Rachel Connelly is the Bion R. Cram Professor of Economics at Bowdoin College. Connelly's area of research is at the intersection of demographics and labor markets. She has published articles on the effect of broad demographic trends on the labor market and human capital decisions and on the economics of child care. Her research on child care considers all sides of the market: the demand for child care on the part of families with young children, the labor supply of child care workers, employers use of child care as an employment benefit, and parental child caregiving time. In addition to the study of time use and child care in the U.S., Connelly conducts research on issues related to women's status, education, employment, and migration in China. Her articles appear in Chinese Economic Review, The China Journal, Demography, Econometrica, Economic Development and Cultural Change, Feminist Economics, Journal of Human Resources, Journal of Labor Economics, Review of Economics and Statistics, Review of Economics of the Household and The Southern Economics Journal, among others.

She joined IZA as a Research Fellow in September 2008.