Heather D Hill
Biographic Data
| ID | 137233 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Heather D Hill |
| GIVEN NAMES | Heather D |
| FAMILY NAME | Hill |
| SIGNATURE | HILL H D |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Washington |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8750-2649 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 19 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 146 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 19 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Minimum wage increases and SNAP participation: Evidence from Seattle’s minimum wage ordinance
A large and contested body of research examines how minimum wage laws affect employment and earnings for different groups of workers and industries. Far less studied are the important but ambiguous expectations about minimum wage effects on participation in safety net programs. Different scenarios of minimum wage effects on employment and earnings could produce positive, negative, or null effects on participation in means-tested programs. This st…
Are State Paid Family and Medical Leave Programs a Safety Net for Working Single Mothers
The United States lacks a federal paid leave program for workers’ health and caregiving needs, but since the publication of Making Ends Meet , thirteen states and the District of Columbia have created paid leave insurance programs. Still, most states lack such programs, and existing programs have a variety of employment-based eligibility rules that may limit access for low- and middle-income single mothers. We use the Survey of Income and Program…
Making low-wage work and family fit: Perceptions and strategies among working families
Workplaces have changed dramatically over the past 50 years. Jobs have become more precarious, particularly for workers at the bottom of the income and occupational distributions, and this shift has created new challenges for balancing work and family roles. Previous research suggests that precarious work can make it difficult for families to manage childcare and schedule family time, but questions remain about the subjective experiences and pers…
Intersectional trends in poor mental health and health inequities across the US
Though mental distress poses a large and growing threat to population health, our understanding of how its social distribution has changed over time and what these changes imply for mental health equity is limited. To address this, we use data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to non-parametrically describe how age-standardized prevalence of frequent mental distress (FMD) and social inequities in FMD have changed in the United S…
Racial, ethnic, and gender differences in the association between higher state minimum wages and health and mental well-being in US adults with low educational attainment
Childhood Wealth Inequality in the United States: Implications for Social Stratification and Well-Being
Christina Gibson-Davis a, Heather D. Hill b, Childhood Wealth Inequality in the United States: Implications for Social Stratification and Well-Being, RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, Vol. 7, No. 3, Wealth Inequality and Child Development: Implications for Policy and Practice (August 2021), pp. 1-26
Family Income Level, Variability, and Trend as Predictors of Child Achievement and Behavior
Recent decades have seen increases in the variability of family income, tepid income growth rates for all but the richest families, and widening income inequality. These trends are concerning for child well-being, given the importance of income to parental investments and parenting practices. Growing evidence suggests that a high level of change is disruptive to family processes and that chronic stress affects physiology as well as psychology. Th…
Invisible wounds: Community exposure to gun homicides and adolescents’ mental health and behavioral outcomes
Prior research has illustrated the importance of some types of local community crime for adolescents' outcomes. However, we have little knowledge about the extent to which gun homicides within adolescents' neighborhoods affect their mental health and behavioral outcomes. This is important because local gun homicide incidents may be uniquely harmful for adolescents and their association with adolescents' mental health and behavior may represent an…
Income Level and Volatility by Children's Race and Hispanic Ethnicity
Objective: This study documents how income dynamics during childhood differ across racial/ethnic groups and among Hispanics by nativity, citizenship, and the English-language proficiency of households.Background: Income volatility has emerged as a distinct form of economic disadvantage that can impact family life and child well-being. Yet little is understood about how income volatility is stratified by race and ethnicity.Method: Using longitudin…
Coupling a Federal Minimum Wage Hike with Public Investments to Make Work Pay and Reduce Poverty
For more than a century, advocates have promoted minimum wage laws to protect workers and their families from poverty. Opponents counter that the policy has, at best, small poverty-reducing effects. We summarize the evidence and describe three factors that might dampen the policy's effects on poverty: imperfect targeting, heterogeneous labor market effects, and interactions with income support programs. To boost the poverty-reducing effects of th…
An Introduction to Household Economic Instability and Social Policy
This special issue of Social Service Review presents original research on the determinants and consequences of economic instability, with a focus on the interplay between instability and social policy. To frame that discussion, we define economic instability as repeated changes in employment, income, or financial well-being over time, particularly changes that are not intentional, predictable, or part of upward mobility. We also present a concept…
Child-Care Instability and Behavior Problems: Does Parenting Stress Mediate the Relationship
Child-care instability is associated with more behavior problems in young children, but the mechanisms of this relationship are not well understood. Theoretically, this relationship is likely to emerge, at least in part, because care instability leads to increased parenting stress. Moreover, low socioeconomic status and single-mother families may be more vulnerable to the effects of instability. This study tested these hypotheses using data from …
