climate Apartheid" On the Poor
Dynamism diminished: The role of housing markets and credit conditions
John Haltiwanger looks at the effect of housing market shocks on young businesses and start-ups
Opioid Use Disorder, mental illness lack treatment when co-occuring
Jie Chen and colleagues will publish a study examining the behavioral health treatment among individuals with co-occurring opioid use disorder and mental illness
Care Coordination on Minorities with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia
Principal Investigator Jie Chen, with Andrew Fenelon and others, was awarded a grant to study care coordination on ethnic minority populations