Hi, I'm Zach.
My research focuses on the measurement, causes, and consequences of poverty, inequality, and social mobility across the United States and European Union.
I am currently an Associate Professor of Social Policy at Bocconi University in Milan, and a Senior Research Fellow at Columbia University's Center on Poverty and Social Policy. At Bocconi, I direct the ExpPov Poverty and Inequality Research Lab, funded by an ERC Starting Grant.
My work has appeared in journals such as Nature Human Behaviour, American Sociological Review, AEA: Papers & Proceedings, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Policy Analysis & Management, Demography, and elsewhere. Moreover, my research has been featured in The New York Times, Washington Post, The Economist, The Atlantic, CNN, in a U.S. presidential debate, and in other outlets.
To be in touch, please email me at zachparolin@gmail.com
New Book: Poverty in the Pandemic: Policy Lessons from COVID-19 hit bookshelves on September 1, 2023. Read more about the book, or watch recordings of the launch events with New York Times journalist Jason DeParle and The Economist journalist Idrees Kahloon, at this link. Read Matthew Desmond's review of the book in The New York Review of Books here.
Selected Publications
Parolin, Z., Lehner, L. & Wilmers, N. (2025). “Declining earnings inequality, rising income inequality: What explains discordant inequality trends in the United States?” Journal of Public Economics.
Parolin, Z., Pintro Schmitt, R., Esping-Andersen, G., & Fallesen, P. (2024). “The Intergenerational Persistence of Poverty in High-Income Countries.” Nature Human Behaviour.
Parolin, Z., Giupponi, G., Collyer, S. & Lee, E. (2024). “Consumption Responses to an Unconditional Child Allowance in the United States.” Nature Human Behaviour.
Parolin, Z., Desmond, M., & Wimer, C. (2023). "Inequality Below the Poverty Line Since 1967: The Role of the U.S. Welfare State." American Sociological Review.
Parolin, Z., Ananat, E., Collyer, S., Curran, M., & Wimer, C. (2023). “The Effects of the Monthly and Lump-Sum Child Tax Credit Payments on Food and Housing Hardship.” AEA Papers and Proceedings.
Research in the Press
The Atlantic: "Why Poor American Kids Are So Likely to Become Poor Adults"
The Atlantic: "The Walmart Effect"
The New York Review of Books: "Tools to End the Poverty Pandemic."
The New York Times: "The Expanded Child Tax Credit Is Gone. The Battle Over It Remains."
Washington Post: "Child poverty spiked by 41 percent in January after Biden benefit program expired, study finds"
Washington Post: "Fewer groceries, more debt: Families brace for first month without child tax payments"
The Economist: "America is substantially reducing poverty among children"