Three La Follette School faculty members received research funding from the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) for projects on the financial well-being of economically vulnerable families, older people, people with disabilities, low-wealth households, and children.
The funding is through UW–Madison’s Center for Financial Security (CFS), as part of the Retirement and Disability Research Consortium (RDRC). This is the fourth year of SSA funding for UW–Madison’s RDRC, one of only four federally funded centers.
The $2.2 million award supports 13 major research studies and renews funding mentored fellowships and the Junior Scholars in Training (JSIT) program. It also supports a training program aimed at developing young researchers: the Social Insurance Undergraduate Research Fellowships.
The following La Follette School faculty members received funding.
- Associate Professor Yang Wang, The Effect of Public Policies on Work Disability, with Katie Jajtner
- Professor J. Michael Collins, The Power of Linked Administrative Data: Understanding Racial and Ethnic Differences in SSA and Means-Tested Benefit Receipt and Their Anti-Poverty Effects for Children in Multigenerational Families, with La Follette School faculty affiliates Lawrence M. Berger and Hilary Shager (MPA ’05, PhD ’12)
- Professor Timothy Smeeding, Social Security Interactions with Child Tax Credit Expansion, with Madelaine L’Esperance and Jevay Grooms
- Professor J. Michael Collins, The COVID-19 Pandemic and Older Adults’ Employment and Economic Security: Insights from Earnings and Credit Panel Data, with Stephanie Moulton, Meta Brown, Donald Haurin, and Cäzilia Loibl