Poverty and Inequalities

Wilkins Lecture offers a critical look at how to solve poverty in America

Shayla Brown — Wed, 27 Sep 2023 18:45:24 +0000

Wilkins Lecture offers a critical look at how to solve poverty in America Shayla Brown Wed, 09/27/2023 - 14:45

��AV’s annual Roger Wilkins Lecture is a tribute to the late Robinson Professor Emeritus of History and American Culture, and Wilkins’ daughter, Elizabeth, was on hand Tuesday, Sept. 26, at the Harris Theater to introduce this year’s guest speaker, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Matthew Desmond.

Pulitzer Prize winner Matthew Desmond, guest speaker for the 2023 Roger Wilkins Lecture in Harris Theater. Photo by Ron Aira/Office of University Branding.

“After reading both of [Desmond’s] books, I have come away with a sense of a person whose passion for justice and whose hatred for injustice paralleled that of my dad,” she said. “Both men have relentlessly centered people—real people, disempowered people, poor people—in their work. Neither of them will let us look away.”

The lecture, attended by about 325 people, featured Desmond’s latest book “Poverty, by America.” Desmond spoke about his personal experiences with poverty throughout his life, his encounters with others affected by social-economic injustices such as eviction, and implementable government policies that could greatly decrease the number of families and individuals living in poverty.

The lecture is sponsored by the Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) Program, a collaborative effort between the Schar School of Policy and Government and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

The final portion of the evening consisted of a Q&A run by Wendi Manuel-Scott, professor of integrative studies and history, and a book signing by Desmond.

One audience member asked whether mission-focused nonprofits and co-ops that are not focused on maximizing profits could help solve the housing problem.

Desmond said that it’s possible but challenging, and it would require federal guidance for wide implementation. He gave the example of a tenant union in Minneapolis that was trying to turn their buildings into a co-op and asked the landlord to sell them the buildings. He set the asking price at $7 million. They countered with a fair market price.

“But [the landlord] got fed up because the tenants were also advocating, so he gave everyone an eviction notice. Everything came to a head—they were either going to be homeowners or homeless,” Desmond said. The tenants ultimately won and bought the buildings, and they are still a co-op today, he added.

Another audience member asked why the top 1% don’t pay their fair share of taxes, which would go toward $175 billion estimated need to end poverty?

“One is the worry that if you tax affluent Americans too much, they will leave the country, so instead of having a little tax from them, we’d have none,” Desmond said. He also pointed to fears of empowering the Internal Revenue Service, an already troubled institution. “Some propose a whole new federal agency, that would essentially be a ‘making sure rich people pay their taxes’ bureau, and if you make under a certain amount, the bottom 95%, they will have absolutely nothing to do with you.”

Desmond was also asked about the challenge of national rhetoric interfering with practical local problem-solving movements.

“I think that polarization is both very frustrating and encouraging,” Desmond said. “Surveys show that most Americans think that minimum wage is too low, the rich aren’t paying their fair share of taxes, and most Democrats and Republicans believe that poverty is the result of structural failing, not a moral failing. That’s encouraging.”

“The call for a robust antipoverty movement means we might disagree on gun rights or abortion, but we both want higher wages and fairer taxes,” he added. “That kind of movement is harder to make in America.”

“Poverty isn’t simply the condition of not having enough money. It’s the condition of not having enough choice and being taken advantage of because of that.”
—Matthew Desmond

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Pulitzer winner, poverty researcher Matthew Desmond to deliver 2023 Roger Wilkins Lecture

Colleen Rich — Fri, 01 Sep 2023 15:59:42 +0000

Pulitzer winner, poverty researcher Matthew Desmond to deliver 2023 Roger Wilkins Lecture Colleen Rich Fri, 09/01/2023 - 11:59

Matthew Desmond says the Pulitzer Prize he won in 2017 for his book Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the America City came as a surprise. “I didn’t even know it was happening that day,” he said, still blushing a bit during a Zoom call from his home office in Princeton, New Jersey.

