News

Ziliak and Moffitt argue for bigger Safety Net response to Covid-19 crisis

May 2020

UKCPR Director James Ziliak and Johns Hopkins Economics Professor Robert Moffitt have authored a new analysis in The Hill on the need for a more robust federal response to mitigate the enconomic impact of the coronavirus. They cite job losses not seen since the Great Depression and devastating shocks to household incomes as evidence for the need to "Deploy the Safety Net." Read more.

Ziliak and Hardy argue for direct payments to mitigate Covid-19 impact

March 2020

UKCPR director James Ziliak and research affiliate Bradley Hardy argue in a Brookings Institute policy brief that the federal government should expedite direct payments to U.S. households to mitigate the economic impact of the coronavirus. Because the response to Covid-19 is affecting every sector of the economy rapidly, the two Brookings affiliates believe that payment amounts should cover about 60 percent of U.S. median household income and be made to every household, without delay. They also recommend immediate relaxing of rules to safety net programs to meet the challenges of caring for the nation’s poor and vulnerable populations. Read the entire Brookings Institution brief.

UKCPR awards new research projects examining senior hunger

March 2020

The University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research awarded nine new projects that will examine a variety of questions related to food hardships facing older persons in the United States. The program -- made possible with funding from the Food and Nutrition Service in the U.S. Department of Agriculture -- will provide about $1.2 million for research into the impact of factors such as medical expenses, food production activities, and chronic disease on food insecurity and related health and material hardships among seniors. Read the article.

UKCPR announces awardees of new food insecurity research using PSID data

March 2020

The University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research, in conjunction with the United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service and the Food and Nutrition Service, awarded six new projects that utilize the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) to analyze household food insecurity and its links to food assistance program participation, work, income, consumption, and wealth. The PSID began in 1968 as a survey of 4,800 American families and has since followed the children and grandchildren of original respondents. Today there are more than 11,000 PSID families and 26,000 individuals who participate in the survey.  Read full story.

UKCPR funded research published in top-tier journal

January 2020

A UKCPR funded research project at the University of Michigan was published in the January 2020 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

The research study, titled “Childhood Food Involvement: Protection against food insecurity in young adulthood” was supported through UKCPR’s research program aimed at exploring data in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). The Michigan study looked at family behavioral factors that mitigate food insecurity in young adulthood. Read more.

UKCPR announces new Request for Proposals on Senior Hunger Research

November 2019

The University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research (UKCPR), with underwriting from the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, announces a second round competition for research contracts that expand our understanding of food-related hardships among older persons in the United States and the policy implications for addressing food insecurity among Americans aged 60 and older. Read more.

Ziliak makes presentation at Kentucky Senior Hunger Summit

November 2019

UKCPR Director James Ziliak was a featured speaker at the Kentucky Senior Hunger Summit in Frankfort on Oct. 30. The event was sponsored by the Kentucky Department for Aging and Independent Living. Ziliak discussed findings from his annual report for on the State of Senior Hunger, co-authored with Craig Gundersen of the University of Illinois. Link to the State Journal article about the Summit. View Ziliak’s Powerpoint presentation from his presentation.

UKCPR researchers publish new study on SNAP benefits

November 2019

A new paper by Colleen Heflin, Sam Ingram, and UKCPR Director James Ziliak, published in the November 2019 edition of Health Affairs, highlights the positive effects of participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Heflin is a professor of public administration at Syracuse University and a UKCPR research affiliate. Ingram is a UKCPR graduate research fellow. Read article.

Allard and UW colleagues receive Equitable Growth grant

September 2019

UKCPR affiliate Scott Allard and colleagues at the University of Washington are recipients of a grant from the Washington Center for Equitable Growth (WCEG) to study local minimum wage laws and their impact on income inequality. Read more.

James Ziliak discusses senior hunger on WEKU's Eastern Standard

September 2019

UKCPR Director and Gatton Endowed Chair of Microeconomics James Ziliak was featured Sept. 5 on WEKU’s Eastern Standard weekly radio news program about his annual report on senior hunger co-authored with Craig Gundersen, professor of agricultural economics at the University of Illinois. The May 2019 release of The State of Senior Hunger is published annually by Feeding America.  Listen to Ziliak’s Eastern Standard interview with host Tom Martin.