SP2 Press
what’s happening at sp2
A lack of competition in the economy can result in higher prices, lower wages, less innovation, lower product quality, and lower wage quality. SP2’s Ioana Marinescu explains how she analyzes the effects of monopoly practices on Bloomberg’s Odd Lots podcast.
Climate change has created a need for air conditioning in school buildings, and nearly 40% of U.S. schools were built more than half a century ago when this was not the case. Research by SP2’s R. Jisung Park shows the negative and disproportionate effects of extreme heat on students’ standardized test performance.
The “game-changing” National Education Equity Lab curriculum of online is lauded for providing college credit-bearing courses to underserved students in teacher-led high school classrooms. As a partner of National Education Equity Lab, SP2 produced the pilot course “Introduction to the Social Work/Social Policy Profession.”
Close to 30% of the U.S. adult homeless population is 55+. SP2’s Dr. Dennis Culhane explains (starting at 2:14) why the federal safety net needs to be fixed to address increased homelessness of aging and disabled people.
Spending a month with each of 12 young people in Philadelphia, Kalen Flynn of SP2’s Center for Guaranteed Income Research learned how neighborhood settings, societal messages, and forms of violence affect physical and mental health. In response, she advocates for holistic interventions that support education, physical activity, and social cohesion.
Gun violence among young people is often driven by social media, SP2’s Desmond Patton explains. He outlines resources to help deescalate conflict; ways to involve youth as experts on their own lives; and positive online alternatives.
Stacia West, co-founding director of SP2’s Center for Guaranteed Income Research, discusses benefits of a guaranteed income program in Cambridge, MA, including financial stability, time for parenting, and positive educational outcomes for children.
In a story about a Chicago guaranteed program, SP2’s Dr. Amy Castro speaks about the benefits of unconditional cash — including the stability of being able to afford basic necessities, pay off debt, save, and spend time pursuing goals.
Climate change’s impact includes subtle but significant and unequal damage to human health, learning, and earnings, SP2’s Dr. R. Jisung Park outlines in a New York Times op-ed highlighting the importance of local interventions to address the effects.
Katherina ‘Kat’ M. Rosqueta, founding executive director of SP2’s Center for High Impact Philanthropy, discusses the contributions and limitations of the “effective altruism” movement.