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Opportunity Lab

@berkeleyolab.bsky.social
380 followers 226 following 94 posts

Based at @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social, O-Lab generates rigorous evidence to inform social policy and advance economic opportunity. #econsky #policysky Learn more at olab.berkeley.edu, or find us at linkedin.com/company/berkeley-olab.

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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
Don't miss @mc-lens.bsky.social's book talk at @ucberkeleyirle.bsky.social next week! Lens will share research on how Black neighborhoods have changed in the past 50 years, + discuss policies that could shape the next 50 years of progress towards racial equity. www.olab.berkeley.edu/olab-events/...
olab.berkeley.edu
Where the Hood At? Fifty Years of Change in Black Neighborhoods | Opportunity Lab
On September 3 at 4pm, join O-Lab and Berkeley’s Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE)  for a discussion with Michael Lens of UCLA about his new book examining how Black neighborh...
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
Researchers have theorized that #affirmativeaction policies pushed white voters toward the Republican party through the 1970s and 1980s. Work from Abhay Aneja + @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social suggests that this "backlash" narrative could be more complex: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1...
journals.uchicago.edu
The Political Effects of Affirmative Action: Evidence from Court Mandates to Law Enforcement Agencies | The Journal of Legal Studies: Vol 54, No 2
Abstract Affirmative action programs in public sector agencies are a canonical example of race-conscious remedial policy. While these regimes increase public sector diversity, they may also generate p...
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
🗺️ In a new interactive report, we break down trends in spatial inequality and explore how place-based policy tools may open up more equitable pathways to economic mobility: readymag.website/u440546056/5...
readymag.website
Spatial inequality: what we know and where we're headed | Readymag
The divide between high- and low-opportunity places is more visible than ever, perpetuating long-run inequities and drawing the attention of policymakers. This presentation to review the evidence on r...
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
The landscape of US #highered is changing. @jrothst.bsky.social breaks down the conditions attached to donations, how endowments can be managed, and how research funding negotiations between universities and the federal government are unfolding in @laist.com:
laist.com
What goes into a university budget? And how do endowments work? Let an expert be your guide
Million dollar settlements to regain federal funding? Rising tuition, but layoffs and course cuts? We're here to help.
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
Community colleges are grappling with the loss of resources as a result of federal policy changes, just as elite universities are. In @nytimes.com, Ben Austen describes how funding cuts are threatening American ambitions around manufacturing & workforce development. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/04/m...
nytimes.com
How Trump’s War on Higher Education Is Hitting Community Colleges
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
🏘️ On Sep. 3, join O-Lab + @ucberkeleyirle.bsky.social in for a book talk w/ @mc-lens.bsky.social on “Where the Hood At: Fifty Years of Change in Black Neighborhoods." @uclalewiscenter.bsky.social @goldmanschool.bsky.social Learn more and add the event to your calendar👇
olab.berkeley.edu
Where the Hood At? Fifty Years of Change in Black Neighborhoods | Opportunity Lab
On September 3 at 4pm, join O-Lab and Berkeley’s Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE)  for a discussion with Michael Lens of UCLA about his new book examining how Black neighborh...
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 11/08/2025
⏰ The application for O-Lab's undergraduate research mentorship program with @ucenergyinstitute.bsky.social closes tonight at midnight! Learn about Valentina de la Pava's experience in the program in this video, and submit your application at bit.ly/EEEundergrad-2025.
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
When families with children receive #Medicaid, they fare better in the long run, and early-life effects are particularly strong. As policy changes threaten the social safety net, these gains are at risk. Learn more: www.olab.berkeley.edu/resources-blog/medicaid-shortform
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Reposted by Opportunity Lab
Mustafa Zahid @mustafahzahid.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
If you are a @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social undergraduate student interested in a career in research, or just lookin to use data to answer interesting questions (or know someone), please share this link and encourage them to apply by 8/11! (no research experience is required) (shorturl.at/sKPCl)
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
💊 Patients stop consuming high-value drugs, which also are expected to cause life-threatening withdrawal symptoms. ⚠️ Survey data suggests that patients are unaware of these risks – with only ⅓ believing that stopping their medication for a month could have life-threatening consequences.
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
The authors leverage this randomness to measure what happens when this annual budget is exhausted, effectively raising medication prices. Key findings: 📈 Individuals with smaller monthly budgets consume fewer medications and face increased mortality.
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
#Medicare recipients receive an annual budget for prescription drugs, beyond which costs are paid for out of pocket. But this budget is not prorated annually – so newly eligible Medicare patients who turn 65 in a given year experience different monthly budgets.
