As the nation marks the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s declaration of war on poverty on Jan. 8, 1964, the University of California, Davis, offers media sources on various aspects of poverty.  The UC Davis Center for Poverty Research also will hold a two-day academic conference on the war on poverty Jan. 9 and 10. Details at: http://poverty.ucdavis.edu/war_on_poverty. 

Job loss, health care access and the Earned Income Tax Credit

Labor economist Ann Huff Stevens, professor and chair of the Department of Economics and director of the UC Davis Center for Poverty Research, can speak on issues related to unemployment, labor markets and poverty. Her current research includes studies of the effects of job loss and income shocks on mental and physical health and health care access and utilization. Other work looks at the dynamics of poverty, including a study currently under way on the dynamics of the Earned Income Tax Credit. Contact: Ann Stevens, Economics, (530) 752-3034, annstevens@ucdavis.edu.

The economy and children

Marianne Page, professor of economics at UC Davis, researches how economic conditions affect children. She recently produced a policy brief on how smaller classes affect children: http://bit.ly/1a1Mp17. She has examined intergenerational mobility, poverty and inequality, and the impact of social programs on low-income families. Her work has been published in journals such as the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the Review of Economics and Statistics, the Journal of Human Resources and the Journal of Labor Economics, and has been funded by the National Science Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health.  In addition to her appointment in the economics department, Professor Page is currently the deputy director of the Center for Poverty Research at UC Davis. Contact: Marianne Page, Economics, (530) 752-1551, mepage@ucdavis.edu.

Continuing poverty

Sasha Abramsky, a freelance journalist and part-time lecturer in the University Writing Program, wrote the book “The American Way of Poverty: How the Other Half Still Lives," published by Nation Books in September 2013. The New York Times listed it among its 100 Most Notable Books of 2013.  His writing appears regularly in the Nation, the American Prospect and many other publications. Contact: Sasha Abramsky, University Writing Program, (646) 831-6998, sabramsky@ucdavis.edu.

Immigration policy and the economy

Giovanni Peri, professor of economics at UC Davis, studies immigration’s effect on the economy. He is co-author of “Overhauling the Temporary Work Visa System,” a publication of The Hamilton Project, an initiative of the Brookings Institution. He wrote an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal last year detailing how comprehensive immigration reform could greatly improve the economy, partly by keeping foreign scientists and engineers in the country to conduct important research and create jobs. His research is further detailed at his site: http://economics.ucdavis.edu/people/gperi/site. Contact: Giovanni Peri, Economics, gperi@ucdavis.edu.