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Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology

Equity-Focused Policy Research Funding, Income Supports for Low-Income Families with Young Children

Filing federal taxes is rarely a cause for celebration, but for low-income families, tax season can make or break a household’s yearly budget.

Each year, millions of working families benefit from cash assistance programs like the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) that help provide critical resources to support children’s development. The influx of income lessens family stress levels and may reduce poverty among the country’s most vulnerable. Yet, despite cash assistance program benefits, so many eligible families leave money on the table – literally.

RWJF is looking to work with researchers, state and local government agencies, and public and private sector professionals in a variety of fields to draw on their expertise to better understand why more eligible low-income families do not make use of programs like TANF and the EITC. A total of $1.5 million in funding is available for up to 10 projects that lead to better understanding of the barriers families face when attempting to access cash assistance programs. Conclusions from the studies will inform policies that ensure eligible families receive the help they need.

Grant funds will support research and evaluation of the project, with some funds allocated to communication and dissemination efforts to share findings and lessons learned broadly.

Does your research qualify? Learn more about eligibility and selection criteria >>

Post-Docs, Impact Assessment

IFAD’s Research and Impact Assessment Division (RIA) is looking for three post-docs as of July 1, 2019. Post-Docs will be based in Rome at IFAD for a two year’s appointment as UN Temporary Professional Officer at a P2 level.

IFAD is committed to conducting impact assessments on 15 per cent of its project portfolio. The projects are selected for impact assessments in an attempt to be representative of IFAD’s overall portfolio. This allows IFAD to  report on the corporate impacts of its operations making it the only international financial institution that reports impact at the corporate level. RIA is the division leading the impact assessment initiative and committed to increase IFAD’s visibility in the international academic environment.

Post-Docs will be engaged in RIA’s activities and provide support in the following areas:

  1. Impact Assessment Projects using ex-post non-experimental approaches
  2. Policy relevant research papers to be published in peer reviewed journal on issues of relevance for IFAD-RIA
  3. Production of policy notes and briefs

The positions will focus on empirical analysis of agricultural household data from developing countries—impact evaluation data and LSMS-type household level data. Post-Docs will be involved in all the activities throughout the project cycle of the Impact Assessment Studies (Planning, Implementation, Analysis, Report Writing and Dissemination).

Requirements

  • Excellent writing skills in English
  • Prior field work experience
  • Experience in Impact Assessment
  • Ability to work in one or more of the following languages: French, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic.

Post-Docs must have completed their PhD no earlier than May 2018

Online Application

Interested candidates should apply by filling out an online form by May 10, 2019.

Candidates should upload the following documents:

  • CV
  • Cover Letter.
  • Writing sample (for example research statement, PhD dissertation summary, working paper or published paper)

In the interest of making most cost effective use of funds and resources, we are only able to respond to applicants who are short-listed for interview.

Candidates who do not receive any feedback within one month from the deadline should consider their application unsuccessful.

Ali Rowhani-Rahbar Finds that Many Older Adults Keep Guns Unlocked and Loaded

US News and Pacific Standard recently featured CSDE Affiliate and Associate Professor of Epidemiology Ali Rowhani-Rahbar‘s research on gun ownership and storage, suicide risk factors, and memory loss among older adults. The statewide survey results, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, show that many older adults, including those who are mentally impaired, don’t lock up their guns and ammunition.

Almost 39% of the more than 4,400 seniors surveyed said they had a firearm in their home, and fewer than a third said they keep all firearms locked up and unloaded. These unsafe practices make suicide easier and endanger kids and visitors. “Findings of this study highlight the importance of addressing access to firearms among older adults, especially those who display signs of dementia or suicide risk factors,” said Rowhani-Rahbar.

“We know that the overwhelming majority of firearm deaths among older adults are suicides,” Rowhani-Rahbar said. About 1 in 5 respondents with loaded weapons not locked away had been diagnosed with depression and about 1 in 8 had experienced memory loss in the past year. Easy access to guns is a special danger to older people with impaired thinking. People suffering from dementia may use the weapon to kill themselves or to shoot others because they are confused or increasingly agitated and aggressive, authors said.

Rowhani-Rahbar’s research on violence prevention stretches beyond this topic. Last week he also published an opinion piece for The Seattle Times titled “What we know about school mass shootings since Columbine and how to prevent them,” which you can read here!

