Matthew Diemer, associate professor in MSU’s College of Education, talks about his paper “Practices in Conceptualizing and Measuring Social Class in Psychological Research.”
Social class has been linked to health, college attainment and other important outcomes, but the best ways to define and measure social class are still unclear to many, a Michigan State University scholar argues. (more…)
It seems that migration policies of a leading country in Europe, France, are seriously changing. The country is no longer able to hold back the crowd of migrants, many of whom do not want to integrate into the social and economic life of their new home country. The upcoming radical changes for migrants were announced by French Interior Minister Manuel Valls.
After a meeting on the National Immigration and Integration, French Interior Minister Manuel Valls announced significant changes in the country’s migration policy. The government will reduce financial assistance to immigrants, and this reduction will be substantial. Starting March 1 of next year, French immigrant benefits will be reduced by 83 percent. The amount of compensation to immigrants who voluntarily want to return home will be also reduced. If earlier the government paid 300 euros for every adult and 100 euros for every minor, in March of 2013 these amounts will be reduced to 50 and 30 euros, respectively. (more…)
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Newly released U.S. Census figures show the poverty rate essentially leveled in 2011 – beating the expectations of many experts who had predicted a fifth straight increase, says Professor Douglas Besharov, an expert on poverty and welfare at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy.
According to the new figures, the overall poverty rate for 2011 was 15 percent, a statistically insignificant drop from the 15.1 percent the year before, says Besharov, who directs the school’s Welfare Reform Academy. The number broke a trend in which the poverty rate had risen 27.1 percent since 2006. In 2011, roughly 46.2 million people remained below the poverty line. (more…)
ANN ARBOR, Mich.— America’s economy will continue its recovery this year and next as it adds nearly 5 million jobs and unemployment falls below 8 percent, say University of Michigan economists.
“The performance of the U.S. economy during much of 2011 did nothing to alter the perception that we were mired in a sluggish recovery,” said U-M economist Joan Crary. (more…)
*No silver bullet but hope for economy remains, experts tell audience at UD*
Analogies abounded at the 2012 Economic Forecast, where speakers compared monetary policy to turnpike driving, fiscal policy to an empty toolbox and investing to “finding the least worst house on an unstable block.”
Charles I. Plosser, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Federal Reserve, was one of three featured speakers at the annual event, which was sponsored by Lyons Companies and the University of Delaware’s Center for Economic Education and Entrepreneurship (CEEE) and held Tuesday, Feb. 14, at UD’s Clayton Hall. (more…)
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – A weak housing market, tight credit for small businesses, no significant growth in the banking sector, anemic consumer spending, and modest sales for retailers – that’s the outlook for 2012 according to experts at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.
“Several important dynamics frame the 2012 economic outlook,” says Cliff Rossi, Tyser Teacher Fellow and executive-in-residence. These factors include:
