Maxwell School News and Commentary
Filtered by: Income
Rutherford Talks to Marketplace About the United Auto Workers Strike
When automakers faced bankruptcy in 2008, auto workers faced a tough decision: lose jobs or agree to contract changes that would help the companies get a federal bailout. The union chose the latter. “This was a concession they had to make in order to sustain the bailouts and have some kind of recovery,” says Tod Rutherford, professor of geography and the environment.
See related: Income, Labor, United States
Huber Weighs In on United Auto Workers Strike in The Hill
“The UAW…strike action is ultimately trying to realize one of the Biden Administration’s core policy goals and political selling points: you can have good, family-sustaining union jobs alongside climate action. The problem is the automakers see EV production as a way to trim labor costs and shift production to non-union plants,” says Matt Huber, professor of geography and the environment.
See related: Energy, Environment, Income, Labor, United States
Ueda-Ballmer Weighs In on Japan’s Mental Health Crisis, Gender Inequality in The Nation Article
“Suicide was always a men’s issue,” says Michiko Ueda-Ballmer, associate professor of public administration and international affairs. During the pandemic, “suddenly, women’s suffering became visible.” For the first time, “the government was forced to confront an approach to suicide prevention that had previously focused exclusively on middle-aged men.”
See related: East Asia, Gender and Sex, Health Policy, Income, Labor, Mental Health
RIDGE Partnership Grant Supports Maternity Health Research
Associate Professor Sarah Hamersma and graduate student Mitch McFarlane will use the $75,000 grant to investigate the impacts of SNAP food assistance on maternal and infant health.
See related: Food Security, Grant Awards, Income, Nutrition, Parenting & Family, Student Experience
Montez Quoted in Boston Globe Article on Life Expectancy and Where People Live
In one study, University Professor Jennifer Karas Montez and other researchers found that, if every state simply implemented the same policy environment as Connecticut, “The U.S. would increase its life expectancy by roughly two years,” she says. “That is a massive increase.”
See related: Economic Policy, Housing, Income, Longevity, State & Local, U.S. Health Policy, United States
Engelhardt Weighs in on Fixing Social Security in CNN Article
It’s unlikely anything will be done in the near term, in part because of the current lack of bipartisanship in Washington, says Gary Engelhardt, professor of economics.
See related: Economic Policy, Retirement, United States
Elizabeth Cohen Weighs in on New Study on Waiting Times and Inequality in Bloomberg, New Scientist
“That experience of having your time wasted is uniquely offensive, insulting, upsetting,” Elizabeth Cohen, professor of political science, tells Bloomberg. “Time is a unique resource and once that segment of your life is gone, you're never getting it back.”
See related: Black, Income, Social Justice, United States
Purser Weighs in on New York’s Minimum Wage Increase in WAER Article
"Because what we have been experiencing in recent years has been really historic levels of in terms of increase of the cost of living," says Gretchen Purser, associate professor of sociology. "And so this increased minimum wage doesn't reflect what we have all been experiencing, which is the rising cost of living."
See related: Income, Labor, New York State
Heflin Explores Patterns of Earnings and Employment Based on Worker Characteristics in New Study
"Patterns of Earnings and Employment by Worker Sex, Race, and Ethnicity Using State Administrative Data: Results from a Sample of Workers Connected to Public Assistance Programs," co-authored by Professor Colleen Heflin, was published in Race and Social Problems.
See related: Civil Rights, Gender and Sex, Income, Labor, Race & Ethnicity, Social Justice
Research Paper Co-Authored by Purser, Hennigan Receives Working Class Studies Association Award
“Both Sides of the Paycheck: Recommending Thrift to the Poor in Job Readiness Programs," co-authored by Associate Professor of Sociology Gretchen Purser and Brian Hennigan '13 M.A. (Geog)/'21 Ph.D. (Geog), was awarded the John Russo & Sherry Linkon Award for Published Article or Essay for Academic or General Audiences by the Working-Class Studies Association.
See related: Awards & Honors, Civil Rights, Income, Labor, Race & Ethnicity, Social Justice