Overview
Dr. Gennetian is an applied economist whose research straddles a variety of areas concerning child poverty from income security and stability to early care and education with a particular lens toward identifying causal mechanisms underlying how child poverty shapes children’s development. She is a co-PI on the first multi-site multi-year randomized control study of a monthly unconditional cash transfer to low income mothers of infants in the U.S. called Baby’s First Years. Her recent work bridges poverty scholarship with a behavioral economic framework. “The Persistence of Poverty in the Context of Economic Instability: A Behavioral Perspective,” describes such a framework for poverty programs and policy, co-authored with Dr. Eldar Shafir and her co-authored publication “Behavioral Economics and Developmental Science,” further advances the application of behavioral economic insights to the arena of children’s development. Professor Gennetian has since launched the beELL initiative; applying insights from behavioral economics to design strategies to support parent and family engagement in, and enhance the impacts of, existing childhood interventions. Dr. Gennetian also has a body of research examining poverty among Hispanic children and families, serving as a PI on several grants and a co-PI directing work on poverty and economic self-sufficiency at the National Center for Research on Hispanic Families.
Current Appointments & Affiliations
Recent Publications
Net Worth Poverty and Food Insecurity.
Journal Article American journal of agricultural economics · August 2025 Food insecurity is a widespread problem faced by American families, particularly those with children. It is clear that poverty contributes to food insecurity, but extant research focuses almost exclusively on income poverty (IP). We move beyond income-cent ... Full text CiteEducation gradients in parental time investment and subjective well-being
Journal Article Review of Economics of the Household · June 1, 2025 College-educated mothers spend substantially more time in intensive childcare than less educated mothers despite their higher opportunity cost of time and working more hours. Using data from the 2010–2013 and 2021 waves of the Well-being Module of the Amer ... Full text CiteA framework and policy case for black reparations to support child well-being in the USA.
Journal Article Nature human behaviour · June 2025 Enslavement of African Americans and the legacy of structural racism have led to disproportionate hardship for black people in the USA. Reparations realize unfulfilled promises of financial compensation and redress. Existing US reparations initiatives have ... Full text CiteRecent Grants
North Carolina Maternal and Infant Health Planning Grant
ResearchCo-Principal Investigator · Awarded by J.B. and M.K. Pritzker Family Foundation · 2025 - 2025Household Income and Child Development in the Firer Years of Life
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of California - Irvine · 2023 - 2025Net Worth Poverty and Children's Development
ResearchCo-Principal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2022 - 2025View All Grants