Brown School

Evidence supporting the link between savings and college success is growing. Three studies out of the Center for Social Development (CSD) at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis offer a connection between assets and college enrollment and completion. “This research underscores the importance of policies and programs that help Americans of all income levels to save for college,” says Margaret Clancy, policy director and College Savings Initiative director at CSD. In a study forthcoming in the Journal of Children and Poverty, CSD researchers found that among youth who expected to graduate from a four-year college, those with a savings account in their name were approximately six times more likely to attend college than those with no account.  

What does it take for a family in the U.S. to have long-term economic security and not just “get by”? This question inspired the creation of the Basic Economic Security Tables Index (BEST), a joint effort of Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) and the Center for Social Development (CSD) at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. The BEST is different from other ‘living wage’ indexes in that it aims to capture what is needed for household stability and development rather than focusing on subsistence. Findings suggest that families’ largest economic security challenges are rent and utilities, transportation, and childcare. The report calls the high cost of quality childcare “the greatest threat to many families’ security.” Childcare is so expensive that income needs for a one-parent family with two preschoolers are equivalent to those of a one-parent family with five teenagers.

The George Warren Brown School of Social Work awarded one Distinguished Faculty Award and five Distinguished Alumni Awards during its annual alumni awards celebration April 5 at Steinberg Hall Auditorium. Two of the alumni also were selected as outstanding “Graduates of the Last Decade.”

Dancers, drummers and dignitaries participate in the Grand Entry at the 21st annual Pow Wow at the WUSTL Field House April 9. This year’s Pow Wow, a festival of American Indian cultures, brought together some of the largest numbers of dancers and drummers in the event’s history. In addition to dancing, singing and drumming, visitors were able to enjoy a number of traditional arts and crafts and community information booths.

Molly Tovar, EdD, director of the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies at the Brown School, lives her life by four Rs: Relationships, Responsibilities, Reciprocity and Redistribution. “Redistribution is the sharing obligation. Its primary purpose is to balance and rebalance relationships,” she says.

A government shutdown is looming and many politicians who are claiming “we’re broke” are proposing short-term or long-term federal budget plans with steep budget cuts as the only option to reduce the deficit. “But it looks like budget deficits are being driven in part by a deliberate strategy to sustain them, so policymakers are forced to cut spending,” says Timothy McBride, PhD, economist and associate dean for public health at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. “The evidence certainly supports the theory that the Republicans are using a strategy of ‘starving the beast,’” he says.

The 21st annual Pow Wow at Washington University, a festival of American Indian cultures, is Saturday, April 9 from noon to 10 p.m. Grand entries of dancers will be showcased at 1 and 7 p.m.

A new Division of Public Health Sciences has been established at the School of Medicine to translate research discoveries into guidelines and policies that keep people healthier through prevention.

Christina D. Romer, PhD, former chair of President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, will deliver a keynote address to open a panel discussion on “The Continuing Unemployment Crisis: Causes, Cures, and Questions for Further Study” at 3 p.m. Tuesday, April 12, in the Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom of Anheuser-Busch Hall.

Students, faculty, staff and members of the St. Louis community are invited to the fourth annual Faces of Hope, a celebration of civic engagement and community service, at 4 p.m. Thursday, April 7, in Whitaker Hall Atrium and Auditorium. The event is sponsored by the Gephardt Institute for Public Service.