My research examines poverty and inequality in the United States. My work has uncovered empirical trends that have previously been overlooked. I have published papers documenting the decline in job stability for black public sector workers, the factors contributing to poverty differences across states, the vulnerability of U.S. citizen children to changes in immigration policy, and trends in labor force participation among Mexican immigrant men.
Peer-Reviewed Book
Hernández, Diana and Jennifer Laird. 2025. Powerless: The People's Struggle With Energy Insecurity in America. Russell Sage Foundation.
Peer-Reviewed Articles
Siegel, Eva Laura, Kathryn Lane, Ariel Yuan, Lauren A. Smalls-Mantey, Jennifer Laird, Carolyn Olson, and Diana Hernández. 2024. “The Energy Insecurity-Health Nexus: Estimating the Components and Health Correlates of Household Energy Hardships in NYC." Health Affairs.
Laird, Jennifer, Mateo Cello, Allen Mena, and Diana Hernández. 2023. “Visualizing the Spatial Distribution of Energy Insecurity in the U.S." Socius
Hernández, Diana, and Jennifer Laird. 2022. “Surviving a Shut-Off: U.S. Households at Greatest Risk of Utility Disconnections and How They Cope.” American Behavioral Scientist.
Laird, Jennifer, Isaac Santelli, Jane Waldfogel, and Christopher Wimer. 2019. “Forgoing Food Assistance out of Fear: Simulating the Child Poverty Impact of a Making SNAP a Legal Liability for Immigrants.” Socius, 5: 1-8.
Laird, Jennifer, Zachary Parolin, Jane Waldfogel, and Christopher Wimer. 2018. “Poor State, Rich State: Understanding the Variability of Poverty Rates Across U.S. States.” Sociological Science, 5: 628-652.
Laird, Jennifer. 2017. ``Public Sector Employment Inequality in the United States and the Great Recession." Demography, 54, 391-411.
- Media coverage: The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, Longreads
Laird, Jennifer. 2015. “Unemployment among Mexican Immigrant Men in the United States, 2003 - 2012.” Social Science Research, 49, 202-216.
- Honorable mention, 2014 Student Paper Award, ASA Population Section
Bailey, Amy Kate, Stewart E. Tolnay, E.M. Beck, and Jennifer D. Laird. 2011. “Targeting Lynch Victims: Social Marginality or Status Transgressions?” American Sociological Review, 76, 412-436.