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
🧵 Randomized trials evaluate the costs of starting a drug – but what about stopping one? Read the paper from Ziad Obermeyer, Amitabh Chandra, & Evan Flack: ziadobermeyer.com/wp-content/u...
ziadobermeyer.com
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
“Not all of these adverse effects are inevitable.” In a recent interview, Will Dow of @berkeleypublichlth.bsky.social unpacks how the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will change the state of US #healthcare over the next 10 years. 👉 Read the full interview: publichealth.berkeley.edu/articles/new...
publichealth.berkeley.edu
What do the looming cuts to Medicaid really mean?
Health policy expert Will Dow breaks down the risks—and potential state-level response.
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
💼 In a study of how formerly incarcerated jobseekers experience the labor market, David Harding & coauthors found that employers favor applicants that describe economic motivations, as opposed to justice system failures, to contextualize their pasts. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
Narratives and destigmatization: the case of criminal record stigma in the labor market - American Journal of Cultural Sociology
Sociologists use the concept of narrative as an analytical tool and theoretical concept to understand the stories that people tell and their role in social and cultural life. A key tenet of prior rese...
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
🍎 In FY2023, the National School Lunch Program provided 4.6B lunches. Now, Hilary Hoynes & coauthors find that school lunch reduces children's caloric intake by reducing soda/fat consumption. In the wake of #USDA cuts, this evidence should be top of mind: static1.squarespace.com/static/5ecd7...
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
🔋 The 2022 #InflationReductionAct represented the largest federal #climate investment in U.S. history. Research from John Bistline & Catherine Wolfram reveals the scale of what America stands to lose as recent policy changes dismantle these provisions: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1...
journals.uchicago.edu
Inflation Reduction Act: Origins, Policy Implications, and Research Gaps | Review of Environmental Economics and Policy
Abstract The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is the largest federal climate legislation in the United States so far. The breadth and complexity of IRA’s energy and climate provisions raise new questions...
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
🇫🇷A 2011 reform to the French wealth tax simplified reporting requirements for taxpayers whose wealth was below €3 million, a threshold further reduced to €2.57 million in 2013. Mathilde Muñoz + coauthors have now identified that the reform significantly spurred tax evasion (via @cepr.org)
cepr.org
The importance of information for tax design: Evidence from the French wealth tax
Many countries are considering introducing or reforming their wealth tax policies. This column studies the effects of a French wealth tax reform, which reduced reporting requirements, on taxpayer behaviour. The scaling back of reporting requirements had large negative effects on tax compliance, with 35% of wealth taxpayers missing in affected brackets and evading 10% of their total wealth tax payments each year. The findings indicate that taxpayers are more likely to under-report the value of less easily verifiable assets such as housing, whereas financial assets are more transparent and thus harder to manipulate.
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
👉 Our new research brief offers a look at how #unemployment insurance rules vary by states and have changed over time. Supported by the WorkRise Network at @urbaninstitute.bsky.social, Ellora Derenoncourt + Claire Montialoux are developing a database of #UI rules dating back to 1937. bit.ly/4lBI4Jz
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
💭 Envisioning a better future is crucial to creating one. Kevin Yin is developing a spatial model to inform our understanding of what an ideal electricity grid for the United States might look like, as part of O-Lab's portfolio of work on Transportation & Infrastructure development.
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
💡Are you a 2nd - 4th year Berkeley undergrad looking to gain research experience? Interested in tackling environmental problems w/ data + stats? Apply to O-Lab + @ucenergyinstitute.bsky.social's Energy & Environmental Economics Mentorship Program! 🔗 Learn more: bit.ly/EEEundergrad-2025
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 07/07/2025
🚘 Many municipalities require that a percentage of private lots' square footage is set aside for parking, creating direct costs for governments and developers. John Kadlick is exploring indirect costs to productivity and effects on commuters. #econsky
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Reposted by Opportunity Lab
UC Berkeley Institute for Research on Labor & Employment (IRLE) @ucberkeleyirle.bsky.social · 07/07/2025
#EconSky: @capolicylab.bsky.social is hiring a labor-focused data analyst. Apply today: capolicylab.org/careers/data...
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Upjohn Institute @upjohninstitute.bsky.social · 07/07/2025
We welcome submissions for the 2025 Dissertation Award, given to the best Ph.D. dissertation on employment-related issues. The award furthers the Upjohn Institute mission to support and conduct policy-relevant research on issues related to employment, unemployment and social insurance programs.
upjohn.org
Dissertation Award | Upjohn Institute
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
How does criminal justice system involvement interact with labor market success? Recent evidence from Sweden informs our understanding of the negative effect of a criminal record on earnings + employment. 📖 Check out the working paper from Conrad Miller + coauthors: www.nber.org/papers/w33865
nber.org
Job Sorting and the Labor Market Effects of a Criminal Record
Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
💬 For two years, Alice Schmitz has participated in O-Lab + Energy Institute at Haas's Energy & Environmental Economics Mentorship Program. We sat down with Alice to discuss her approach to mentorship, plus her work measuring the effects of natural disasters: www.olab.berkeley.edu/profiles-con...
olab.berkeley.edu
Alice Schmitz & the next generation of environmental economics research | Opportunity Lab
Alice Schmitz is a fourth-year PhD student in UC Berkeley's Economics Department who is investigating the physical and economic damages from natural disasters. For the last two years, she has also ser...
