Why does social policy matter?
Through data-driven research, hands-on training, and collaborative public engagement, the Malcolm Wiener Center advances policy initiatives that empower people to solve the most urgent social challenges and questions of our times.
Spotlight
With unstable work, social supports become more important—and harder to find.
In their recent paper in Sociological Science, “The Double Bind of Precarious Work: Creating Need and Undermining Support,” Harvard Kennedy School Professor Daniel Schneider and his co-authors explore the relationship between precarious work and social supports, finding that unstable work both erodes social networks and makes more necessary.
Featuring Daniel Schneider
Fair Workweek laws led to clear benefits for workers
Research by Harvard Kennedy School Professor Daniel Schneider suggests Fair Workweek laws can benefit workers through more predictable and less taxing schedules.
Featuring
Fries with a side of the stomach bug: How “points systems” put workers and the public at risk
The practice of showing up to work despite being sick—called presenteeism—puts workers, their families, and the broader public at risk. And according to new research from HKS Professor Daniel Schneider and co-authors, it’s exacerbated by “points systems” that assign workers penalties, or “points,” for being late or missing work, even if it’s for illness. In some cases, workers can lose their jobs for accruing too many points.
Featuring Daniel Schneider
Faculty Focus
Luis Armona
Luis Armona is an Assistant Professor of Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He graduated from Stanford University in 2022 with a Ph.D. in Economics. In the past, he has worked at Chegg and Microsoft Research and served as a research advisor at Meta. Before graduate school, he worked as an RA at the New York Federal Reserve. For the 2022-23 academic year, he was a post-doctoral fellow at the NBER. His research interests lie in industrial organization, with applications to college behavior in post-secondary education, firearms markets, and how machine learning methods can be used to enhance existing economic models.
The Latest
China Shock 2.0 and the end of U.S. technological dominance
Professor Gordon Hanson and collaborators wrote about a phenomenon they called the China Shock, which saw traditional U.S. manufacturing communities struggle in the early aughts as a result of China’s growing trade power. Now, they warn that China Shock 2.0 is on the way
Getting rid of bias in schools
Recent research published in the American Economic Review by Harvard Kennedy School professors Michela Carlana and Eliana La Ferrara, and Bocconi University professor Paolo Pinotti, sheds light on how awareness about one's own personal biases may help to mitigate the effects these stereotypes have when working with students.
Questions We Explore
Why are societies unequal?
From opportunity gaps in education, to racial and gender disparities in employment, our interdisciplinary research explores the social and economic causes and effects of inequality and how sound policy can improve access for all.
What impacts economic mobility?
Our research applies rigorous scholarship and insight to questions around labor markets and employment, creating pathways to economic mobility in the workforce and in society.
How do we build a more just society?
Reforming the criminal legal system aims to balance objectives of fairness, justice, and public safety. Our evidence-based research advances policy solutions that can break barriers and lead to systemic change.
Is healthcare a right or a privilege?
Drastic inequalities in healthcare access and outcomes require us to confront this stark question. We bring expertise and data-driven inquiry to the goals of improving access and reducing disparities in the healthcare system.
New Research from The Shift Project
Work is central to economic security, wellbeing, and mobility. But, work isn’t working for everyone. The Shift Project is a leading source of data and analysis to understand the reality of working conditions for the 25 million US workers employed in the service sector.
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.
Announcements
Malcolm Wiener Center student research prizes awarded at Class Day
Professor Gordon Hanson presented the 2026 prizes for student social policy research that best exemplified the work of four remarkable individuals: Manuel C. Carballo, Susan C. Eaton, Frederick Fischer, and William Julius Wilson.
Desmond Ang, Associate Professor of Public Policy at HKS, is awarded 2026 Sloan Research Fellowship
Ang joins a cohort of 126 early-career scholars and a fellowship lineage that includes 59 Nobel laureates. The fellowship recognizes researchers whose creativity and accomplishments position them as the next generation of scientific leaders.
Daniel Schneider appointed Associate Director of the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies
Schneider, Co-Director of The Shift Project and Professor of Social Policy, has been appointed Associate Director of the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies. The initiative is administered by the Chan School of Public Health.