Faculty Affiliate Robert Plotnick, Professor, Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs, studies poverty, welfare, family formation and, the determinants and consequences of teen and nonmarital fertility. His current poverty-related research includes studies of the effect of child support policies on nonmarital childbearing, of teenagers’ views on marriage, parenthood, and nonmarital childbearing and of the economic and health consequences for elders of being childless. He is also analyzing the benefits and costs of three interventions intended to improve the health and well-being of children and parents - enhanced foster care services, special services for children whose parents are in methadone treatment, and a program to improve new married parents’ caregiving skills and increase their marital stability.

Major Research Projects:

• Effect of Childlessness on the Economic Well-being and Health Status of Elders
• The Impacts of Tolling on Low-income and Minority Populations in Washington State (with Jennifer Romich)

Sample Publications:

• Plotnick, R. D. 2009. "Childlessness and the Economic Well-being of Older Americans." Journal of Gerontology.
• Zerbe, R. O., Plotnick, R. D., Kessler, R., Pecora, P., Hiripi, E., O'Brien, K., Williams, J., English, D., White, J. 2009. "Benefits and Costs of Intensive Foster Care Services: The Casey Family Program Compared to State Services." Contemporary Economic Policy. July: 308-320.
• Plotnick, R. D. 2007. "Adolescent Expectations and Desires About Marriage and Parenthood." Journal of Adolescence 30: 943-963.
• Plotnick, R. D., Garfinkel, I., McLanahan, S., Ku, I. 2007. "The Effect of Child Support Enforcement on Nonmarital Childbearing." Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 26(1): 79-98. 
• Plotnick R. with Elizabeth Peters and Se-Ook Jeong.  2003. "How will welfare reform affect family structure and childbearing decisions?" Pp. 59-91 in R.A. Gordon & H. Walberg (Eds) Changing Welfare. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.

Contact Information:

Robert Plotnick
Email: plotnick@u.washington.edu
Homepage: http://evans.washington.edu/faculty-staff/bios/current-hz/plotnick
Robert Plotnick’s CV [ PDF ]