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
🧠 A recent working paper from Enrico Moretti & Harrison Wheeler uses data on the construction of noise-barriers + home prices to quantify the economic cost of traffic noise – and offer insight into the benefits of #EV adoption. #econsky #policysky eml.berkeley.edu/~moretti/noi...
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
The evidence is clear: social safety net programs are one of the most effective tools for lifting children and families out of poverty. 📬 Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on safety net research: bit.ly/OLab-Newsletter
bit.ly
Opportunity Lab Mailing List
Thank you for your interest in the UC Berkeley Opportunity Lab! Please fill out the form below to receive updates on center activities, student and faculty research, events and funding opportunities,...
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
🤒 More chronic health issues will go untreated, resulting in disabilities that affect wages + jobs:
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Childhood Medicaid Coverage and Later-Life Health Care Utilization
Exploiting a discontinuity in childhood Medicaid eligibility based on date of birth, we find that more years of childhood eligibility are associated with fewer hospitalizations in adulthood. For black...
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
Evidence on Medicaid’s long-term benefits suggest that cuts would create long-term ripple effects beyond coverage loss. 🚨 Uninsured people will likely rely more on emergency rooms, stressing healthcare systems 🤰 Fewer people will access prenatal care, predisposing children to health conditions:
jhr.uwpress.org
The Long-Term Effects of Early Life Medicaid Coverage
In this study, we evaluate how an expansion of Medicaid coverage for pregnant women and infants affected the adult outcomes of individuals who gained access to coverage in utero and during the first y...
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
In the past, economic research largely focused on the short-term costs of social safety net programs like Medicaid. Economists now spend more time on how these programs pay off over the long run.
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
According to preliminary estimates from the #CBO, Republicans' tax and budget bill, officially named the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," would cut #Medicaid by over $800B over the next 10 years – reducing enrollment by over 10M people. What would this mean for US health and economic outcomes? 🧵
npr.org
Medicaid keeps getting more popular as Republicans aim to cut it by $800 billion
Americans across the political spectrum like Medicaid and think it should get more funding, not less, according to a new poll from health research organization KFF.
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Reposted by Opportunity Lab
Upjohn Institute @upjohninstitute.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
Many states ban employers from asking for workers' salary histories, but this doesn’t eliminate gender gaps in hiring—most workers disclose their histories, and their salary expectations, voluntarily. www.upjohn.org/research-hig... @berkeleyolab.bsky.social‬ @sydneecaldwell.bsky.social‬
upjohn.org
Employers' negotiating separately with each worker fuels gender pay gap
Women earn 5 percent less than men, on average, at employers that bargain individually
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
The panel was also featured in Spotlight on Poverty — read more here: spotlightonpoverty.org/spotlight-ex...
spotlightonpoverty.org
EITC at 50: A Rare Bipartisan Success Story - Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity
A recent panel hosted by the Brookings Institution marked the 50th anniversary of the Earned Income Tax Credit as a bipartisan success story that has lifted up millions of working families. “EITC at 5...
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
🎉 This year, the Earned Income Tax Credit turns 50! On Jun 3, Hilary Hoynes joined a panel hosted by @brookings.edu focused on the impacts of the #EITC – which provides more than $70B in support to ~30M low-income, working families every year. 🎬 View the recording: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Kgr...
youtube.com
The Earned Income Tax Credit at 50: Past, present, and future
YouTube video by Brookings Institution
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
This context matters as EV adoption is increasingly a focus of climate policy. The Inflation Reduction Act made significant investments in EV infra + trucking electrification, while the US Senate has voted to block CA’s EV mandate, setting the stage for legal battles. calmatters.org/environment/...
calmatters.org
US Senate blocks California’s electric car mandate in historic vote
Today’s decision could upend California’s phaseout of gas-powered cars and diesel trucks, and its battle against air pollution. California plans to sue, saying it's an unlawful act.
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
Political ideology is a key factor in #EV adoption, finds research from Lucas Davis: ~50% of new EV registrations occur in the 10% most Democratic counties, suggesting that widespread EV adoption may be harder to achieve than previously believed: faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/ldavis/Davis...
