Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan
Joan and Sanford Weill Hall
through action-based research
How to define and measure poverty is a matter of great debate. And this debate is important, because how we measure poverty is central to how we understand and improve well-being in our society.
At Poverty Solutions, we view poverty as the result of interlinked systems – like housing, education, labor markets — that fail people with low incomes. Such a systems approach puts the emphasis on structural, rather than individual, causes of poverty.
Featured
News Release | Jan. 28, 2026
News Release | Jan. 26, 2026
News Release | Jan. 20, 2026
Concentrate | Feb. 2, 2026
WDIV Local 4 | Feb. 2, 2026
Hechinger Report | Jan. 17, 2026
Bridge Michigan | Jan. 15, 2026
Poverty Solutions is a partner on Rx Kids, the nation’s first community-wide prenatal and infant cash prescription program. Rx Kids started in Flint and is now expanding to communities across Michigan.
We work closely with the City of Detroit, neighborhood groups, service providers, and foundations in Detroit to improve economic opportunity and reduce poverty.
In 2025, our researchers helped protect federal funding for students experiencing homelessness, expanded an infant cash assistance program across Michigan, evaluated promising violence intervention strategies in Detroit, and much more.
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