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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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  • Smoke billows and a wildfire blazes on a hilltop adjacent to a neighborhood in an arid, hilly region.
    Sara McTarnaghan discusses changes to disaster mitigation programs
    Among recent federal spending cuts were those made to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster mitigation programs.
  • A toddler in a fuzzy blue sweater and red sneakers sits, holding and inspecting an orange, next to a couple bunches of bananas, a pomegranate, and a couple more oranges in a grocery cart pushed by a woman in a blue puffer jacket through an aisle of a grocery store lined on one side with crates of oranges.
    Elaine Waxman discusses who will be most affected by SNAP changes
    President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act will cut spending and support for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which could cause millions of American families to lose eligibility and face food insecurity.
  • An aerial shot of a severely flooded neighborhood, where water has reached the roofs of several homes and the leafy tops of trees. Water has completely submerged several smaller structures, including a fenced-in backyard with patio furniture.
    Andrew Rumbach discusses postflood decisionmaking in Texas
    Following the devastating flooding in Texas, Andrew Rumbach, a climate and communities expert at the Urban Institute, points to land-use and zoning laws that enable Texans to live in high-risk areas, often in vulnerable structures, like RVs and manufactured homes.
  • A close-up of an American Social Security Card fanned between an American $5, $100, and two $20 bills.
    Richard Johnson discusses why some claim Social Security benefits early
    Richard Johnson, a senior fellow for the Tax and Income Supports Division at the Urban Institute, spoke on NightSide News about how more people are claiming their Social Security benefits before full retirement age.
  • A severly flooded residential neighborhood with muddy water covering the streets and reaching up to the porches of houses, with trees, a stop sign, and electrical pole partially submerged as well.
    Andrew Rumbach explains flood-prone areas are often the most-affordable land
    Following devastating flooding in Central Texas, experts are assessing decisionmaking around development policies in disaster-prone areas.
  • A row of midsize, modern apartment buildings on a clear, sunny day.
    Laurie Goodman explains why it’s currently cheaper to rent than buy a home
    More people than ever are renting homes, partly because increased apartment construction in some areas of the country has caused an overall reduction in the median asking rent, and partly because homebuying costs are so high.