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
🏘️🚘 O-Lab's Transportation & Infrastructure portfolio is supporting work by Silvia Farina, a PhD candidate in Business & Public Policy. Her project uses registration records to understand how car adoption has shaped the US, providing context for today's infrastructure, transit, + zoning policies.
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
Applications are open for the Energy & Environmental Economics Research Mentorship Program! If you're an undergraduate looking to gain research experience in climate + environment issues, visit our website to apply by Aug. 11. bit.ly/EEEundergrad-2025
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
💡 Newly published research finds no large exodus of OBGYNs from states that recently instituted abortion bans after #Dobbs, write Becky Staiger + Valentin Bolotnyy in @thehill.com: thehill.com/opinion/heal...
thehill.com
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
🔑 Is reviving manufacturing the key to local economic development? Today’s installment of @planetmoney.bsky.social addresses this question, ft. commentary from David Card and Enrico Moretti #econsky #policysky
npr.org
Can bringing back manufacturing help the heartland catch up with 'superstar' cities?
In recent decades, America has seen economic opportunities concentrated in superstar cities. Manufacturing boosters hope reshoring factories could help change that. We look at the theory and evidence.
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
🎓 Congratulations to Raheem Chaudhry, who received the O-Lab/Stone Center Award for Excellence in Research on Economic Inequality at @goldmanschool.bsky.social's commencement ceremony! #econsky #policysky 🏆 Explore the findings below, or read the working paper: raheemchaudhry.com/uploads/ph.pdf
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
Check out this video to hear Steve Raphael of @goldmanschool.bsky.social moderate a conversation between Jens Ludwig of UChicago + Chief Bill Scott of SFPD unpacking the behavioral economics research behind gun violence.👇
youtube.com
Jens Ludwig and Chief Bill Scott | The Unexpected Origins of Gun Violence
YouTube video by Commonwealth Club World Affairs (CCWA)
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
Your carbon emissions depend significantly on where you live, as amenities like transit, bike/pedestrian infra, + highway networks vary. Eva Lyubich finds that up to 23% of the variation in household emissions can be attributed to place effects: evalyubich.com/files/Lyubich_UCBerkeley_JMP.pdf
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
Jesse Rothstein & coauthors at @capolicylab.bsky.social find that over half of students who receive #CalFresh in their senior year of high school stop receiving benefits two years later, despite continued eligibility. Learn how colleges are addressing the issue:
sacbee.com
UC study reveals huge drop in CalFresh access among recent high school graduates
53% of students receiving CalFresh as seniors in high school will lose access within two years of graduation, study finds. Here’s why.
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
👉To learn more about work requirements in #SNAP, explore this spotlight article with Adam Leive: www.olab.berkeley.edu/profiles-con... 👉 Or, check out our research brief on Medicaid from Becky Staiger: static1.squarespace.com/static/57a3c... #econsky #policysky
olab.berkeley.edu
Adam Leive on the effects of work requirements in SNAP | Opportunity Lab
In this O-Lab Q&A, we sat down with Adam Leive to discuss the history behind SNAP work requirement policies, his novel findings on these policies' effects on program participation, and his experience ...
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
Federal + state proposals come despite research showing that work reqs. in #SNAP don’t ⬆️ employment – rather, they cut benefits to cut costs. Other dialogues highlight Medicaid as an engine for employment + entrepreneurship, so limiting access could have ripple effects (via @chcfnews.bsky.social)
chcf.org
Medicaid Is One of America's Strongest Economic Engines. Why Don't We Treat It That Way? - California Health Care Foundation
People think of Medicaid as  a public health insurance program, but that’s only one part of the story of an economic powerhouse.
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
Research shows that work requirements have devastating effects for people who rely on the safety net. A brief from @urbaninstitute.bsky.social + @rwjf.bsky.social describes that such a policy would revoke coverage from at least 10K adults in nearly every state that expanded Medicaid under the #ACA.
rwjf.org
How Work Requirements Would Affect Medicaid Coverage in Each Expansion State
Thousands of people in each state that expanded Medicaid could lose health coverage next year under a federal Medicaid work requirement.
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
According to the Congressional Budget Office, Republicans' Medicaid bill would leave 7.6 million uninsured. The biggest source of savings in the bill? Work requirements. 🧵👇
politico.com
CBO: 7.6 million would go uninsured under GOP Medicaid bill
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that many of the major Medicaid policies would account for $625 billion in savings, though the CBO didn’t calculate the impacts of all provisions.
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Opportunity Lab @berkeleyolab.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
💭 Would you choose a school based on test scores, or how students feel in the classroom? Chris Walters & co-authors find that school climate surveys predict high school grad rates better than test scores alone — but the opposite is true for college attainment: economics.mit.edu/sites/defaul...
School entrance in Brooklyn, New York, with Board of Education seal on wall
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