Alex is a doctoral candidate at the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration. Her research interests include low-wage work, the US social safety net, poverty and social inequality, gender, and work-family policy. Her dissertation research will examine changes in family economic circumstances around a birth, and look at the effects of state-provided paid family leave policies on the economic wellbeing of families with infants. The study will give particular attention to low-income new-parent families, who are at greater risk for economic instability around a birth, and are less likely to have access to family leave through employer-provided policies or the Family and Medical Leave Act. Prior to graduate school, Alex worked as a Research Associate at the Urban Institute in Washington, DC. Alex holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Vassar College and a master’s degree in social service administration from the University of Chicago.