Zachary Parolin, Professor of Social Policy, Inequality, and Opportunity at the Department of Social Policy and Intervention (DSPI) has won the 25th David N. Kershaw Award for his public policy contributions towards reducing poverty and expanding economic opportunity.
The David N. Kershaw Award recognises professionals who make significant contributions to the field of public policy analysis and management before the age of 40.
"We are honoured to recognise Professor Zach Parolin as the 2025 recipient of the Kershaw Award. His exemplary achievements, professional excellence, and sustained contributions reflect the highest standards of the policy sciences,” commented Kenneth Nelson, Head of DSPI. “Professor Parolin has for many years produced new cutting-edge research on the measurement, causes, and consequences of poverty, inequality, and social mobility across the United States and the European Union. This research now has resulted in one of the most prestigious research awards in public policy."
Prof Parolin’s research focuses on the measurement, causes, and consequences of poverty, inequality, and social mobility across the United States and other high-income countries. His research on U.S. public policy has revealed the effects of the 2021 Child Tax Credit expansion on food hardship, families' consumption patterns, and parents' mental health; the sources behind the declining provision of cash assistance from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program; how program interaction affects the optimal replacement rate of Unemployment Insurance; how the rise of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has reduced levels of extreme poverty; and more. Beyond his policy analysis work, Parolin has introduced a monthly poverty measure for the U.S. and has developed estimates of the intergenerational persistence of poverty for the U.S. and other high-income countries.
His work has appeared in journals including Nature Human Behaviour, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Policy Analysis & Management, American Sociological Review, AEA Papers and Proceedings, Demography, as well as in media outlets such as The New York Times, Washington Post, The Economist, The Atlantic, CNN, and in a U.S. presidential debate.
At Oxford, he also leads the Economics, Inequality, and Opportunity programme at INET Oxford and is Professorial Fellow at Nuffield College.
Find out more about the David N Kershaw Award, Prof Zach Parolin’s achievements and prior winners on the APPAM website.
