KATHRYN J. EDIN is one of the nation’s leading poverty researchers, recognized for using both quantitative research and direct, in-depth observation to illuminate key mysteries about people living in poverty: “In a field of poverty experts who rarely meet the poor, Edin usefully defies convention” (
The New York Times). Her books include
Promises I Can't Keep: WhyPoor Women Put Motherhood Before Marriage and
Doing the Best I Can:Fatherhood in the Inner City. In 2014, Edin was named a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. She is now a professor of sociology and public affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.
H. LUKE SHAEFER, Ph.D. is the Hermann and Amalie Kohn Professor of Social Justice and Social Policy and Associate Dean for Research and Policy Engagement at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. He is also a professor of social work and the inaugural director of Poverty Solutions, an interdisciplinary, presidential initiative that partners with communities and policymakers to find new ways to prevent and alleviate poverty.