Michal Grinstein-Weiss conducts research on improving health and socio-economic mobility for low-income households by creating scalable, evidence-based interventions to inform and shape policy, domestically and internationally. Grinstein-Weiss serves as director of the university-wide Social Policy Institute.
As an influential voice in the design of innovative savings and asset-building policies, Grinstein-Weiss is pioneering the field of tax-time savings and spearheading Israel’s creation of a national child savings account program. Her work also merges behavioral science and managed healthcare toward the goal of creating evidence-based solutions for effective healthcare.
She has led successful research collaborations for top industry, government, and philanthropic partners, including Fortune 500 companies, major foundations, and government agencies. Her work has been featured in popular media such as National Public Radio and The Wall Street Journal and published in top-tier academic journals, including American Economic Journal, Social Service, Review, and Social Work Research.
She serves as a Nonresident Senior Fellow in Global Economy and Development at the Brookings Institution, has held leadership roles with the Clinton Global Initiative, and was recently identified as one of the highest-impact social work scholars by Research on Social Work Practice.
Efforts to improve transparency and convey information to the public are an effective policy measure that encourages COVID-19 vaccinations, writes the Brown School’s Michal Grinstein-Weiss.
Policymakers, health officials, corporations and St. Louis residents themselves must continue to break down economic barriers to create partnerships and solutions that support the most vulnerable in our city — those who were already facing a disproportionate social, financial and health burden before the coronavirus entered their lives, write Michal Grinstein-Weiss and Brinda Gupta.
The university’s Social Policy Institute has received a $1.6 million grant from JPMorgan Chase to help the institute’s Workforce Economic Inclusion and Mobility Project address low-wage frontline and essential workers’ employment vulnerability.
While most Israeli adults are vaccinated, 62% of parents are hesitant to vaccinate their 12-15-year-old children, finds a survey from the Social Policy Institute at Washington University.
Michal Grinstein-Weiss, the Shanti K. Khinduka Distinguished Professor at the Brown School and director of the Social Policy Institute, spoke in March at the civil society forum of the United Nations session on the Commission on the Status of Women.
As part of the new $900 billion federal stimulus package, the moratorium on evictions for renters will be extended by one month, through the end of January. The help could not come soon enough, says an expert on social and economic development at the Brown School. However, without more intentional, long-term solutions and investments, this aid will only postpone an inevitable housing crisis.
Now more than ever, the nation must have an opportunity to build a more resilient and inclusive workforce. By addressing longstanding inequalities that have undervalued essential workers, these measures would ensure that no one is put in a position of choosing health over a paycheck.
While COVID-19 has impacted all individuals, the impact has not been equal. In a new national Socioeconomic Impact of COVID-19 survey, the Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis found that liquid assets increased the likelihood that an individual could practice social distancing.
We don’t need a map to tell us that policymakers, health officials, corporations and St. Louis residents themselves must continue to break down economic barriers to create partnerships and solutions that support the most vulnerable in our city — those who were already facing a disproportionate social, financial and health burden before the coronavirus entered their lives.
The newly formed Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis will bring together the best research evidence from across disciplines to solve real-world challenges. The institute launches Sept. 24.
A new analysis by the Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis examines enrollment and participation trends in a newly implemented national Israeli child development account policy, finding that 65 percent of households actively enrolled in the program during the first six months.
In a research paper set for publication in the journal Behavioral Science & Policy, a team of researchers including two from Washington University in St. Louis demonstrated that — by structuring the messaging in the right way — those taxpayers can be encouraged to save their returns for long-term needs or unforeseen emergencies.
Motivational prompts to save tax refunds and suggested savings amounts for the tax refund can increase saving among low- and moderate-income households, finds a new experimental study from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.
If you are on Obamacare, you are likely a better tenant or homeowner. Families who get health insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are significantly more likely to make their rent and mortgage payments than are those who remain uninsured, suggests a new study from the Brown School and Olin Business School.
