Gregory Acs

Gregory Acs is vice president of the Income and Benefits Policy Center at the Urban Institute, where his research focuses on social insurance, social welfare, and the compensation of workers. He recently completed a study of the factors contributing to persistently high unemployment in the United States and policy responses to that problem. In addition, Acs has studied the low-wage labor market, changes in welfare policies and how they have affected welfare caseloads and the well-being of low-income families, and how state and federal policies affect the incentives families face as they move from welfare to work.

Before returning to Urban, Acs was unit chief for labor and income security in the Congressional Budget Office’s Health and Human Resources Division. Acs is the author and coauthor of numerous scholarly journal articles, policy papers, briefs, and reports to federal agencies. He coauthored Leaving Welfare: Employment and Well-Being of Families That Left Welfare in the Post-Entitlement Era with Pamela Loprest in 2004.

In addition to his position at Urban, Acs was vice president of the Association for Policy Analysis and Management. He is also a research affiliate with National Poverty Center at the University of Michigan and a member of the steering committee for the Employment Instability, Family Well-Being, and Social Policy Research Network at the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration.

Acs holds a PhD in economics and social work from the University of Michigan.