Nancy Wagman
Research & Kids Count Director
Nancy Wagman is the Research & Kids Count Director at the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, supporting MassBudget’s research and overseeing MassBudget’s role as a Kids Count organization. Her own research focus is on children’s issues, health care, and federal funding in the state budget.
Prior to joining MassBudget, Nancy held several positions in the Massachusetts Senate Post Audit and Oversight Bureau; she was also a policy and program analyst at the state Department of Public Health; she was a WIC program director in a community health center; she was the planner and advocacy coordinator at a large community-based human services agency; and has been a special education advocate.
Nancy holds a B.A. from Oberlin College and an M.C.P. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Recent
Obstacles on the Road to Opportunity: Finding a Way Forward for the Children and Families of Massachusetts
Data describing our communities document that opportunity is not equally available to children and families across the Commonwealth. While effective public policy removes obstacles along the road to opportunity, good jobs play a central role in paving that road. Yet economic policies have allowed wages to stagnate, and important work support programs and other essential benefits that allow children and families to thrive are at risk, especially as a result of recent federal policy.
Health Care in the ARPA Bill: Selected Highlights from Chapter 102 of the Acts of 2021
This report, done in partnership with the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, summarizes key health care funding allocations in this state legislation, which …
Massachusetts Cash Assistance – A MassBudget Data Droplet
The cash assistance program was created to be a reliable back-up for the lowest-income families; today the program reaches only a small share of families …
At a Crossroads Created by COVID: Executive Summary
At a Crossroads Created by COVID: Families Moving Along the Road to Opportunity in Massachusetts Executive Summary Read the full report here. PART 1: THE …
At a Crossroads Created by COVID: Families Moving Along the Road to Opportunity in Massachusetts
We may have promised the children of Massachusetts that they can arrive at a bright tomorrow full of opportunity, but we have allowed many obstacles to get in the way of that promise for too many of our children. On top of that, these past two years have created new obstacles, and have also put Massachusetts at an important crossroads. The twin health and economic emergencies of the pandemic and subsequent downturn have made long-standing racial and economic inequities worse.
