Dr. Shelley Phipps

Maxwell Chair in Economics

Highlights
Current projects include: the economic vulnerability of Canadian families with children in terms of time as well as money (SSHRCC-funded); and the implications of child disability for parental health and labour market participation (CIHR-funded)."

Background

• 1981, BA (Honours) University of Victoria
• 1981, MA (University of British Columbia) 
• 1997, PhD (University of British Columbia)
• 2000, Holder of the Maxwell Chair in Economics
• 2006, Fellow, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research 

Published

Numerous peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and government reports

Committees/Boards

• Past-president of the Canadian Women Economists’ Network
• Executive member, Canadian Economics Association
• Editorial Board, Canadian Journal of Economics; the Review of Income and Wealth; Feminist Economics; Canadian Public Policy 
• Member of Advisory Board, Canadian Employment Research Forum
• Program Director, Children, Family and Work-life Issues, Canadian Labour and Skills Research Network (CLSRN)

Honours

• Holder of the Maxwell Chair in Economics since 2000
• Fellow, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research since Sept. 2006 
• Delivered the Innis lecture to the Canadian Economics Association in 1999
• Shared the Vanderkaamp prize for best article in Canadian Public Policy in 2001 with co-authors Martha MacDonald and Fiona MacPhail.

Website
Faculty page, Department of Economics

E-mail: Dr. Shelley Phipps

How Canadian policy impacts the health and wellbeing of children

Shelley Phipps is a Professor in the Department of Economics at Dalhousie University, holder of the Maxwell Chair in Economics since 2000 and a Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research since September 2006.

Phipps’ research has focused on Canadian policy issues. A first research interest, beginning with her PhD dissertation, has been the Canadian EI program. More recently, she has completed studies of “EI and work-life balance” and of the EI maternity and parental benefits program. A second focus for research has been social policy more generally, particularly international comparisons of policies for families with children. A third research interest is in decision-making within families and on implications of (traditionally) women’s care-giving responsibilities for their health and labour market outcomes.

Finally, Phipps continues to study determinants of the health and well-being of Canadian children. 

Phipps also has a long history of writing less ‘technical’ and more ‘policy-oriented’ documents, through consulting work for government (for example, studies for the EI evaluation branch, a series of empirical studies of child well-being conducted for the Applied Research Branch of (then) HRDC, work with Justice Canada to help design child support awards). She has carried out research projects for institutions such as Canadian Policy Research Networks, the Canadian Population Health Initiative, and the Institute for Research on Public Policy. She recently served as the ‘Expert Advisor’ for the HRSDC evaluation of EI Compassionate Care benefits and is a member of the Statistics Canada Advisory Committee on Labour and Income Statistics.