Institute for Research on Poverty Information

The Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) is a university-based center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for interdisciplinary research into the causes and consequences of poverty and inequality in the United States and the impact of related policies and programs. It is nonprofit and nonpartisan. The Institute was established in 1966 at the university by the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity, the organization given responsibility for reducing poverty in America. In the years since then, the Institute's affiliates, who represent a variety of disciplines, have formulated and tested basic theories of poverty and inequality, developed and evaluated social policy alternatives, and analyzed trends in poverty and economic well-being. As the National Poverty Research Center sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, IRP coordinates the U.S. Collaborative of Poverty Centers in an integrated set of activities with the ultimate goal of improving the effectiveness of public policies to reduce poverty and inequality and their impacts on the well-being of the American people.