CSDE Launches UWDC and Wins UW-STF Grant

Last week was a busy one! In partnership with the Population Health Initiative and Urban@UW, CSDE launched the University of Washington Data Collaborative (UWDC), a new data and administrative infrastructure for storing and accessing innovative data, and building collaborations across the campus community.

In addition, the UWDC team won a UW Student Technology Fee grant to support the hard and soft infrastructure that will be used to build the data collaborative’s virtual machines! Shout-out to our computing experts Matt Weatherford and Alan Li.

According to CSDE Science Core Director Matt Hall, “The STF grant will dramatically expand our ability to provide access to the innovative data that is held by the UWDC. The UWDC is particularly excited to work with students across campus and at all stages of their academic careers to advance their research skills and experiences in population and data science.”

Call for Papers: XV Argentinian Population Conference and II International Congress of the Southern Cone (San Juan, Argentina, 9/18-9/20/2019) 

XV Jornadas Argentinas de Estudios de Población – II Congreso Internacional de Población del Cono Sur
San Juan, Argentina, 18-20 September 2019

The Argentinian Population Studies Association issued a call for papers for its XV Argentinian Population Conference and the II International Congress of the Southern Cone. These events will take place in the National University of San Juan, San Juan Province, Argentina from 18 to 20 september 2019.
For more information: http://www.redaepa.org.ar/jornadas-2019/
For more information by email please contact: aepa.secretaria@redaepa.org.ar and jornadasaepa2019@gmail.com
XV JORNADAS ARGENTINAS DE ESTUDIOS DE POBLACIÓN. II CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE POBLACIÓN DEL CONO SUR
Las XV Jornadas de Estudios de Población se llevarán a cabo junto con el II Congreso Internacional de Población del Cono Sur en la sede la Facultad de Ciencias Sociales de la Universidad Nacional de San Juan (UNSJ), San Juan, los días 18, 19 y 20 de Septiembre de 2019.
CALENDARIO ACTUALIZADO
– Envío de resúmenes: hasta el 26 de abril de 2019.
– Aceptación de resúmenes: 17 de mayo de 2019.
– Envío de ponencias completas y pósters: 20 de mayo al 22 de julio de 2019.

Summer Class: ANTH269 An Anthropology of Homelessness

This summer, one of the Homelessness Research Initiative’s affiliates will be offering a course, ANTH 269 – An Anthropology of Homelessness. This is a unique opportunity to engage with current research on homelessness and public space and develop your own research proposal.

ANTH 269: An Anthropology of Homelessness – 

The Study and Biopolitics of Unsettled Communities

The study of so-called “homelessness,” unhoused and unsettled communities has a deep and controversial history in social science research. Such research has been used for advocacy and policy development, to suggest strategies, best practices, and push for structural responses to the root causes of social inequalities. However, separating people according to constructed identities can (re)produce harm by formalizing implicit bias into governing systems, erasing the lives and needs of people who live outside official demographics. In this course, students critically analyze the research and representations of people who inhabit public space. We discuss influential studies alongside responses to their theories and methods, to understand how they may help or hinder the stabilization of unsettled neighbors. In the second half of the course, students develop a grounded research proposal that ethically and compassionately investigates an issue relating to “homelessness” and the habitation of public spaces. Class time includes lectures, viewing films, and small or large group discussions.

 

Envisioning a Green New Deal in Washington State (Panel Discussion, 4/25/2019)

Interested in what a Green New Deal would look like here in Seattle and Washington State? Join us for a panel discussion on what potential policies could be implemented at the national, state, and city level. We will discuss the details of transitioning to a clean energy economy that provides living wage jobs and protects the most vulnerable communities in our fight against climate change.

Panelists:

  • Lylianna Allala, Legislative Aid for U.S. Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal
  • Debolina Banerjee, Climate Justice Policy Analyst at Puget Sound Sage
  • Mike O’Brien, Seattle City Council Member District 6
  • Dr. Nives Dolsak, UW Center for Environmental Politics

Moderator: Ahmed Gaya, National Field Director for the Sunrise Movement

Sponsor: This UW Earth Week event is being co-organized by GreenEvans, UW Students of the Seattle Chapter of the Sunrise Movement and the Climate Justice Workgroup of the graduate student Union UAW 4121. Find out more about the event on our Facebook page.

Food will be served!