Nonstandard Work and Social Insurance:
Designing Risk Protections for a Changing Workforce

The 30th Annual Policy Research Conference of the
National Academy of Social Insurance

National Press Club
529 14th Street NW
Washington, DC 20045

Monday, January 29, 2018

5:00 PM   Opening Reception

5:30 PM   2018 John Heinz Dissertation Award Presentation 

5:45 PM   Roundtable on the Greenspan Commission 

  • Nancy Altman, aide to Chairman Alan Greenspan
  • Larry Atkins, aide to Senator John Heinz, Commission Member
  • Suzanne Blouin, aide to Robert Myers, Commission Staff Director
  • Steve Goss, Social Security Administration liaison to the Commission
  • Eric Kingson, Commission Staff
  • Bruce Schobel, aide to Robert Myers

Moderator: William Arnone, Chief Executive Officer, National Academy of Social Insurance

7:00 PM   Reception Adjourns

Tuesday, January 30, 2018 

7:30 AM      Registration and Continental Breakfast 

8:00 AM      Welcoming Remarks 

  • William M. Rodgers, Professor of Public Policy, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy; Chief Economist, John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University; and Chair of the Board of Directors, National Academy of Social Insurance

8:10 AM      Opening Keynote: How Can Social Insurance Better Address the Risks of Nonstandard Work?

  • David Weil, Dean and Professor of the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University; Former Wage and Hour Division Administrator, U.S. Department of Labor; author of The Fissured Workplace: Why Work Became So Bad for So Many and What Can Be Done to Improve It

8:40 AM      Panel 1: What Do We Know about the Extent and Structure of Nonstandard  Work?

  • Anne Polivka, Employment Research Chief (Employment Research and Program Development Staff-Supervisory Research Economist), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
  • Katharine Abraham, Professor of Economics and Survey Methodology, University of Maryland
  • Douglas Holtz-Eakin, President, American Action Forum
  • Derecka Mehrens, Executive Director, Working Partnerships USA

Moderator: Sarah Donovan, Analyst, Labor Policy, Congressional Research Service

9:45 AM    Break

9:55 AM    Panel 2: The Risks of Workplace Injury in Nonstandard Work and Policy Options

  • John Ruser, President and CEO, Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI)
  • David Torrey, Workers’ Compensation Judge, Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry, Pittsburgh, PA
  • Jennifer Wolf-Horejsh, Executive Director, International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions (IAIABC)
  • David Michaels, Professor, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, George Washington University School of Public Health

Moderator: Michael Grabell, Reporter, ProPublica

10:55 AM    Break

11:05 AM    Panel 3: How Can Nonstandard Workers be Protected against the Economic Risks of Unemployment?

  • Stephen Wandner, Senior Fellow, National Academy of Social Insurance; Visiting Fellow, The Urban Institute; and Research Fellow, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
  • Andrew Stettner, Senior Fellow, The Century Foundation
  • Rachel West, Associate Director, Poverty to Prosperity Program, Center for American Progress

Moderator: Indivar Dutta Gupta, Co-Executive Director, Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality

12:05 PM      Lunch

12:45 PM      Luncheon Keynote on Social Security 

  • Henry J. Aaron, Bruce and Virginia MacLaury Chair and Senior Fellow in the Economic Studies Program at the Brookings Institution and Founding Board Member and former Board Chair of the Academy

Discussants:

  • Jason Fichtner, Senior Research Fellow, Mercatus Center at George Mason University
  • Nancy Altman, President, Social Security Works, and Chair, Strengthen Social Security Coalition​ 

Moderator: William Arnone, CEO, National Academy of Social Insurance

1:45 PM      Break 

2:00 PM      Panel 4: Economic Security for Nonstandard Workers in Retirement and Disability

  • David John, Senior Strategic Policy Advisor, AARP
  • Elliot Schreur, Research Associate, National Academy of Social Insurance
  • Shayna Strom, Senior Fellow, The Century Foundation

Moderator: Kathryn Edwards, Associate Economist, RAND Corporation

2:55 PM      Break 

3:05 PM      Panel 5: Mitigating the Economic Risks of Caregiving: Access to Paid Leave for Nonstandard Workers, Job Quality for Care Workers

  • Heidi Hartmann, President, Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR)
  • Sherry Leiwant, Co-President and Co-Founder, A Better Balance
  • Caitlin Connolly, Director of Social Insurance, National Employment Law Project

Moderator: Anna Wadia, Senior Program Officer, Inclusive Economies, Ford Foundation

4:00 PM      Panel 6: Where do we go from here? 

  • Althea Erickson, Senior Director, Global Advocacy and Policy, Etsy
  • Carmen Rojas, CEO, The Workers Lab
  • Rebecca Smith, Senior Counsel, National Employment Law Project
  • Aparna Mathur, Resident Scholar, Economic Policy, American Enterprise Institute (AEI)
  • Peter Barnes, Writer, Entrepreneur, and Co-Founder of Working Assets Long Distance (now Credo Mobile)

ModeratorBenjamin Veghte, Vice President for Policy, National Academy of Social Insurance

5:20 PM      Conference Adjourns