Irwin Garfinkel co-founded the Center on Poverty and Social Policy with Christopher Wimer in 2014. A social worker and economist by training, he continues to be involved as an affiliated researcher with the center after retiring from Columbia University in 2022. His most recent research focuses on the benefits and costs of a universal child allowance, child care, and paid leave. He also served on the National Academy of Science Panel that produced the 2019 report “A roadmap to reducing child poverty.” In addition, Garfinkel works on the Robin Hood funded New York City Poverty Tracker project.
Throughout his career, Dr. Garfinkel has conducted research on the costs and benefits of welfare state programs. He has focused on the economic insecurity of single mothers and their children and policies designed to increase their security. In partnership with Sara McLanahan, Garfinkel developed the Future of Families and Child Well-being Study that has become an important national resource on the population of unmarried parents and their children.
Dr. Garfinkel is the author of Wealth and Welfare States: Is America Laggard or Leader? as well as over 200 articles and 16 books or edited volumes on poverty, income transfers, program evaluation, single-parent families and child support, gene-environment interactions, and the welfare state.
Dr. Garfinkel holds a BA in History from the University of Pittsburgh, an MA in Social Work from the University of Chicago, and a PhD in Social Work and Economics from the University of Michigan.