Jane Waldfogel

Jane Waldfogel serves as the Compton Foundation Centennial Professor at Columbia University School of Social Work and holds a visiting professorship at the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, London School of Economics. She is an active member of the Inequality: Measurement, Interpretation, and Policy (MIP) network.

Her academic credentials include:

• B.A. magna cum laude in Psychology and Social Relations from Radcliffe College (1976)
• M.Ed. from Harvard Graduate School of Education (1979)
• Ph.D. in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School of Government (1994)

Professor Waldfogel's research examines family economics and child well-being through rigorous policy analysis, with particular focus on work-family policies, fragile families, poverty measurement, and income-related gaps in school readiness. Her comparative studies span the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada, producing influential publications including Britain's War on Poverty (2010) and Steady Gains and Stalled Progress (2008). Recent work investigates paid family leave impacts on breastfeeding outcomes, demonstrating her ongoing contribution to evidence-based social policy development.