Madonna Harrington Meyer

University Professor, Sociology, Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs Link

Meredith Professor of Teaching Excellence
Faculty Affiliate, Aging Studies Institute
Senior Research Affiliate, Center for Policy Research
Faculty Affiliate, Center for Aging and Policy Studies

CAPS Biography:

My work focuses on the impacts of U.S. old age social policies.  I have published extensively on how social policies shape the performance and impact of care work. My current research, which sits squarely in both of CAPS signature themes on health and well-being and family and intergenerational supports, emphasizes how grandparent care work shapes grandparent health and wellbeing. My work intersects with all three cross-cutting themes as well, in that I emphasize (1) how various social policies shape grandparent care work for grandchildren; (2) how those impacts vary by place such as U.S. state variations in Medicaid coverage; and (3) how those impacts vary for specific populations, such as when grandparents are performing care work while employed or when grandchildren have disabilities.   

I have a relatively new interest in how social polices shape the impact of food insecurity for older people and their families, which has led to my most recent manuscript with CAPS Affiliate Colleen Heflin, Food for thought: Understanding older adult food insecurity. This work, funded by the Russell Sage Foundation, also sits squarely within the two CAPS signature themes on health and well-being and family and intergenerational supports, emphasizing how food insecurity shapes health and well-being and vice versa, as well as how it shapes family and intergenerational supports and vice versa. This work also addresses the three cross-cutting themes, addressing (1) how social policies affect grandparent care work such as the trials of feeding grandchildren when they do not have enough food; (2) the difficulties older adults face in obtaining and preparing food when they have disabilities; and (3) the hardships that food insecure older adults face when they live in states with more meager SNAP benefits or more stringent SNAP policies.