Sarah Halpern-Meekin

I am a sociologist who uses qualitative and quantitative methods to study romantic relationships and low-income families’ finances, as well as government policies directed at both of these areas. My current research includes longitudinally following how mothers who are low income when their child is born experience a program that provides them with monthly unconditional cash gifts; understanding the lives of prime-age men who are out of the labor force (neither working nor seeking a formal job); and studying the role of relationship churning — on-again/off-again relationships — in the lives of parents and their children.

CDE Research Area Affiliations:

Demography of Inequality; Fertility, Families, and Households

Selected Publications:

Hart, Emma R., Lisa A. Gennetian, Jessica F. Sperber, Renata Penalva, Katherine Magnuson, Greg J. Duncan, Sarah Halpern-Meekin, Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Nathan A. Fox, and Kimberly G. Noble. “The effect of unconditional cash transfers on maternal assessments of children’s early language and socioemotional development: Experimental evidence from US families residing in poverty.” Developmental Psychology (2024).

Hart, Emma R., Jessica F. Sperber, Sonya V. Troller-Renfree, Pau Ortells-Faci, Sarah Halpern-Meekin, Aislinn Sandre, and Kimberly G. Noble. “Mothers with low incomes view both individual and structural interventions as potentially helpful for supporting early child development.” Scientific Reports 14, no. 1 (2024): 18374.

Gennetian, Lisa A., Greg J. Duncan, Nathan A. Fox, Sarah Halpern-Meekin, Katherine Magnuson, Kimberly G. Noble, and Hirokazu Yoshikawa. “Effects of a monthly unconditional cash transfer starting at birth on family investments among US families with low income.” Nature Human Behaviour (2024): 1-16.

Stilwell, Laura, Maritza Morales-Gracia, Katherine Magnuson, Lisa A. Gennetian, Maria Sauval, Nathan A. Fox, Sarah Halpern-Meekin, Hirokazu Yoshikawa, and Kimberly G. Noble. “Unconditional Cash and Breastfeeding, Child Care, and Maternal Employment among Families with Young Children Residing in Poverty.” Social Service Review 98, no. 2 (2024): 000-000.

Gennetian, Lisa A., Matthew Maury, Laura Stilwell, Hema Shah, Katherine Magnuson, Kimberly Noble, Greg Duncan, Nathan Fox, Sarah Halpern-Meekin, and Hirokazu Yoshikawa. “The Impact of Monthly Unconditional Cash on Food Security, Spending, and Consumption: Three Year Follow-Up Findings from the Baby’s First Years Study.” Spending, and Consumption: Three Year Follow-Up Findings from the Baby’s First Years Study (April 2, 2024) (2024).