Hilda Kahne

Areas of Expertise

Labor Economics; Social Policy; Women and Work

Email: kahne@brandeis.edu

Current Project

My research relates to low-wage single mothers, focusing on labor market and job inadequacies that lead to poverty for families. It evaluates existing and proposed private sector, public, and jointly sponsored programs that encourage low-wage career development. The challenge is to use existing and proposed policies to foster work/earnings structures beneficial for employers and workers.

Biography

Following a brief post-BA period of a research appointment at the Social Security Administration in Washington, D.C., I became Research Assistant to Prof. Sumner H. Slichter (1944-1948) and enrolled  in graduate school at Harvard.  My subsequent career has combined research and teaching in academia, sometimes also with administrative responsibilities.  Appointments included Wellesley College (1948-1958), Harvard School of Public Health (1954-1958),  Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study  (1966-77), Wellesley College Center for Research on Women (1978, 1983-1985), Wheaton College (1977-1992), Professor Emerita (1992-present), Radcliffe Public Policy Institute (1994-1995), and most recently at Brandeis University, first at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management (Professor, 1992-2002) and most recently at the Women’s Studies Research Center (Visiting, then Resident, Scholar 2001-current).  My work has focused on low income wage earners, women’s work and family lives, and social policies to help raise earnings and standards of living for low income (especially single mother) families.

Education

Ph.D., Harvard University

M.A., Harvard University

B.A., University of Wisconsin

Representative Publications

Kahne, Hilda.  “Low-Wage Single Mother Families in this Jobless Recovery: Can Improved Policies Help?”  Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy 4.1 (2004).

Kahne, Hilda.  “Part-time Work: Assessment for a Changing Economy.”  Social Service Review 68.3 (1994).