Matthew Desmond. Photo by Barron Bixler

Desmond, a professor of sociology at Princeton University, is the principal investigator of the Eviction Lab, which compiles data on the 3.6 million eviction cases a year in the United States; it’s an aspect of his heartfelt studies of poverty and public policy. Desmond is the guest lecturer for this year’s ��AV Roger Wilkins Lecture, taking place Tuesday, Sept. 26, at 4 p.m. in the Harris Theater on the Fairfax Campus. The free event is open to students, faculty, staff, alumni, and all members of the Mason community.

Desmond’s new book, Poverty, By America (Crown), is a deep and compassionate dive into the persistence of poverty in the U.S. and the policies that have been shown to be effective in abolishing it.

“Tens of millions of Americans do not end up poor by a mistake of history or personal conduct. Poverty persists because some wish and will it to,” he writes in the book. “Poverty isn’t simply the condition of not having enough money. It’s the condition of not having enough choice and being taken advantage of because of that.”

Desmond has seen the effects of poverty—and the policies that change it—firsthand. The son of a preacher growing up in Winslow, Arizona—a desert town offering little else beyond a fabled street corner in a song by the Eagles—Desmond experienced “the humiliations of poverty—we got our gas shut off, for instance,” he said, and losing the family home to foreclosure.

But a public policy changed everything for young Desmond: Arizona students who finish high school in “the top 5 percent of your class, you get free tuition at a state school,” he recalled. “That was the lifesaver that helped me get to Arizona State University. If we’re going to point to one policy along the way that was the secret sauce, it was that tuition assistance policy I got when I was 18.”

He added that there are other policies can help eradicate poverty in addition to tuition assistance. Housing vouchers, for example, allow families to “go to the grocery store to buy more food because they don’t have to pay 50, 60, 70 percent of their income on rent. These things work for the lucky minority that benefit from them.” And lucky is the word: “They literally have won the lottery” when awarded vouchers, he said.

While he’s hopeful his Wilkins lecture will have an impact on those in the audience, “a fear of mine is people read my book or come to my talks and they say, ‘good book, good talk,’ and they go on with their lives,” he said. “I want us all to commit to this project of ‘poverty abolitionism,’ this conviction that we should have a zero-percent poverty rate and [understanding] that profiting from someone else’s pain corrupts all of us.”

The Wilkins Lecture is named for the late Wilkins who was a civil rights activist, the first Black U.S. assistant attorney general, and a Robinson Professor of History and American Culture at Mason for 20 years. The series was established as a tribute to Wilkins by his colleagues and is also sponsored by the undergraduate Philosophy, Politics and Economics program. Previous Wilkins lecturers include Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie, and civil rights activist James Foreman Jr.

“Poverty isn’t simply the condition of not having enough money. It’s the condition of not having enough choice and being taken advantage of because of that.”

~ Matthew Desmond

Learn about Roger Wilkins

Previous Wilkins Lecturers

Wilkins Lecture offers a critical look at how to solve poverty in America
September 27, 2023
Pulitzer winner, poverty researcher Matthew Desmond to deliver 2023 Roger Wilkins Lecture
September 6, 2023
NYT columnist Jamelle Bouie examines U.S. political inequality in annual Wilkins Lecture
April 6, 2022
NYT columnist Jamelle Bouie is the featured speaker at this year’s Roger Wilkins Lecture
March 30, 2022
Justice Elena Kagan is this year’s featured speaker at Roger Wilkins Lecture
November 11, 2019

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Pandemic emergency food benefits end as Nutrition Month starts

John Brandon Cantrell — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 19:10:06 +0000

Pandemic emergency food benefits end as Nutrition Month starts John Brandon C… Tue, 02/28/2023 - 14:10

In This Story

Evelyn Tomaszewski, MSW, ACSW

Kerri LaCharite, PhD

Erin D. Maughan, PhD

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Poverty and Inequalities

March 1 end of program will impact millions of Americans–predominantly families and people of color

Millions of families rely on food pantries, even after the height of the pandemic. Photo Credit: Emily Bartenfelder, ��AV BSW '20

On the same day National Nutrition Month kicks off, millions of individuals and families in the U.S. who currently receive benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assessment Program (SNAP) will see a decrease in their federal food benefits. On March 1, pandemic emergency allotments to SNAP are set to end–cutting benefits by $90 per month per person (on average).

