Category: Media Mention

Women in St. Louis worry about their careers as they step back to care for their families

St. Louis Public Radio highlighted survey results from Social Policy Institute’s Socioeconomic Impacts of COVID-19 Survey in the U.S. to elevate evidence that child care concerns are driving job losses and the ability to return to work during the pandemic. Atia Thurman, associate director from the Clark-Fox Policy Institute at Washington University added commentary about policy solutions.

An epidemic of food insecurity in Israel

Davar Today, a newspaper in Israel, interviewed Michal Grinstein-Weiss about the impact of COVID-19 on food insecurity in Israel. The data presented is based on the Socioeconomic Impacts of COVID-19 Survey in Israel.

Research found 16% of job loss or layoffs reported payment difficulties

The story below is a translation from an article printed in Hebrew in Israel Today, the largest newspaper in Israel, on Oct. 5, 2020. A new study published here for the first time examined the effect of the first lockdown on households using 2,300 Israelis from June 4 to early July. The data show that […]

The world will no longer belong to the young: 18 – 39-year-olds were financially affected the worst from the Coronavirus

This story was written by Tali Heruti-Sover and originally published on Oct. 1, 2020 in The Marker in Israel. According to a study conducted by Prof. Michal Grinstein-Weiss at the beginning of the crisis, young people, generations Y and Z, suffer from high unemployment, have difficulty providing basic needs for themselves and their debts are large

Michal Grinstein-Weiss and Marla Blow: Masks aren’t the only answer to keeping workers safe

Michal Grinstein-Weiss, director, SPI, and Marla Blow, vice president, Center for Inclusive Growth, co-author an op-ed highlighting the need for better workplace policies to mitigate exposure to COVID-19. “By addressing longstanding inequalities that have undervalued essential workers, these measures would ensure that no one is put in a position of choosing health over a paycheck.”

Covid-19: Time to look at where we are going

SPI research about job loss is featured in this article on BizNews in which Alan Whiteside, OBE, Chair of Global Health Policy, BSIA, Waterloo, Canada & Professor Emeritus, University of KwaZulu-Natal, looks at the long-term impact of COVID-19.

Quarantine Envy Got You Down? You’re Not Alone

Some groups may also be better than others at resisting envy. A recent Brookings Institution study showed that African-American and Hispanic people, especially those with low incomes, remained more optimistic than their white counterparts, despite facing physical and economic challenges from the pandemic.

Experts Warn of Potential Housing Crisis When Eviction Moratorium Lifted

In an interview with NBC 6, Michal Grinstein-Weiss discussed the housing crisis and looming evictions. She said, “We are already in a housing crisis in the U.S. and we were in one long before, and housing is really central for our people to recover from COVID-19.”

Pandemic boosts urgency of housing instability

The Columbian features SPI data in a story about housing hardship. “Nationally, a survey of low- to moderate-income households, conducted by the Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis, found that individuals are facing increased hardships such as evictions, delayed rent or mortgage payments, or unexpected utility payments and home repairs during the pandemic.”

It’s about to get a lot worse

SPI faculty director, Mat Despard, was interviewed in this Axios story about evictions: “We should be very concerned about what’s going to happen in August and beyond.”

Inspired by father who survived Holocaust, Wash U professor aims to help north St. Louis residents

Michal Grinstein-Weiss understands how trauma can have a lasting effect. Her father, Slomo Grinstein, survived the Holocaust by spending years hiding in the woods of Poland while his family was killed at concentration camps. “He always struggled a little bit between jobs — and [the Holocaust] doesn’t leave anyone, and he was never able to fully recover from the trauma,” said Grinstein-Weiss, who grew up in Israel and moved to St. Louis in 1999 to pursue a doctorate in social work. Now she’s the director of the Social Policy Institute at Wash U and working to research and develop policy to help black families in north St. Louis who have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus.

Tracking COVID-19 cases by zip code highlights inequity in St. Louis region

St. Louis on the Air, Sarah Fenske spoke with Washington University’s Dr. Laurie Punch and Michal Grinstein-Weiss, the director of Washington University’s Social Policy Institute and of the Centene Center for Health Transformation. Grinstein-Weiss recently looked into COVID-19 case counts in ZIP codes across the St. Louis region.

United Way extends a financial life raft to employees who need it

United Way is offering TrueConnect, an employee financial wellness program, through a partnership with the National Fund for Workforce Solutions and Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis. It is available to for-profit and nonprofit employers with 100 or more employees.

Research Wire

Bufe, S., Roll, S. P., Kondratjeva, O., Hardy, B., & Grinstein-Weiss, M. (2019). Does Savings Affect Participation in the Gig Economy? Evidence from a Tax Refund Field Experiment (SPI Working Paper 19-1). St. Louis, MO: Washington University, Social Policy Institute.

Financially Stressed Families Save More with Medicaid, Study Shows

Financially burdened families’ savings get a shot in the arm with access to Medicaid, according to a new study from CU Boulder, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Washington University in St. Louis and Diego Portales University in Chile.

How Dan Ariely Sees the Future of Financial Advice

Centene Center Faculty Director and behavior economics researcher, Dan Ariely, PhD, MA, talks with ThinkAdvisor about the future of financial advice and how he sees the role of financial advisor evolving over time. He discusses why the usual motivator of paying people can backfire, as well as why people make irrational decisions regarding their money. Rusoff, J. W.

Social Policy Institute receives $385,000 grant

The newly established Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis has received a $385,000 grant from JPMorgan Chase & Co. as part of the company’s $125 million, five-year global commitment to promoting customers’ financial health.

New consumer protection director to speak June 12

Kathy Kraninger, who was named director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) six months ago, spoke about the bureau’s new directions and initiatives in savings policy in Hillman Hall’s Clark-Fox Forum. Michal Grinstein-Weiss, professor in Brown School and SPI director, will oversee a panel focused on the importance of savings in economically vulnerable communities.

Where Do You Get Your Health Information?

In a recent study conducted by the Centene Center for Health Transformation, Medicaid, and commercially insured individuals shared their top resources for learning about health topics. Not surprising, both groups communicated that their top three sources were the Internet, doctors/healthcare providers, and valued personal supporters such as family members of friends, preferably those with health-related training like nurses.

The Connection between Unmet Social Needs, Stress, and Health

Research results from a recent study completed by the Centene Center for Health Transformation show that the more unmet social needs someone has, the more barriers to self-care, worse health behaviors, and worse health outcomes they experience.