My research centers on public policy and economc inequality, with a particularly strong interest in understanding the measurement, sources, and consequences of poverty. I have sought to answer questions as such as:
How did the expansion of the Child Tax Credit in 2021 affect poverty, food hardship, employment, parents' mental health, and family expenditures?
In which contexts do minimum wage increases reduce poverty and food hardship?
Why are children born into poverty in the U.S. more likely to stay poor in adulthood relative to similar children in other countries?
How has the expansion of the SNAP program reduced extreme poverty in the US?
How can state governments affordably and efficiently reduce child poverty rates?
How can we improve the measurement of poverty and income inequality?
To what extent do increases in market power affect poverty and public finances?
» Parolin, Z. (2025). "Targeted Child Tax Credit: An affordable option for state governments to reduce child poverty rates." Journal of Policy Analysis and Management.
» 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.
» O’Brien, R., Schectl, M., & Parolin, Z. (2025). “Fiscal Centralization and Inequality in Children’s Economic Mobility.” American Sociological Review.
» Parolin, Z., Pintro Schmitt, R., Esping-Andersen, G., and Fallesen, P. (2024). “The Intergenerational Persistence of Poverty in High-Income Countries.” Nature Human Behaviour.
» Ananat, A., Glasner, B., Hamilton, C., Parolin, Z., & Pignatti, C. (2024). “Effects of the Expanded Child Tax Credit on Employment Outcomes.” Journal of Public Economics.
» Pignatti, C. & Parolin, Z. (2024). “The Effects of an Unconditional Cash Transfer on Parents’ Mental Health in the United States.” Health Economics.
» Parolin, Z. & Pignatti, C. (2024). “Employment and Consumption Responses to the Withdrawal of Unemployment Benefits.” ILR Review.
» 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.
» Parolin, Z., Matsudaira, J., Waldfogel, J., & Wimer, C. (2022). “Exposure to Childhood Poverty and Racial Differences in Economic Opportunity in Young Adulthood.” Demography.
» Parolin, Z., Curran, M., Matsudaira, J., Waldfogel, J., & Wimer, C. (2022). “Estimating Monthly Poverty Rates in the United States.” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management.
» Parolin, Z. & VanHeuvelen, T. (2022). “The Cumulative Advantage of a Unionized Career for Lifetime Earnings.” ILR Review.
» Parolin, Z. & Lee, E. (2022). “Economic Precarity among Single Parents in the United States during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.
» Parolin, Z. and Gornick, J. (2021). “Pathways toward Inclusive Income Growth: A Comparative Decomposition of National Growth Profiles.” American Sociological Review.
» Parolin, Z. and Lee, E. (2021). “Large Socio-Economic, Geographic, and Demographic Disparities Exist in Exposure to School Closures.” Nature Human Behaviour.
» Parolin, Z. (2021). “Decomposing the Decline of Cash Assistance in the United States.” Demography.
» Lee, E. & Parolin, Z. (2021). “The Care Burden During COVID-19: A National Database of Child Care Closures in the United States.” Socius.
» Parolin, Z. (2021). “Income Support Policies and the Rise of Student and Family Homelessness.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.
» Brady, D. & Parolin, Z. (2020). “The Levels and Trends of Deep and Extreme Poverty in the U.S., 1993-2016.” Demography.
» Parolin, Z. (2020) “Automation, Occupational Earnings Trends, and the Moderating Role of Organized Labor.” Social Forces.
» Wimer, C., Parolin, Z., Fox, L., Fenton, A., & Jencks, C. (2020.) “The Direct Effect of Taxes & Transfers on Changes in the U.S. Income Distribution, 1967-2015.” Demography.
» Van Lancker, W. & Parolin, Z. (2020). "COVID-19, school closures, and child poverty: a social crisis in the making." The Lancet Public Health.
» Parolin, Z. (2019). “Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and the Black-White Child Poverty Gap in the United States.” Socio-Economic Review.
» Parolin, Z. (2019). "The Effect of Benefit Underreporting on Estimates of Poverty in the United States." Social Indicators Research.
» Ananat, E., Glasner, B., Hamilton, C., Parolin, Z., & Pignatti, C. (2024). “Effects of the Expanded Child Tax Credit on Employment Outcomes: Evidence from Real-World Data from April to December 2021.” Under Review (original Working Paper at NBER).
» Parolin, Z., Ananat, E., Collyer, S. M., Curran, M., & Wimer, C. (2021). “The Initial Effects of the Expanded Child Tax Credit on Material Hardship.” National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Working Paper Series, No. 29285. https://www.nber.org/papers/w29285
» Parolin, Z., Curran, M. and Wimer, C. (2020). “The CARES Act and Poverty in the COVID-19 Crisis: Promises and Pitfalls of the Recovery Rebates and Expanded Unemployment Benefits.” Poverty and Social Policy Brief. Center on Poverty and Social Policy, Columbia University. Vol. 4, no. 8.
» Parolin, Z. (2020). “Organized labor and the employment trajectories of workers in routine jobs: Evidence from US panel data.” Brookings Institution.