Employment Economist Gregory Acs Becomes Director of Urban Institute's Income and Benefits Policy Center

Abstract

Economist Gregory Acs, an expert on low-wage labor markets and the well-being of low-income families and children, is the new director of the Urban Institute’s Income and Benefits Policy Center.

Contact: Matthew Johnson, (202) 261-5723, mjohnson@urban.org

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 31, 2012 — Economist Gregory Acs, an expert on low-wage labor markets and the well-being of low-income families and children, is the new director of the Urban Institute’s Income and Benefits Policy Center.

A member of the Income and Benefits Policy Center’s research team for 20 years, Acs rose from a research associate to a senior fellow before leaving in 2010 to work at the Congressional Budget Office, where he was the unit chief for labor and income security in the Health and Human Resources Division. He returned to the Urban Institute in February.

The Income and Benefits Policy Center does quantitative and qualitative research, modeling, and evaluation that illuminate how public policy influences behavior and economic well-being, particularly of families, the disabled, the elderly, and those with low incomes. Its scholars analyze and evaluate income support, social insurance, retirement income, tax, child-support, employee-benefit, and other programs.

“Our nation’s policymakers are wrestling with unemployment, inequality, economic mobility and income volatility, and how we use scarce dollars effectively to create opportunity for working families,” said Sarah Rosen Wartell, president of the Urban Institute. “With Greg’s leadership and great research experience in these areas, the Urban Institute will be well positioned to provide independent and rigorous analysis to the national discussion of these pressing questions.”

Acs’s research has focused on social insurance, social welfare, employment, economic mobility, worker compensation, and welfare’s effects on family composition. In addition to his work at the Urban Institute, Acs is a member of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management’s policy council, and a research affiliate at the University of Michigan’s National Poverty Center. He is also a member of the steering committee for the Employment Instability, Family Well-being, and Social Policy Research Network at the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration.

Acs earned his Ph.D. in economics and social work from the University of Michigan. His research has been widely published in journals of economics and social policy.

Acs succeeds Pamela Loprest, who had served as the Income and Benefits Policy Center’s director since January 2011. Loprest stepped down as director when she relocated to Boston, but she continues her work as an Urban Institute senior fellow on the Work Support Strategies and the Health Professions Opportunities Grants programs.

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