New Vision

Elisabeth Jacobs

Elisabeth Jacobs is a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at Harvard University and a Doctoral Fellow in the Multidisciplinary Program in Inequality and Social Policy. Her research interests embrace a wide array of questions addressing the issue of economic security: Do Americans face more economic risk today than they have in the past? If so, why, and what are the consequences of this increased risk burden for families, communities, and the polity? How have social welfare policy decisions over the last half-century contributed to these trends? Elisabeth has conducted research and written on a wide variety of topics including public attitudes to economic inequality and redistributive policy; the impact of neighborhoods on individual’s socio-economic outcomes and political participation; housing policy; unemployment insurance (with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities); and the work/family balance for low-income women transitioning on and off of TANF in the years following the 1996 welfare reform (with the Three-City Study on Welfare, Children and Families).

Prior to beginning graduate work at Harvard, Elisabeth was a Research Associate for the Poverty Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, a New York City-based public interest law center combining public education, litigation, and policy advocacy in order to effect social change. While at the Brennan Center, she researched and wrote on issues including legal services for the poor, welfare reform, child care, and local economic policy. She has been active on political campaigns at local, state and national levels, and previously served on the Board of Directors of Dwight Hall, the Center for Public Service and Social Justice at Yale. Elisabeth has been awarded numerous grants and fellowships, including the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, the Jacob K. Javits Graduate Fellowship, and the President’s Public Service Fellowship at Yale University. She graduated Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Yale University in 1999.


HOME THE INSTITUTE PROJECTS LEADERSHIP & STAFF BOARD FORESIGHT: THE BLOG CONTACT US	LEADERSHIP & STAFF founder-directors Elisabeth Jacobs Jal Mehta staff Ben Ansell Lydia Bean Jane Gingrich David J. Harding Matissa Hollister Joel Horwich Tomás Roberto Jiménez Matthew Kaliner Michal Kurlaender Jason Lakin Therese Leung Elizabeth Oltmans Ananat Judy Scott-Clayton Patrick Sharkey Adam Thomas Vesla Mae Weaver Christopher Wimer Scott Winship	Elisabeth Jacobs Elisabeth Jacobs is a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at Harvard University and a Doctoral Fellow in the Multidisciplinary Program in Inequality and Social Policy. Her research interests embrace a wide array of questions addressing the issue of economic security: Do Americans face more economic risk today than they have in the past? If so, why, and what are the consequences of this increased risk burden for families, communities, and the polity? How have social welfare policy decisions over the last half-century contributed to these trends? Elisabeth has conducted research and written on a wide variety of topics including public attitudes to economic inequality and redistributive policy; the impact of neighborhoods on individual’s socio-economic outcomes and political participation; housing policy; unemployment insurance (with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities); and the work/family balance for low-income women transitioning on and off of TANF in the years following the 1996 welfare reform (with the Three-City Study on Welfare, Children and Families). Prior to beginning graduate work at Harvard, Elisabeth was a Research Associate for the Poverty Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, a New York City-based public interest law center combining public education, litigation, and policy advocacy in order to effect social change. While at the Brennan Center, she researched and wrote on issues including legal services for the poor, welfare reform, child care, and local economic policy. She has been active on political campaigns at local, state and national levels, and previously served on the Board of Directors of Dwight Hall, the Center for Public Service and Social Justice at Yale. Elisabeth has been awarded numerous grants and fellowships, including the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, the Jacob K. Javits Graduate Fellowship, and the President’s Public Service Fellowship at Yale University. She graduated Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Yale University in 1999.