The State of Wisconsin is one of the few states that imposes no interest rate limits on payday loans and currently upholds one of the highest limits on the maximum amount one can borrow. Despite these favorable conditions, licensed payday lender operations in Wisconsin have declined nearly 90 percent over the past decade. Public policy scholar Melody Harvey will examine how the decrease in payday lender operations has affected participation in Wisconsin’s state-provided energy assistance programs.

Inadequate nutrition can harm children’s health and development, including academic outcomes. A promising way to boost child nutrition is through home meal programs. Psychologists Rebecca Ryan, Ariel Kalil, and Anna Gassman-Pines, sociologist Pamela Herd, political scientist and public policy scholar Carolyn Barnes, and public policy scholar and behavioral scientist Elizabeth Linos will evaluate the effects of a home meal program on student academic outcomes in a low-income community. They will conduct a field experiment for their study.