Category: Press Release

Mastercard Impact Fund renews grant to Social Policy Institute

Latest $1.5M grant will extend ongoing work to foster inclusive economic growth in St. Louis The Mastercard Impact Fund, with support from the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth —a founding partner of the Social Policy Institute (SPI) at Washington University in St. Louis — will continue its support for SPI with a second round of […]

Social Policy Institute to study impact of short-term credentials on advancing equity and meeting local labor market demands

Contact: Jason Jabbari, Associate Director of Community Partnerships, Social Policy Institutejabbari.jason@wustl.edu. ST. LOUIS, Missouri (August 28, 2023) – The Social Policy Institute (SPI) at Washington University in St. Louis has received a two-year, $475,000 grant from the Lumina Foundation. These funds will support a research project aiming to understand the impact of short-term credentials on […]

JPMorgan Chase awards $1.6 million grant to address employment vulnerability of low-wage frontline workers

JPMorgan Chase has awarded a $1.6 million grant to the Social Policy Institute (SPI) at Washington University in St. Louis in aid of its Workforce Economic Inclusion and Mobility (WEIM) Project to address the employment vulnerability of low-wage frontline and essential workers. Through this work, SPI will build a better understanding of the public policy […]

Habitat for Humanity International awards $350,000 to investigate impact of housing on wealth building

Yung Chun, research assistant professor of the Social Policy Institute and Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, received a $350,000 research award from Habitat for Humanity International to evaluate homeownership programs implemented by local Habitat affiliates and investigate the impact on wealth building for households with low incomes. Through this project, the Social […]

W.T. Grant Foundation awards $512k to study impact of Choice Neighborhood Initiative

Press release: June 8, 2022 Jason Jabbari, research assistant professor with the Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis, received a $512k grant from The William T. Grant Foundation to understand if and how the Choice Neighborhood Initiative (CNI) reduces racial inequalities in academic outcomes for children and youth. Alongside Jabbari, co-principal investigators […]

Nothing to show for it: Distress among non-degree earners with debt

Press release: May 11, 2022 According to a study by the Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis, the convergence of college non-completion and student debt among borrowers lead to higher rates of material hardship, healthcare hardship, and financial difficulties than those with a high school degree, those with a college degree, and […]

New report suggests Child Tax Credit reduced usage of high-cost financial services

Press Release: April 14, 2021 St. Louis (April 14, 2022)— In a new report published with the Global Economy and Development program at Brookings Institution, researchers at the Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis and Appalachian State University found that families who were eligible for the child tax credit (CTC) experienced improved nutrition, decreased […]

New longitudinal Socioeconomic Impacts of COVID-19 Survey calls for sustained public benefit support

The Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis (SPI) released new findings on the impact of COVID-19 on housing hardship, the importance of employment and associated benefits, such as the Payment Protection Program, family hardships, and efficiency of public benefits designed to support households in need, such as SNAP, TANF, and unemployment insurance benefits.

Why are 11% of Israelis still not vaccinated?

A new nationally representative survey from the Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis (SPI) indicates that among the 11% of Israelis who are not vaccinated, 75% do not plan to get vaccinated.

Why are Israeli parents of 12-15-year-olds hesitant to vaccinate their children?

By Yaniv Shlomo, Senior Fellow; Oren Heller, Postdoctoral Research Associate; Daniel Yeshua, Program Manager; and Michal Grinstein-Weiss, Director Download a PDF to read this text in Hebrew: מדוע הורים לבני 12 עד 15 מהססים לחסן את ילדיהם? While most Israeli adults are vaccinated, 62% of parents are hesitant to vaccinate their 12-15-year-old children. The findings […]

Fear of safety and mistrust cause vaccine hesitancy in Israel

SPI asked respondents about their inclination to get a COVID-19 vaccine, as well as their perspectives toward the vaccine and pandemic overall. The results indicate certain religious groups are more hesitant to receive the vaccine than others, though the reasoning differs.

Women with young children are disappearing from the Israeli workforce

Women with young children (0-14 years old) are twice as likely to experience unemployment as compared to men in the same situation, according to the longitudinal Socioeconomic Impacts of COVID-19 Survey in Israel, administered by the Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis.

The Far-Reaching Impacts of COVID-19 on the Financial Lives of Israelis – Differences by Religion and Ethnicity

Press Release: October 25, 2020 With a COVID-19 death toll exceeding 2,000, Israel now has one of the highest per capita deaths in the world. Feelings of frustration and despair have resulted in the largest anti-government demonstrations since the establishment of the country, emphasizing that a central crisis during the COVID-19 is a growing divide […]

Three reasons young Israeli adults may face catastrophic, long-term financial burden from COVID-19

Press Release: September 25, 2020 The potentially catastrophic, long-term financial impacts of COVID-19 on young adults are highlighted in the Socioeconomic Impacts of COVID-19 Survey[1] in Israel, which was administered between June 4 and July 1 by the Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis in partnership with Mastercard. The survey results found […]