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Lisa A. Gennetian CV

Pritzker Professor of Early Learning Policy Studies
Sanford School of Public Policy
Box 90312, Durham, NC 27708
212 Rubenstein Hall, 302 Towerview Road, Durham, NC 27708
CV

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


Pritzker Professor of Early Learning Policy Studies · 2021 - Present Sanford School of Public Policy
Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy · 2021 - Present Sanford School of Public Policy
Director of Graduate Studies in the Sanford School of Public Policy PhD Program · 2024 - Present Sanford School of Public Policy
Affiliate of the Center for Child and Family Policy · 2023 - Present Center for Child and Family Policy, Sanford School of Public Policy

In the News


Published January 10, 2025
20 Questions with Sanford Ph.D. Director Lisa Gennetian
Published September 23, 2024
Election 2024, on Sanford’s 360 Podcast: A Bipartisan Idea To Support Families
Published August 5, 2024
Search Committee Named for Next Social Science Research Institute Director

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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 Cite

Education 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 Cite

A 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 Cite
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Recent Grants


North Carolina Maternal and Infant Health Planning Grant

ResearchCo-Principal Investigator · Awarded by J.B. and M.K. Pritzker Family Foundation · 2025 - 2025

Household Income and Child Development in the Firer Years of Life

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of California - Irvine · 2023 - 2025

Net Worth Poverty and Children's Development

ResearchCo-Principal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2022 - 2025

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Education, Training & Certifications


Cornell University · 1998 Ph.D.
Wellesley College · 1990 B.A.