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California Policy Lab Releases Brief on California Unemployment Insurance Claims During Pandemic

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The California Policy Lab (CPL), in partnership with the Labor Market Information Division of the California Employment Development Department, has been analyzing daily initial Unemployment Insurance claims during this pandemic. The COVID-19 crisis has led to historically unprecedented increases in claims filed in California since the start of the crisis in mid-March. The findings provide an in-depth and near real-time look at how the COVID-19 crisis is impacting various industries, regions, counties, and types of workers throughout California.

A Key Finding:  The added $600 per week from the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) program has played a substantial role in preventing near-poverty income levels among UI claimants.

For more key findings, charts, and information about this report, click HERE.

Download the full policy brief HERE.

Check out recent coverage on this research from The Sacramento Bee HERE.

Check out previous posts about CPL research HERE.

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UCLA Economics Doctoral Student Selected to Attend the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings

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Diana Van Patten, a UCLA Economics Department doctoral student, has been selected to participate in the 7th Lindau Meeting on Economic Sciences, which will now take place in 2021. Ms. Van Patten was nominated to be part of this prestigious group by the UCLA Economics Department, then selected as the nominee by UCLA and the University of California system, and finally by the Council for the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings. Held every few years, this next meeting will bring together Nobel Laureates along with 373 young economists from around the world to exchange knowledge, ideas, and experience. To learn more, click HERE.

LA Social Science would like to congratulate Diana Van Patten on this honor.

 

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Community Partners in the News: UCLA Alum’s LRW Group Contributes to LA County COVID-19 Study

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LRW Group, a local marketing services firm and UCLA Division of Social Sciences community partner, was a key contributor to the Los Angeles County COVID-19 study that sought to find the true spread of the virus in the county through serological testing. Led by UCLA alum, chairman and CEO Dave Sackman, LRW Group partnered with USC and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health by identifying and recruiting a representative sample of LA residents to participate in the study. The findings released last week suggest infections from the new coronavirus are far more widespread, and the fatality rate is much lower here in LA County than previously thought.

LRW Group formed a partnership with the UCLA Division of Social Sciences in 2019. The partnership created a dedicated UCLA staff position tasked with recruiting undergraduates and graduate students for paid summer internships in data science. The initiative will support a proposed major in Data and Society in the division and feature support workshops and roundtables in social data science, as well as guest lectures by LRW leadership and employees.

According to Dean Darnell Hunt:

“LRW’s commitment will seed our efforts to establish a pipeline of underrepresented students into the new Data and Society major we are developing as part of the division’s larger big data initiative. Along with this generous and important contribution, LRW also has pledged to offer paid internships to some of our most promising students, creating an opportunity for them to envision future careers and gain workplace experience that enhances their academic pursuits at UCLA.”

 

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$20 Million Gift Establishes the UCLA Bedari Kindness Institute in the Division of Social Sciences

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The Bedari Foundation, established by philanthropists Jennifer and Matthew C. Harris, has given $20 million to the UCLA College to establish the UCLA Bedari Kindness Institute.

The institute, which is housed in the division of social sciences, will support world-class research on kindness, create opportunities to translate that research into real-world practices, and serve as a global platform to educate and communicate its findings. Among its principal goals are to empower citizens and inspire leaders to build more humane societies.

“In the midst of current world politics, violence and strife, the UCLA Bedari Kindness Institute seeks to be an antidote,” said Darnell Hunt, dean of the UCLA division of social sciences. “Rooted in serious academic work, the institute will partner and share its research on kindness broadly in accessible formats. The Bedari Foundation’s extraordinary gift is truly visionary and we are grateful for its support and leadership.”

“The mission of the Kindness Institute perfectly aligns with that of the division of social sciences, where engaging the amazing diversity and social challenges shaping Los Angeles routinely inspires research that has the potential to change the world,” Hunt said.

To read the full UCLA Newsroom press release, click HERE.

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Do You Need an Expert in the Social Sciences? Find One at UCLA Through Our New Search Tool

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The LA Social Science e-forum is kicking off the summer by announcing our brand new search tool on the website.

Do you need an expert in the social sciences?  Find any of our amazing UCLA faculty members in the Division of Social Sciences in one place by simply entering a search term (e.g., name, department, or research specialty).  Check out this new search tool HERE or click on “Expert Search” in the menu at the top of the page.

We look forward to hearing from you!

#LightingTheWay #ChangingLA #ChangingTheWorld #UCLA100

 

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