Intrayear Household Income Dynamics and Adolescent School Behavior
Economic life for most American households is quite dynamic. Such income instability is an understudied aspect of households’ economic contexts that may have distinct consequences for children. We examine the empirical relationship between household income instability, as measured by intrayear income change, and adolescent school behavior outcomes using a nationally representative sample of households with adolescents from the Survey of Income an…
Unstable and multiple child care arrangements and young children's behavior
The Consequences of Income Instability for Children's Well-Being
Income instability is an important and understudied dimension of the established empirical relation between family income and children's healthy development. Frequent fluctuations in income may influence daily processes and routines of family life, but the nature of such effects also may vary by specific patterns of income instability, parents' responses, and children's characteristics. In this article, we review existing theory and research on i…
Paid Sick Leave and Job Stability
A compelling, but unsubstantiated, argument for paid sick leave legislation is that workers with leave are better able to address own and family member health needs without risking a voluntary or involuntary job separation. This study tests that claim using the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey and regression models controlling for a large set of worker and job characteristics, as well as with propensity score techniques. Results suggest that paid…
Welfare as Maternity Leave? Exemptions from Welfare Work Requirements and Maternal Employment
In some states, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program offers the equivalent of paid maternity leave without job protection to low-income, single mothers of infants. Age-of-youngest-child (AYC) exemptions waive work requirements for TANF recipients after the birth of a child, generally for 3-12 months, depending on the state. This study uses data from the Current Population Survey (1998-2008) to examine whether the availabilit…
Getting a job is only half the battle: Maternal job loss and child classroom behavior in low‐income families
This study uses data from an experimental employment program and instrumental variables (IV) estimation to examine the effects of maternal job loss on child classroom behavior. Random assignment to the treatment at one of three program sites is an exogenous predictor of employment patterns. Cross-site variation in treatment-control differences is used to identify the effects of employment levels and transitions. Under certain assumptions, this me…
Welfare policies and very young children: Experimental data on stage-environment fit
The authors examined the effects of welfare programs that increased maternal employment and family income on the development of very young children using data from 5 random-assignment experiments. The children were 6 months to 3 years old when their mothers entered the programs; cognitive and behavioral outcomes were measured 2-5 years later. While there were no overall program impacts, positive or negative, on the development of children in this…
Unstable and multiple child care arrangements and young children's behavior
Intrayear Household Income Dynamics and Adolescent School Behavior
Economic life for most American households is quite dynamic. Such income instability is an understudied aspect of households’ economic contexts that may have distinct consequences for children. We examine the empirical relationship between household income instability, as measured by intrayear income change, and adolescent school behavior outcomes using a nationally representative sample of households with adolescents from the Survey of Income an…
An Introduction to Household Economic Instability and Social Policy
This special issue of Social Service Review presents original research on the determinants and consequences of economic instability, with a focus on the interplay between instability and social policy. To frame that discussion, we define economic instability as repeated changes in employment, income, or financial well-being over time, particularly changes that are not intentional, predictable, or part of upward mobility. We also present a concept…
Childhood Wealth Inequality in the United States: Implications for Social Stratification and Well-Being
Christina Gibson-Davis a, Heather D. Hill b, Childhood Wealth Inequality in the United States: Implications for Social Stratification and Well-Being, RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, Vol. 7, No. 3, Wealth Inequality and Child Development: Implications for Policy and Practice (August 2021), pp. 1-26
Paid Sick Leave and Job Stability
A compelling, but unsubstantiated, argument for paid sick leave legislation is that workers with leave are better able to address own and family member health needs without risking a voluntary or involuntary job separation. This study tests that claim using the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey and regression models controlling for a large set of worker and job characteristics, as well as with propensity score techniques. Results suggest that paid…
Welfare as Maternity Leave? Exemptions from Welfare Work Requirements and Maternal Employment
In some states, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program offers the equivalent of paid maternity leave without job protection to low-income, single mothers of infants. Age-of-youngest-child (AYC) exemptions waive work requirements for TANF recipients after the birth of a child, generally for 3-12 months, depending on the state. This study uses data from the Current Population Survey (1998-2008) to examine whether the availabilit…
Child-Care Instability and Behavior Problems: Does Parenting Stress Mediate the Relationship
