CSDE Fellow Spotlight: Hilary Wething
Posted: 1/10/2020 (CSDE Research)
How do labor policies affect workers and their families in low-wage and precarious jobs? CSDE Fellow Hilary Wething answers this question through her research on labor market policy and household economic security. In September 2020, Hilary will take her interdisciplinary training in public policy and demography to the Pennsylvania State University School of Public Policy where she will be the Jackman-McCourtney Career Development Professor of Public Policy and a faculty associate with PSU’s Population Research Institute. Hilary’s interdisciplinary training includes two undergraduate degrees in Mathematics and Economics from Creighton University and a forthcoming PhD in Public Policy and Management at the UW Evans School, along with a certificate in Demographic Methods and a Shanahan Endowed Fellowship in Demography.
During her time as a PhD student at UW, Hilary completed multiple interdisciplinary publications, papers, book reviews, and presentations intersecting labor economics and the sociology of work. For example, Hilary worked on a publication for Social Service Review titled “An Introduction to Household Economic Instability and Social Policy” with her advisor and Dissertation Committee Chair CSDE Affiliate Heather Hill. They also wrote a working paper titled “Worker Knowledge and Interpretation of the Seattle Minimum Wage Ordinance.” Additionally, the New York Times, The Economist, and NPR cited one of her working papers on minimum wage increases in Seattle written alongside CSDE Affiliates Mark Long, Jacob Vigdor, and Robert Plotnick. Hilary’s papers demonstrate her use of both quantitative and qualitative research methods to estimate the impacts of labor market policies and changes in economic instability on family well-being.
Beyond her academic achievements, Hilary has been involved in various Evans School committees such as the Committee for Equity and Inclusion and is a part of the CSDE Employment and Population Health Working group. In addition, she has experience in lecturing on Executive Economics for the Evans School and Poverty and Inequality for the UW MSW program.
CSDE congratulates Hilary on her many accomplishments!