Despite SNAP emergency allotments, many Americans still face food insecurity

During the COVID-19 public health emergency, food insecurity rates doubled overall throughout the nation and tripled in households with children. Congress originally enacted emergency allotments (EAs) during the pandemic to provide economic stimulus and address food insecurity. However, data shows that even though EAs kept more than 4 million people “above the poverty line,” according to a study from the Urban Institute, millions of Americans still experienced food insecurity and lived below the poverty line.

Evelyn Tomaszewski, MSW, assistant professor of social work in the College of Public Health at ��AV, underscores the severity of the issue, saying: “Food insecurity was prevalent during the pandemic and will remain a serious concern in a ’post-pandemic’ world, particularly among households with children–who were most likely to face food insecurity during the pandemic–as well as communities of color (per USDA data).”

“When you are struggling to balance rent and daily living expenses, a loss of $168 or $190 can translate to hardship and extreme food insecurity,” said Tomaszewski. “In 2022, 9% of the population of Virginia, or 1 in 11 persons, accessed SNAP benefits. We are talking about our neighbors, our students, and our colleagues.”

A study by American University found that by the end of 2021, Americans were paying an average of 12 percent of their income on food; for lower-income wage earners, it was closer to 36 percent.

In 2023, an estimated 34 million people (including 9 million children) still remain food insecure, and the cost of food is expected to rise by 3.5 percent - 4.5 percent, according to the USDA.

Vulnerable populations already adversely affected by COVID will see the biggest impact

“Our country’s vulnerable populations have been the most affected by COVID and inflation. Those who live significantly below the poverty threshold, including households with children headed by single women and Black and Hispanic households, rely on SNAP benefits to make sure there is food on the table,” said Kerri LaCharite, PhD, associate professor of Nutrition and Food Studies in the College of Public Health.

LaCharite and Tomaszewski are also concerned for populations that will likely dip below the poverty line when EAs end, including college students, seniors living on a fixed income, and individuals with disabilities.

Mason Social Work students volunteer at food pantry during COVID-19 pandemic.

College students who qualified for the emergency allocation will also lose their benefits on March 1, when those defined as “able-bodied adults without dependents” will again be limited to a three-month limit of benefits. According to the College and University Food Bank Alliance, more than 30% of college students were food insecure in 2019, even before the pandemic.

Older adults and persons with disabilities saw a decrease in SNAP benefits when they received “long overdue (and still minimal) increase to social security benefits.” With the end of EAs, benefits will be cut (on average) by $168.00 per month for households with adults aged 60 and older and (on average) $190 per month for persons with disabilities.

The impact of food insecurity is long-lasting for children and adults. “The long-term effects of food insecurity will affect health outcomes. In children, food insecurity is associated with cognitive problems, higher risks of being hospitalized, asthma, behavioral problems, depression, poorer general health, among a longer list. In non-senior adults, food insecurity is associated with diabetes, hypertension, mental health issues, high blood cholesterol levels, and poor sleep,” said LaCharite.

Food banks, schools, and community support - How will individuals, families, and communities meet the need?

Erin Maughan, PhD, associate professor of nursing in the College of Public Health, works with K-12 school districts and school nurses and is particularly concerned about the impact on school-aged children, school systems, and the employees who may already be stretched thin.

