Maurice V. Russell Professor of Social Policy and Social Work Practice
Room 736
212-851-2406

Ronald B. Mincy

All of Dr. Ronald B. Mincy’s research rests on the premise that for the United States to reduce poverty and provide equal opportunity for all, policymakers must address the problems faced by young uneducated black men, who continue to have the poorest life chances of anyone in our society.


Ronald B. Mincy is the Maurice V. Russell Professor of Social Policy and Social Work Practice, and director of the Center for Research on Fathers, Children, and Family Well-Being. He is a co-principal investigator of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, and a faculty member of the Columbia Population Research Center.

Dr. Mincy came to Columbia in 2001 from the Ford Foundation, where he served as a senior program officer and worked on issues including improving U.S. social welfare policies for low-income fathers, especially child support and workforce development. He also served on the Clinton Administration’s Welfare Reform Task Force.

Dr. Mincy is the author of numerous journal articles and book chapters, and is the editor of Black Males Left Behind (The Urban Institute Press, 2006). In 2009, he received the Raymond Vernon Memorial Prize for Best Research Article in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. Dr. Mincy is an advisory board member for the National Poverty Center at the University of Michigan, the Technical Work Group for the Office of Policy Research and Evaluation, the Transition to Fatherhood project at Cornell University, the National Fatherhood Leaders Group, the Longitudinal Evaluation of the Harlem Children’s Zone, and The Economic Mobility Project of the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Dr. Mincy is a former member of the National Institute of Child and Human Development council, the Policy Council, and the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. He served as co-chair of the Grantmakers Income Security Taskforce and as a board member of the Grantmakers for Children, Youth, and Families. Dr. Mincy holds an AB from Harvard College and a PhD from MIT.

Research Interests:

  • Economic and Social Mobility
  • Child support
  • Income security policy
  • Responsible Fatherhood
  • Low-wage labor markets
  • Urban poverty

Awards:

  • Recipient, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management’s (JPAM) 2009 Raymond Vernon Memorial Prize for the Best Research Article.

Current Grants & Projects:

  • Participation and Allocation of the New York State Non-Custodial Parent Earned Income Tax Credit (NCP-EITC)
  • Excellence through Evaluation: Assessing, Addressing, and Achieving – An Enhanced Partnership to Strengthen Maryland’s Families
  • Fathers and Sons Replication Project II
  • Survey of the Responsible Fatherhood Field
  • Fragile Families and Child Well-being

Selected Publications & Presentations:

Books

Mincy, R. B. (Ed.). (2006). Black males left behind. Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute Press.

Book Chapters

Mincy, R, B., & Pouncy, H. (2007). The impoverished ‘culture vs. structure’ debate on the woes of young Black males and its remedy. In G. A. Persons (Ed.), The expanding boundaries of Black politics. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.

Mincy, R. B., & Pouncy, H. (2007). Why we should be concerned about young, less educated, Black men. In J. Edwards, M. Crain, & A. L. Kalleberg (Eds.), Ending poverty in America: How to restore the American Dream. New York: The New Press.

Mincy, R. B., Lewis, Jr., C. E., & Han, W-J. (2006). Young less-educated Black men in the economic boom of the 1990s. In R. B. Mincy (Ed.), Black Males Left Behind. Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute Press.

Journal Articles

Mincy, R. B., Klempin, S., & Schmidt, H. (forthcoming). Income support policies for low-income men and noncustodial fathers: Tax and transfer programs. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.

Smeeding, T. M., Garfinkel, I., & Mincy, R. B. (2011). Introduction: Young Disadvantaged Men: Fathers, Families, Poverty, and Policy. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 635(1), 6-21.

McLanahan, S., Garfinkel, I., Mincy, R. B., & Donahue, E. (2010). Introducing the issue. The Future of Children: Fragile Families, 20(2), 3-16.

Haldane, E. C., Mincy, R. B., & Miller, D. P. (2010). Racial disparities in men’s health and the transition to marriage among unmarried fathers. Journal of Family Issues, 31(9), 1183-1210.

Tach, L., Mincy, R. B., & Edin, K. (2010). Parenting as a “package deal”: Relationships, fertility, and nonresident father involvement among unmarried parents. Demography, 47(1), 181-204.

Geller, A. B., Garfinkel, I., Cooper, C., & Mincy, R. B. (2009). Parental incarceration and child well-being: Implications for urban families. Social Science Quarterly: Special Issue on Health Policy and Healthy Populations, 90(5), 1186-1202.

Mincy, R. B., Hill, J., & Sinkewicz, M. (2009). Marriage: Cause or mere indicator of future earnings growth?Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 28(3), 417-439.

Presentations

Mincy, R. B. (2010, June). Transitional Jobs and Responsible Fatherhood Programming. Presented at the U.S. Department of Labor, Washington, D.C.

Mincy, R. B. (2010, June). Fathers and Families. Panelist at the Welfare and Family Self-Sufficiency Research Technical Working Group, Administration for Children and Families, Washington, D.C.

Mincy, R. B. (2010, June). Men, Fathers and Income Support Policy. Panelist at the 13th Annual Welfare Research and Evaluation Conference, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) and Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Washington, D.C.

Mincy, R. B. (2010, June). The Effectiveness of Responsible Fatherhood Programs. Public Hearing before the Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support, of the House Committee on Ways and Means, 111th Congress.

Mincy, R. B. (2010, April). Child Support Compliance During Economic Downturns. Paper presented (with Daniel P. Miller) on a panel entitled “Economic Recessions and Demographic Outcomes” at the Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America, Dallas, TX.

Mincy, R. B. (2010, April). Educational Trajectodoes he ries of Black Male Students in New York City Public Schools. Paper presented (with Afshin Zilanawala) on a panel entitled, “Education Policy and Child Well-Being” at the Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America, Dallas, TX.

Mincy, R. B. (2010, January). The Changing Face of Families. Panelist at the National Child Support Enforcement Association (NCSEA) Policy Conference, Washington, D.C.