Child-care instability is associated with more behavior problems in young children, but the mechanisms of this relationship are not well understood. Theoretically, this relationship is likely to emerge, at least in part, because care instability leads to increased parenting stress. Moreover, low socioeconomic status and single-mother families may be more vulnerable to the effects of instability. This study tested these hypotheses using data from …
Getting a job is only half the battle: Maternal job loss and child classroom behavior in low‐income families
This study uses data from an experimental employment program and instrumental variables (IV) estimation to examine the effects of maternal job loss on child classroom behavior. Random assignment to the treatment at one of three program sites is an exogenous predictor of employment patterns. Cross-site variation in treatment-control differences is used to identify the effects of employment levels and transitions. Under certain assumptions, this me…
Income Level and Volatility by Children's Race and Hispanic Ethnicity
Objective: This study documents how income dynamics during childhood differ across racial/ethnic groups and among Hispanics by nativity, citizenship, and the English-language proficiency of households.Background: Income volatility has emerged as a distinct form of economic disadvantage that can impact family life and child well-being. Yet little is understood about how income volatility is stratified by race and ethnicity.Method: Using longitudin…
Coupling a Federal Minimum Wage Hike with Public Investments to Make Work Pay and Reduce Poverty
For more than a century, advocates have promoted minimum wage laws to protect workers and their families from poverty. Opponents counter that the policy has, at best, small poverty-reducing effects. We summarize the evidence and describe three factors that might dampen the policy's effects on poverty: imperfect targeting, heterogeneous labor market effects, and interactions with income support programs. To boost the poverty-reducing effects of th…
Racial, ethnic, and gender differences in the association between higher state minimum wages and health and mental well-being in US adults with low educational attainment
Family Income Level, Variability, and Trend as Predictors of Child Achievement and Behavior
Recent decades have seen increases in the variability of family income, tepid income growth rates for all but the richest families, and widening income inequality. These trends are concerning for child well-being, given the importance of income to parental investments and parenting practices. Growing evidence suggests that a high level of change is disruptive to family processes and that chronic stress affects physiology as well as psychology. Th…
Welfare policies and very young children: Experimental data on stage-environment fit
The authors examined the effects of welfare programs that increased maternal employment and family income on the development of very young children using data from 5 random-assignment experiments. The children were 6 months to 3 years old when their mothers entered the programs; cognitive and behavioral outcomes were measured 2-5 years later. While there were no overall program impacts, positive or negative, on the development of children in this…
Welfare policies and very young children: Experimental data on stage-environment fit
The authors examined the effects of welfare programs that increased maternal employment and family income on the development of very young children using data from 5 random-assignment experiments. The children were 6 months to 3 years old when their mothers entered the programs; cognitive and behavioral outcomes were measured 2-5 years later. While there were no overall program impacts, positive or negative, on the development of children in this…
Getting a job is only half the battle: Maternal job loss and child classroom behavior in low‐income families
This study uses data from an experimental employment program and instrumental variables (IV) estimation to examine the effects of maternal job loss on child classroom behavior. Random assignment to the treatment at one of three program sites is an exogenous predictor of employment patterns. Cross-site variation in treatment-control differences is used to identify the effects of employment levels and transitions. Under certain assumptions, this me…
Welfare as Maternity Leave? Exemptions from Welfare Work Requirements and Maternal Employment
In some states, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program offers the equivalent of paid maternity leave without job protection to low-income, single mothers of infants. Age-of-youngest-child (AYC) exemptions waive work requirements for TANF recipients after the birth of a child, generally for 3-12 months, depending on the state. This study uses data from the Current Population Survey (1998-2008) to examine whether the availabilit…
The Consequences of Income Instability for Children's Well-Being
Income instability is an important and understudied dimension of the established empirical relation between family income and children's healthy development. Frequent fluctuations in income may influence daily processes and routines of family life, but the nature of such effects also may vary by specific patterns of income instability, parents' responses, and children's characteristics. In this article, we review existing theory and research on i…
Paid Sick Leave and Job Stability
A compelling, but unsubstantiated, argument for paid sick leave legislation is that workers with leave are better able to address own and family member health needs without risking a voluntary or involuntary job separation. This study tests that claim using the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey and regression models controlling for a large set of worker and job characteristics, as well as with propensity score techniques. Results suggest that paid…
Unstable and multiple child care arrangements and young children's behavior
Intrayear Household Income Dynamics and Adolescent School Behavior
Economic life for most American households is quite dynamic. Such income instability is an understudied aspect of households’ economic contexts that may have distinct consequences for children. We examine the empirical relationship between household income instability, as measured by intrayear income change, and adolescent school behavior outcomes using a nationally representative sample of households with adolescents from the Survey of Income an…
