Kathryn Hynes, Ph.D.
2005, Cornell University
Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Studies and Demography
118 South Henderson Building
(814) 863-6422
kbh13@psu.edu
Research
My research focuses on the way parents’ work-family arrangements and social policies interact to influence the environments children are exposed to and the effects of these environments on children’s development. My current work focuses primarily on school-age children, after-school programs, and related policies. Projects include:
The changing landscape of after-school programs
Drawing from nationally representative data sets, this project is providing information about national trends in after-school program access and use.
We have already completed a working paper on changes in after-school program use from 1995 – 2005 (Hynes & Doyle, PRI Working paper #09-01).
I am currently working on a paper that draws from multiple data sources to examine the changing landscape of after-school programs more broadly, including information on the growth of school-based programs and the increasingly academic focus on programs.
Race and after-school programs
In a recent working paper (Hynes & Sanders, PRI Working paper # 09-06), we document that African-American children are twice as likely as white children to attend after-school programs. Differences in maternal employment, family structure, financial resources, and other known predictors of child care choices do not explain this race gap.
We are beginning work using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey to examine more nuanced reasons for race differences in program use, such as neighborhood risk, children’s developmental need, and white flight.
Limited child care funding and strict welfare policies: A risky combination for school-age children?
I am currently seeking funding for a project that examines whether states’expenditures on child care subsidies interact with their welfare policies to impact school-age children and their families.
We hypothesize that states with limited spending on child care subsidies and strict welfare policies may place school-age children at-risk for poor developmental outcomes. To test this hypothesis, we will estimate a series of models examining the effects of within-state changes in child care subsidy expenditures and welfare policies on maternal employment, school-age children’s exposure to self-care, and school-age children’s educational and social well-being.
Additional projects
I am finishing up projects on immigrant children and their use of self-care, work-family conflict and subsequent fertility, and the changing early family formation behaviors of young adults.
Education
- University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, B.A., 1994, Psychology
- Rutgers - The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, M.A., 1997, Women's Studies
- Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, Ph.D., 2005, Sociology
Research and Professional Experience
- 1997-1999: Project Coordinator / Research Administrator, National Institute on Out-of-School Time, Wellesley College Center for Research on Women, Wellesley, MA.
- 1999: Consultant, The Children's Museum and the Boston 2:00-6:00 Initiative, Boston, MA.
- 2000-2003: Predoctoral Fellow, Cornell Employment and Family Careers Institute, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
- 2002-2003: Assistant, Child Care Programs of Excellence Project, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
- 2003-2005: Research Assistant, Welfare Reform, Family Structure and Child Well-Being Project, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
- 2005: Post Doctoral Fellow, Transition to Fatherhood Program Project, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Selected Fellowships, Grants, and Awards
- 2007 – 2008 “Transitions Into and Out of Low Quality Child Care” Population Research Institute Seed Grant. P.I. K. Hynes
- 2007 – 2008 Selected for the Sloan Foundation Early Career Scholars Program
- 2006 – 2007 “Improving the Behavioral Environment of After-School Settings” Phase I funding from the W.T. Grant Foundation, P.I. Emilie Phillips Smith
- 2006 – 2007 Bennett Faculty Fellowship at the Penn State Prevention Research Center
- 2006 – 2007 “The Quality of Young Children's Child Care Arrangements: Trajectories, Transitions and Reasons for Change." Grant from the Children, Youth and Families Consortium at Pennsylvania State University, P.I. K. Hynes
- 2006 Article in the top 20 nominations for the Kanter Award for Excellence in Work-Family Research (Hynes & Clarkberg, 2005)
- 2006 “Comparative Social Policy” Faculty Travel Grant from the International Programs at Pennsylvania State University, P.I. K. Hynes
- 2005 – 2008 “Transitions to Fatherhood” PO1 funded by the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development. P.I. H.E. Peters. Role: Consultant
Selected Publications & Working Papers
Hynes, K. & Sanders, F. (2009). Diverging Experiences during Out-of-School Time: The Race Gap in Exposure to after-school programs. Population Research Institute Working Paper #09-06, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA. Available on-line at http://www.pop.psu.edu/general/pubs/working_papers/psu-pri/wp09-06.pdf
Hynes, K. & Doyle, E. (2009). Changes in after-school program use: 1995 – 2005. Population Research Institute Working Paper #09-01, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA. Available on-line at http://www.pop.psu.edu/general/pubs/working_papers/psu-pri/wp0901.pdf
Hynes, K., Smith, E.P., & Perkins, D. (Forthcoming in 2009). Piloting a school-based intervention in after-school programs: A case study in science migration. Journal of Children’s Services.
Dunifon, R., Hynes, K., & Peters, H.E. (Forthcoming in 2009). State welfare policies and children’s living arrangements. Social Service Review.
Astone, N.M., Dariotis, J., Sonenstein, F., Pleck, J., & Hynes, K. (Forthcoming). Men’s work efforts and the transition to fatherhood. Journal of Family and Economic Issues.
Hynes, K. & Habasevich-Brooks, T. (2008). The ups and downs of child care: Variations in child care quality and exposure across the early years. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 23, 559 – 574.
Hynes, K. & Davis, K. (2008). Gender in the workplace. In D. Carr (Ed.). Encyclopedia of the Life Course and Human Development. Macmillan, pp. 163 – 168.
Hynes, K., Joyner, K., Peters, H.E., & DeLeone, F. (2008). The transition to early fatherhood: National estimates based on multiple surveys. Demographic Research, 18, 337 – 376.
Hynes, K., & Dunifon, R. (2007). Children in "no parent" households: The continuity of arrangements and the composition of households. Children and Youth Services Review, 29, 912-932.
Dunifon, R., Hynes, K., & Peters, H.E. (2006). Welfare reform and child well-being. Children and Youth Services Review, 28, 1273-1292.
Hynes, K. & Clarkberg, M. (2005). Women’s employment patterns during early parenthood: A group-based trajectory analysis. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67, 222 – 239.
Singley, S., & Hynes, K. (2005). Transitions to parenthood: Work-family policies, gender and the couple context. Gender & Society, 19(3): 376-397.