The “Aging Disaster” of COVID19: The Association of Social Isolation and Loneliness to Perceived Health, Psychological Wellbeing, and Material Hardship Among Boston Residents Age 60 and Older
Principal Investigator: 2682 Co-Principal Investigator: 21712 This project, in collaboration with the City of Boston’s Age Strong Commission, explores the experiences of Boston residents age 60 and older during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Given their risk of severe complications from COVID-19, adults age 60 and older have been told to stay at […]
Assessing City Health Care Workers’ SARS-CoV2 Transmission to Families
Principal Investigator: Co-Principal Investigators: Co-Investigator: This pilot study seeks to understand whether healthcare workers are exposing their families and household members to SARS-CoV2—the virus that causes COVID-19—and if so, how they are exposing them. Such take-home exposure through an infected healthcare worker or a worker taking SARS-CoV2 virus on their clothing, skin, or belongings poses […]
How Are Cities Responding to the COVID-19 Housing Crisis?
Principal Investiator: Co-Principal Investiator: Many cities have responded to the housing crisis caused by COVID-19 with various protections and programs, ranging from financial relief funds for housing costs to eviction and foreclosure moratoriums. Einstein and Palmer will examine the patchwork of housing policies created in response to the COVID-19 crisis for the 150 largest cities […]
From the Pediatric Frontlines: Basic Needs, Access to COVID19 Supports & Equity Among Families with Young Children in the Boston Area
Principal Investigator: Co-Principal Investigator: Young children are in a sensitive period of body and brain development and may be susceptible to significant changes brought about by COVID-19, including the economic stability of their families, food insecurity, housing security, and access to COVID-19 support. Drawing on existing survey data that Children’s HealthWatch, a research and policy […]
Race, Place, and Policing During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multi-City Study
Principial Investigator: Co-Principial Investigator: Low-level policing—which includes enforcement and arrests based on quality-of-life offenses such as disorderly conduct, property damage, unauthorized public gathering, or trespassing—has devastated communities of color in the United States. Simes and Jahn will examine if and how COVID-19 has changed low-level policing, particularly with regard to the racial inequities in rates […]
Crime and Public Housing: A General Equilibrium Analysis
Principal Investigator: Economics Ph.D. candidate Jesse Bruhn seeks to quantify the impact of ambitious public housing redevelopment projects—specifically the Plan for Transformation project in Chicago—on the distribution of criminal activity within city limits. The Plan for Transformation project was a part of the federal government’s shift in support for housing assistance in the 1970s from […]
Dehumanization in the City: How Urban Ghetto Black Male Imagery Activates Dehumanizing Attitudes Toward Black People
Principal Investigator: Through his research, Political Science Assistant Professor Spencer Piston seeks to address the problem of urban police violence against black people by focusing on their dehumanization. Specifically, he will identify conditions under which this form of prejudice shapes public attitudes and, in doing so, develop methods to combat dehumanization. For example, a common […]