About Us
The economic security of American families is a growing national concern. The Berkeley Center on Health, Economic & Family Security (Berkeley CHEFS) is the first organization of its kind to promulgate integrated, interdisciplinary policy solutions to the problems that threaten the health and welfare of working families.
Too often, research-based policy proposals are advanced separately to address the needs of working families with regard to health security, economic security, and work-family balance. Berkeley CHEFS initiates robust dialogue and research to develop and advance comprehensive measures that address the economic insecurity faced by Americans across income and age spectrums.
With faculty experts in law, social welfare, public health, political science, public policy, medicine, and economics, the center analyzes interrelated issues and makes policy recommendations to assist the engineering of legislative, institutional, and regulatory reforms.
Berkeley CHEFS’ programmatic goals include:
- Defining economic risks faced by working families;
- Increasing health security through promoting universal health coverage at the national, state,
and local levels; - Developing better protections for workers who are on voluntarily or involuntarily leave from their jobs;
- Supporting working families in a flexible workplace; and
- Ensuring that seniors can be secure in their retirement years.
Unique Focus, Uniquely Situated
Berkeley CHEFS is the only center of its kind at any of the top 50 law schools, and the only university-based think tank that focuses specifically on developing and promoting integrated policy solutions to address problems stemming from the rising insecurity of American workers and families. Because these policies may face court challenges, the center’s legal expertise allows it to craft its proposals to withstand such challenges.
Collaborations
Berkeley CHEFS is actively engaging affiliated university-based centers and institutions to work as partners. These include:
Center for American Progress
Georgetown University Law Center Workplace Flexibility 2010
Social Science Research Council
UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education
UCSF Philip R. Lee Institute