“With SNAP emergency funds decreasing, it could increase the number of students or amount of food schools will provide students. Schools already are a safety net for food (breakfast and lunch), and some provide food backpacks for the weekend. Of greater concern is how it will impact mental health and learning. When children are hungry, they can't concentrate; down the road, it could also be an issue of malnutrition,” said Maughan

“Families are going to need to fill the gap somehow,” says LaCharite. “We have seen this in the past. It will likely mean increased reliance on food banks and pantries, skipping meals, and a significant decrease in the consumption of fruits and vegetables. Food insecure families buy less fruits and vegetables and buy more nonperishable staples as their budget for food shrinks.”

People are losing a significant amount of support money available via the SNAP EA, resulting in increased reliance on food banks (which are also consistently reporting both increased need and decreased donations.) While many of our area emergency food providers saw a temporary dip in need in fall 2021, they also experienced a large increase in patrons seeking food in the spring of 2022 as inflation rates started to rise.

What can be done to help?

March 1 is also the start of National Social Work Month, and Tomaszewski sees an important role for social work students and faculty–and beyond. In addition to donating to area food banks, there are ways that members of the community can help those experiencing food insecurity.

“At the macro or systems level, everyone can advocate for the Commonwealth of Virginia to add funds to the program that not only ensures SNAP benefits (at least) similar to the SNAP EA levels but also expands coverage to those that will be losing benefits, such as ‘able-bodied persons’ and college students,” says Tomaszewski.

She also sees an important role for those in the College of Public Health and beyond. “Social work students, and students throughout the College, directly work with those who will be affected by this policy change and/or who are at risk for food insecurity. At the individual level, social work students and allied professionals across the College can learn about food insecurity and available benefits, and ensure that clients know what is available, such as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and SNAP.”

As the country recognizes National Social Work Month and National Nutrition Month, it is also an opportunity to recognize, support, and advocate for our neighbors, our students, and our colleagues who continue to experience food insecurity across the United States.

Michael Shank

Paul Snodgrass — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 15:17:40 +0000

Michael Shank Paul Snodgrass Mon, 07/11/2022 - 11:17

Adjunct Faculty, Carter School
Director of Engagement at the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance
Adjunct Faculty at NYU's Center for Global Affairs

Personal Websites

Michael Shank's Website

Biography

Dr. Michael Shank is the Director of Engagement at the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance, a group of international cities committed to achieving aggressive long-term carbon reduction goals. Michael’s professional career includes leading press and/or policy shops at the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Climate Nexus (clients included the United Nations, Vatican City, The White House, and Fortune 500 Companies), U.S. Congress, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Institute for Economics and Peace, Biodiversity Northwest, Puget Soundkeeper Alliance and more.

Michael’s academic career includes a Ph.D. from ��AV’s Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution and is focused on climate conflict. Michael is adjunct faculty at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs, where he teaches graduate courses on Sustainable Development, Power and Politics and Climate and Security. Michael also serves as adjunct faculty and advisory board member at ��AV’s Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, where he teaches graduate courses on Writing for Policy and Practice and Communicating Conflict.

Michael is a former opinion columnist for the Washington Post and US News & World Report and a contributor to USA Today, CNN, FOX News, The Guardian, TIME, Fast Company, Newsweek and more. Michael lives in Vermont, where he serves on the boards of the Safer Society Foundation, Compass Music and Arts Foundation, and Barn Opera. Michael also serves on the advisory councils of the New Standard Institute and Global Environment Media. Social: Twitter | YouTube | Instagram

Poverty and Inequalities

Wilkins Lecture offers a critical look at how to solve poverty in America

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Topics

Learn more about Roger Wilkins

Pulitzer winner, poverty researcher Matthew Desmond to deliver 2023 Roger Wilkins Lecture

Learn about Roger Wilkins

Previous Wilkins Lecturers

Topics

Pandemic emergency food benefits end as Nutrition Month starts

In This Story

Topics

March 1 end of program will impact millions of Americans–predominantly families and people of color

Despite SNAP emergency allotments, many Americans still face food insecurity

Vulnerable populations already adversely affected by COVID will see the biggest impact

Food banks, schools, and community support - How will individuals, families, and communities meet the need?

What can be done to help?

Michael Shank

Personal Websites

Biography