Elizabeth T. Powers is an Associate Professor in the Economics Department and a faculty member of the Institute of Government & Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prior to her position with the University of Illinois, Dr. Powers worked in the Research Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland as an Economist, for the President’s Council of Economic Advisers in the George H.W. Bush Administration as a Junior Staff Economist during her Ph.D. program, and for the Economic Research Service of the USDA during college. Dr. Powers’ research focuses on the influence of public policy on well-being across the life-course. Important areas of work include the unintended effects of social policies aimed at single-parent households, persons with disabilities, and the elderly; caregiving in non-familial settings such as daycare and nursing homes; and the caregiving workforce. Her current research interests are focused on child development, including projects on the impact of important family events on children’s healthy development; factors influencing how children are parented; and participation of family care providers in the Child and Adult Care Feeding Program. Dr. Powers is also currently engaged in research on the college pipeline of women majoring in economics.

Institute of Government & Public Affairs, U of I System. 

Senior Scholar, 2018 to Present. 

Family Resiliency Center, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL.  

Affiliate, 2016 to Present. 

Women and Gender in Global Perspectives Program, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL. 

Faculty Affiliate, 2010 to Present. 

College of Business, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL. 

Faculty Associate for the Center for Business and Public Policy, 2007 to Present.

University of Michigan Retirement Research Center. 

Affiliated Researcher, 2004 to Present.

Past affiliations:
National Poverty Center, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan
Sloan Work and Family Research Network at Boston College, 2008.
Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research
Aging Initiative, UIUC
Disability Research Institute, UIUC

Institute of Government and Public Affairs, U of I System. 

Senior Scholar, 2018 to Present. 

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL. 

Affiliate of the Family Resiliency Center, 2016 to Present. 

Faculty Affiliate of the Women and Gender in Global Perspectives Program, 2010 to Present. 

Faculty Associate of the Center for Business and Public Policy, 2007 to Present. 

University of Michigan. 

Affiliated Researcher of the Retirement Research Center, 2004 to Present. 

The University of Pennsylvania, Ph.D. in Economics, 1994. 

Dissertation: “Essays on the Incentive Effects of U.S. Welfare Programs”
Committee: Alan J. Auerbach (chair), David Neumark, Stephen P. Zeldes

Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York; B.A., cum laude with departmental honors in Economics, 1986.