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Urban Institute insights and analysis inform national reporting
A woman and her four young children unload grocery bags around a kitchen island.
Greg Acs, vice president for the Tax and Income Supports Division at the Urban Institute, spoke with Virginia Public Media about the risks of addressing affordability in a zero-sum context that focuses on who bears the short-term costs of a policy instead of its potential for growth.
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  • An elderly man in a light blue button-up looks toward a window in a sunny home as an older woman with a cane and a younger woman in scrubs and a lanyard look on.
    Sarah Rosen Wartell on promising solutions to seniors’ housing challenges
    The nation’s housing crisis is “not only making it difficult for young people to afford rent or homeownership,” writes Sarah Rosen Wartell, president of the Urban Institute, in an op-ed for Governing.
  • Two completed houses sit between two undergoing construction on a new-feeling residential street.
    Jim Parrott and Jared Bernstein on what comes after the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act
    In an op-ed for The New York Times, Jim Parrott, nonresident fellow at the Urban Institute, and coauthor Jared Bernstein write that despite barriers, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act has great promise when it comes to addressing the nation’s affordable housing shortage.
  • A father chops a tomato into quarters as a pregnant woman squeezes lemon over a salad they're preparing together at their kitchen island, which also holds bowls of different kinds of fruits, veggies, and a carton of eggs.
    Michael Neal discusses why the way we measure homeownership rates matters
    Michael Neal, a housing finance expert at the Urban Institute, spoke with The Washington Post about the implications of this approach, which attributes a head of household’s demographic characteristics to the entire household.
  • A woman and adolescent girl, both with long brown ponytails, load up a netted market bag with apricots at an open-air farmer's market structure.
    Elaine Waxman on declining SNAP enrollment
    Elaine Waxman, a safety net expert at the Urban Institute, spoke with the The New York Times about how Arizona’s experience suggests other states may prioritize reducing errors over SNAP maintaining access.
  • An overhead shot of two young people in turquoise gloves sorting and loading boxes of canned food and dried pasta.
    Hannah Martin on why human services nonprofits are struggling to meet demand
    Hannah Martin, a nonprofits and philanthropy expert at the Urban Institute, spoke to The New York Times about how nonprofits have struggled following federal funding freezes and staff reductions.
  • A woman in a camel-colored jacket pays with a credit card at the grocery store check-out.
    Kassandra Martinchek on affording groceries amid inflation
    Facing inflation, people have been turning to credit cards; using buy now, pay later loans; or tapping into savings to afford groceries.