Nancy Folbre is Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts. Her research explores the interface between political economy and feminist theory, with a particular focus on care work and time use. She is the author of Valuing Children: Rethinking the Economics of the Family (Harvard University Press, 2008) and the co-editor, with Michael Bittman, of Family Time: The Social Organization of Care (Routledge, 2004). Previous books include The Invisible Heart: Economics and Family Values (New Press, 2001) and Who Pays for the Kids: Gender and The Structures of Constraint (Routledge, 1994). A past recipient of a five-year fellowship from the MacArthur Foundation, she has also enjoyed grant support from the National Science Foundation and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. She is a past president of the International Association for Feminist Economics and an Associate Editor of the journal Feminist Economics.

She joined IZA as a Research Fellow in November 2007.