Her research interests lie in the areas of labor economics, poverty, health, and demography. Since receiving her Ph.D. from Western Michigan University in 1998, she has continued to pursue her dissertation research on the implications of holding a contingent job for employee job safety, earnings, and career advancement. Her work focuses on Chile and Spain as well as the United States. More recently, she has expanded her research areas to focus on Mexican migration and on the use of international remittances by the families of Mexican migrants, paying special attention to how these international flows affect different facets of their well-being. She visited IRP during the week of May 3, 2004.