Why does social policy matter?
Through data-driven research, hands-on training, and collaborative public engagement, the Malcolm Wiener Center is advancing policy initiatives that empower people to solve the most urgent social challenges and questions of our times.

The Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management
The Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management draws from rigorous research as well as insights from practitioners and people from impacted communities to inform the development of fairer and more just criminal legal system policies, practices, and procedures.

The Stone Program
The James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Program in Wealth Distribution, Inequality and Social Policy unites faculty, students, and researchers from across Harvard University and beyond to address the causes and consequences of wealth inequalities in different populations around the world.

Reimagining the Economy
The Reimagining the Economy project explores local labor market, industrial, and development policies, combined with practitioner insights, to produce multidisciplinary scholarship to reshape narratives about how we achieve inclusive prosperity.

Shift Project
The Shift Project, a joint project at Harvard Kennedy School and UCSF, examines the nature and consequences of precarious employment in the service sector with a focus on how policymakers and firms can improve job quality.

Project on Workforce
The Project on Workforce is an interdisciplinary, collaborative project with Harvard Business School and the Harvard Graduate School of Education charting the course for a post-secondary system of the future that creates more and better pathways to economic mobility.

Health Inequality Lab
The Health Inequality Lab is a research group based at the Harvard Kennedy School dedicated to studying the economics of health inequality in the United States and around the world.

Other Programs and Initiatives
Explore all of the programs, projects, and initiatives at the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy.
Spotlight
Global Advocacy Against Police Violence
Recent years have seen unprecedented protests against police violence around the world. A Forum event brought together advocates and activists from three continents for a conversation about civil-society-led strategies to combat police violence, with an introduction by Sandra Susan Smith. Watch the recording or read the HKS article to learn more.
Faculty Focus

This fall, Deirdre Bloome is teaching “From the Bottom to the Top: Unequal Opportunities and Unequal Outcomes Across Generations.” The course explores how people often remain stuck in the same social and economic positions as their parents—and how this lack of mobility has major consequences for individuals and whole societies.
Questions We Explore
