Factors Affecting Upward Mobility and the Role of Family Structure

This lecture was given at the University of Utah on 14 November 2019.

Catherine Ruth Pakaluk (PhD, 2010) is an Assistant Professor of Social Research and Economic Thought at the Tim and Steph Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America. Formerly, she was Assistant Professor and Chair of the Economics Department at Ave Maria University. Her primary areas of research include economics of education and religion, family studies and demography, Catholic social thought, and political economy. Dr. Pakaluk is the 2015 recipient of the Acton Institute’s Novak Award, a prize given for “significant contributions to the study of the relationship between religion and economic liberty.”

Pakaluk did her doctoral work at Harvard University under Caroline Hoxby, David Cutler, and 2016 Nobel-laureate Oliver Hart. She has co-authored widely cited articles in social science and epidemiological journals, including Demography, Economic Inquiry, and the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Beyond her formal training in economics, Dr. Pakaluk studied Catholic social thought under the mentorship of F. Russell Hittinger, and various aspects of Thomistic thought with Steven A. Long. She is a widely-admired writer and sought-after speaker on matters of culture, gender, social science, the vocation of women, and the work of Edith Stein. She lives in Maryland with her husband Michael Pakaluk and their eight children.

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