The Russell Sage Foundation (RSF) announced its selection of 17 Visiting Scholars for the 2020-2021 academic year, including Evans School Professors Heather D. Hill and Scott W. Allard.
While in residence at RSF in New York City, they will pursue research and writing projects that reflect the foundation’s commitment to strengthening the social sciences and conducting research to “improve social and living conditions in the United States.” RSF Visiting Scholars address varied research topics from immigration and immigrant integration to climate change and natural disaster recovery.
During her RSF residency, Professor Hill will write a book documenting the experiences of low-wage workers in Seattle during the early twenty-first century as the city experienced rapid population and job growth, skyrocketing costs of living, and a new minimum wage ordinance. Using longitudinal, mixed-method data, she will focus on individuals who work hard to support their families but still struggle to keep up, much less advance, in an increasingly unaffordable city. Hill will draw on data from two RSF-supported research projects on parents working in low-paying jobs in Seattle as its minimum wage law was implemented.
Professor Allard will work on several related projects that examine changing geographical trends in poverty and safety net availability across urban, suburban, and rural America. One project will extend his research on the geography of poverty by focusing on recent spatial trends in both metropolitan and rural areas. A second project examines how nine different safety net programs targeted at low-income adults differ in administration and availability across metropolitan and rural areas. A third project focuses on the spatial distribution of social assistance programs targeted at low-income children. Professor Allard also will begin work on a book manuscript tracing spatial variation in the delivery of contemporary safety net programs in the U.S.
Congratulations, Professors Hill and Allard!