Barbara Bergmann
Professor Emeritus

PhD, Harvard University

Research Interests
Sex roles in the economy, labor economics, computer simulation of economic systems.

Brief Biography
Barbara R. Bergmann writes on economic and social policy, with recent works on Social Security, child care, poverty, women's place in the economy and the family, and the labor market problems of women and African Americans. She is Professor Emerita of Economics at the University of Maryland and at American University in Washington, DC.
She received the Ph.D. from Harvard University. Dr. Bergmann served as a senior staff member of the President's Council of Economic Advisers during the Kennedy Administration. Other government experience includes service as Senior Economic Adviser with the Agency for International Development, and as an economist with the Bureau of Labor Statistics. She has served on advisory committees to the Congressional Budget Office and the Bureau of the Census. In the 1980s, she wrote a monthly column on economic affairs for the New York Times Sunday Business Section.
She has served as President of the Eastern Economic Association, the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics, the American Association of University Professors and the International Association for Feminist Economics.
Recent Publications

“The Decline of Marriage and its Consequences” (Working paper, 2008)

“Long Leaves, Child Well-being, and Gender Equality” in Janet Gornick and Marcia Myers, eds., Institutions for Gender Egalitarianism, forthcoming, 2008.

“Discrimination through the Economist’s Eye” in Faye Crosby, Margaret S. Stockdale and S. Ann Ropp, eds., Sex Discrimination in the Workplace (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2007, 213-234.)

“No Tax, No Spend”, Times Literary Supplement, August 10, 2007.

"Needed: A New Empiricism," The Economists' Voice: Vol. 4 : Iss. 2, Article 1. (2007)
http://www.bepress.com/ev/vol4/iss2/1

“The Nurse Shortage is a Crime”, Challenge 49,6, November/December 2006.

“Gender in Public Expenditure Reviews” in Anwar Shah, ed. Equity in
Public Spending. Washington, DC: The World Bank, 2005.

“A Swedish-Style Welfare State or Basic Income: Which Should Have Priority?” in Redesigning Distribution: Basic Income and Stakeholder grants as cornerstones for a more egalitarian capitalism. ed. Bruce Ackerrman et al. (London: Verso, 2005)

“Could Social Security Go Broke?” The Economists’ Voice, (2005).

“The State of Economics: Needs Lots of Work” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, July 2005; 600: 52 ‑ 67.

“Pushing for a More Humane Society” American Economist 48 (1) Spring 2004.

“What Policies Toward Lone Mothers Should We Aim For?” Feminist Economics 10(2), July 2004: 240-246.

America’s Child Care Problem: The Way Out (with Suzanne Helburn). New York: Palgrave, St. Martin’s Press, 2002.
The Economic Emergence of Women (Second edition) New York: Palgrave, St. Martin’s Press, 2002.
Is Social Security Broke?: A Cartoon Guide to the Issues (cartoons by Jim Bush). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2000.
“The Only Ticket to Equality: Total Androgyny, Male Style”, Journal of Contemporary Legal Issues, Volume 9, Spring 1998: 75-86.
In Defense of Affirmative Action. New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1996
Saving Our Children From Poverty: What the United States Can Learn From France. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1996.
"Becker's Theory of the Family: Preposterous Conclusions", Feminist Economics, Vol. 1, No. 1, Spring 1995. (Reprinted in Challenge, January/February 1996.)
"Child Support Awards: State Guidelines Versus Public Opinion" (with Sherry Wetchler). Family Law Quarterly, Fall 1995, 29,3: 483-493.
"A Budget-Based Definition of Poverty, With an Application to Single-Parent Families", (with Trudi J. Renwick). Journal of Human Resources 28:1. Winter 1993. 1-24.

[phone] 202-885-3770
[fax] 202-885-3790
Econ Dept. Email

Department of Economics, American University, Roper Hall 105
4400 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20016-8029