Students who come out of college with debt, especially larger amounts of debt, are more likely to face hardship and financial difficulty during their lives, finds a new study from Washington University in St. Louis.
Google’s decision this week to ban payday loan ads should be commended, but also highlights the need that many lower-income consumers have for affordable short-term loan options, says an expert on social and economic development at Washington University in St. Louis.
Low-to-moderate income black students and graduates accrue on average $7,721 more student debt than their white counterparts, finds a new analysis by researchers in the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis.
Thinking about blowing that tax refund on a vacation or some home improvements? You might be better off pocketing your cash and saving it, said Michal Grinstein-Weiss, associate director of the Brown School’s Center for Social Development and principal investigator of the Refund To Savings initiative.
Washington University in St. Louis is launching a partnership with Duke University and Centene Corp., aimed at translating research into more effective health related behaviors.
Israel’s parliament has passed a law funding long-term savings accounts for all newborns, based on a proposal developed by Michal Grinstein-Weiss, PhD, professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis and associate director of the Center for Social Development (CSD), and on research efforts led by Michael Sherraden, PhD, the George Warren Brown Distinguished University Professor and director of CSD.
Tax-time savings programs help low- and moderate-income families save significantly more of their refunds than those who choose not to participate, finds an analysis of such a program called $aveNYC. The study was co-authored by Michal Grinstein-Weiss, PhD, associate professor at Washington University in St. Louis, Brown School and associate director of the Center for Social Development.
Michal Grinstein-Weiss, PhD, associate professor at the Brown School and associate director of the Center for Social Development, has been asked to join the Clinton Global Initiative and to participate in its Financial Opportunity Working Group. The group focuses on developing sustainable programs to create financial opportunities for low- and moderate-income households.
Last year, almost 900,000 low- and moderate-income tax filers participated in a unique tax preparation savings intervention program, depositing approximately $5.9 million more into savings accounts than they would have without the intervention. As the 2014 tax season opens, the Refund to Savings initiative continues with adjustments designed to help more Americans build savings. “The intervention is promising,” says Michal Grinstein-Weiss PhD, associate director of the Center for Social Development, which helped develop the program.
The Great Recession, characterized by devastating
mortgage defaults, has challenged the conventional wisdom that home
ownership is a good investment, particularly for those with low and
moderate incomes. But the conventional wisdom on the benefits of owning vs. renting
still holds when done right, according to a newly published study led by
the Brown School’s Center for Social Development and Michal Grinstein-Weiss, PhD. Homeowners with low and moderate incomes who participated in this
study conducted between 2005-08 achieved higher net worth than their
counterparts who rent. This research provides new and important evidence for the current policy debate on low-income homeownership programs,” Grinstein-Weiss says.
Noted behavioral economist Dan Ariely, visiting campus in March, took some time to sit down for a chat with friend and fellow researcher Michal Grinstein-Weiss of the Brown School’s Center for Social Development. What do great economic minds talk about when they get together? First, their groundbreaking Refund to Savings program — a joint project that encourages savings through Intuit Inc.’s TurboTax program.
The Refund to Savings Initiative, the largest savings experiment
ever conducted in the United States, begins with this tax season and is expected to reach almost 1.2
million households within the next few months. The project is a novel
collaboration of university researchers, led by Michal Grinstein-Weiss, PhD, associate
director of the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis, and corporate partner Intuit Inc., the maker of TurboTax software, Quicken Books
and Mint. This groundbreaking project is ushering in a new way of doing research.
Washington University in St. Louis researcher Michal Grinstein-Weiss, PhD, associate professor of social work at the Brown School and associate director of the Center for Social Development, is lead author on new research that studies loan activity in low- and moderate-income homeowners. The research confirms: financial literacy begins at home. Grinstein-Weiss offers five steps parents can take to drive home the power of the piggy bank.
Washington University in St. Louis is taking part in a new U.S. Department of Education study, led by the Brown School’s Michal Grinstein-Weiss, to evaluate the GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness for Undergraduate Programs), the Education Department’s initiative to prepare youth for college.
