[Public Lecture] Public Investments in Child Care and Early Education: Alternative Financing Mechanisms to Support Parental Employment, Children’s Development, and the Wellbeing of the Childcare Workforce

Julia R. Henly is the Samuel Deutsch Professor in the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice at the University of Chicago, where she serves as Deputy Dean for Research and Faculty Development. Henly’s scholarship aims to advance understanding of the economic and caregiving strategies of low-income families to inform the design and improve effectiveness of work-family policies and public benefits, especially child care policy. She studies precarious workplace conditions and laws designed to stabilize employment and improve worker wellbeing in low-earning jobs. In the child care domain, Henly studies child care financing mechanisms and their relationship to equitable access, workforce quality, and child and parent outcomes. Henly is a Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare and the Society for Social Work and Research. She received her B.A. with honors from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her M.S.W. and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. Her scholarship is funded through federal and foundation grants and published in peer-reviewed journals, edited book volumes, and publicly distributed policy briefs and reports.