Haksoon Ahn joined the Ruth H. Young Center for Families and Children (RYC) at the University of Maryland School of Social Work on January 12, 2009 to participate in a range of research projects at the RYC including evaluation of the efficiency and effectiveness of Maryland child welfare services as specified in the “Maryland Child Welfare Accountability Act.”

Dr. Ahn has a M.A. and Ph.D. in Social Policy from Brandeis University Heller School for Social Policy and Management and a M.S.W. from Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea. Dr. Ahn’s PhD dissertation entitled, “Trend in Net Disposable Income of Low-Income Single Mother Families from 1993 to 2002 in the U.S.: Before and After 1996 Welfare Reform” utilized Core and Topical Modules from the panel datasets of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) conducted by the Census Bureau.

Prior to joining the University of Maryland, Dr. Ahn worked at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) in Washington, D.C. as a Research Economist to evaluate the effects of federal government welfare policy, Temporary Assistance for Needy Family (TANF), on economic well-being of low-income single mothers. Dr. Ahn also received several awards including a highly sought after SEIU/Marcia McGill Research Fellowship from the EPI.

Dr. Ahn’s research interests include family and child welfare, social security, economic analysis of low-income families. Dr. Ahn has expertise in applied econometrics and extensive experience utilizing large scale datasets to explore the impact of welfare reform on women and their children.