The Opportunity Lab (O-Lab) serves as the central research hub for Berkeley scholars conducting rigorous, data-driven research on social and economic inequality in the United States.
O-Lab’s network of faculty and graduate students work across disciplines and study a wide array of topics, from the role of childhood food security on long-term economic security to the disparate impacts of climate change on low-income communities. What unites O-Lab scholars is a commitment to rigorous methods and a focus on producing high-quality, policy-relevant research on the causes and consequences of poverty and inequality.
In addition to supporting research in these topic areas—through funding for students and faculty, sponsored events, and targeted dissemination of research—the lab also manages a range of initiatives on topics such as bringing new machine-learning tools to bear in the analysis of labor markets, supporting new research into the geographic dimensions of poverty and economic development, and partnering with California policymakers to better capture and analyze state-level indicators of inequality and opportunity.