An Introduction to Household Economic Instability and Social Policy
This special issue of Social Service Review presents original research on the determinants and consequences of economic instability, with a focus on the interplay between instability and social policy. To frame that discussion, we define economic instability as repeated changes in employment, income, or financial well-being over time, particularly changes that are not intentional, predictable, or part of upward mobility. We also present a concept…
Child-Care Instability and Behavior Problems: Does Parenting Stress Mediate the Relationship
Child-care instability is associated with more behavior problems in young children, but the mechanisms of this relationship are not well understood. Theoretically, this relationship is likely to emerge, at least in part, because care instability leads to increased parenting stress. Moreover, low socioeconomic status and single-mother families may be more vulnerable to the effects of instability. This study tested these hypotheses using data from …
Coupling a Federal Minimum Wage Hike with Public Investments to Make Work Pay and Reduce Poverty
For more than a century, advocates have promoted minimum wage laws to protect workers and their families from poverty. Opponents counter that the policy has, at best, small poverty-reducing effects. We summarize the evidence and describe three factors that might dampen the policy's effects on poverty: imperfect targeting, heterogeneous labor market effects, and interactions with income support programs. To boost the poverty-reducing effects of th…
Income Level and Volatility by Children's Race and Hispanic Ethnicity
Objective: This study documents how income dynamics during childhood differ across racial/ethnic groups and among Hispanics by nativity, citizenship, and the English-language proficiency of households.Background: Income volatility has emerged as a distinct form of economic disadvantage that can impact family life and child well-being. Yet little is understood about how income volatility is stratified by race and ethnicity.Method: Using longitudin…
Invisible wounds: Community exposure to gun homicides and adolescents’ mental health and behavioral outcomes
Prior research has illustrated the importance of some types of local community crime for adolescents' outcomes. However, we have little knowledge about the extent to which gun homicides within adolescents' neighborhoods affect their mental health and behavioral outcomes. This is important because local gun homicide incidents may be uniquely harmful for adolescents and their association with adolescents' mental health and behavior may represent an…
Childhood Wealth Inequality in the United States: Implications for Social Stratification and Well-Being
Christina Gibson-Davis a, Heather D. Hill b, Childhood Wealth Inequality in the United States: Implications for Social Stratification and Well-Being, RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, Vol. 7, No. 3, Wealth Inequality and Child Development: Implications for Policy and Practice (August 2021), pp. 1-26
Family Income Level, Variability, and Trend as Predictors of Child Achievement and Behavior
Recent decades have seen increases in the variability of family income, tepid income growth rates for all but the richest families, and widening income inequality. These trends are concerning for child well-being, given the importance of income to parental investments and parenting practices. Growing evidence suggests that a high level of change is disruptive to family processes and that chronic stress affects physiology as well as psychology. Th…
Racial, ethnic, and gender differences in the association between higher state minimum wages and health and mental well-being in US adults with low educational attainment
Intersectional trends in poor mental health and health inequities across the US
Though mental distress poses a large and growing threat to population health, our understanding of how its social distribution has changed over time and what these changes imply for mental health equity is limited. To address this, we use data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to non-parametrically describe how age-standardized prevalence of frequent mental distress (FMD) and social inequities in FMD have changed in the United S…
Making low-wage work and family fit: Perceptions and strategies among working families
Workplaces have changed dramatically over the past 50 years. Jobs have become more precarious, particularly for workers at the bottom of the income and occupational distributions, and this shift has created new challenges for balancing work and family roles. Previous research suggests that precarious work can make it difficult for families to manage childcare and schedule family time, but questions remain about the subjective experiences and pers…
Minimum wage increases and SNAP participation: Evidence from Seattle’s minimum wage ordinance
A large and contested body of research examines how minimum wage laws affect employment and earnings for different groups of workers and industries. Far less studied are the important but ambiguous expectations about minimum wage effects on participation in safety net programs. Different scenarios of minimum wage effects on employment and earnings could produce positive, negative, or null effects on participation in means-tested programs. This st…
Are State Paid Family and Medical Leave Programs a Safety Net for Working Single Mothers
The United States lacks a federal paid leave program for workers’ health and caregiving needs, but since the publication of Making Ends Meet , thirteen states and the District of Columbia have created paid leave insurance programs. Still, most states lack such programs, and existing programs have a variety of employment-based eligibility rules that may limit access for low- and middle-income single mothers. We use the Survey of Income and Program…
Psychology (14 works) · Economics (13 works) · Demographic economics (8 works) · Early Childhood Education and Development (8 works) · Medicine (8 works) · Economic growth (7 works) · Population (7 works) · Sociology (7 works) · Employment and Welfare Studies (6 works) · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics (6 works)