Alicia Sasser Modestino

Working mothers were stretched thin during the pandemic, Northeastern economists say. President Biden's bill could help by treating affordable child care as infrastructure. Illustration by Alison Booth/Northeastern University.

Is child care funding in Biden’s infrastructure bill vital to restoring the post-pandemic economy?

As Capitol Hill continues to bicker over the definition of infrastructure, two Northeastern economists say affordable child care is key to getting mothers back to work and reversing a loss of 2.4 million women from the workforce.

by Hillary Chabot April 12, 2021

Teenagers and young adults share the results of their research projects during a virtual showcase of Boston’s Summer Youth Employment Program. This year, the city’s internship program went virtual in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Northeastern helped get them there. Screenshot by Northeastern University

When the pandemic put summer jobs at risk in Boston, Northeastern stepped in to help

Every summer, thousands of young Bostonians participate in the city’s Summer Youth Employment Program—a program that connects teens and young adults with a paid internship. But as businesses and organizations temporarily shuttered in the face of COVID-19, officials faced a difficult dilemma: How do you run an internship program from home?

by Molly Callahan August 24, 2020

A man walks past mannequins in the windows of the Macy's store in the Downtown Crossing area of Boston, on April 15, 2020. U.S. retail sales plummeted in March, an unprecedented decline, as the viral outbreak forced an almost complete lockdown of commerce nationwide. AP Photo/Charles Krupa

How will the economy bounce back?

How well, and how quickly, state and federal economies recover from the COVID-19 crisis has everything to do with the choices that officials make now, says economist Alicia Sasser Modestino. “The sky is falling, but we might have some ways to put the pieces back together.”

by Molly Callahan May 1, 2020

Alicia Sasser Modestino is an associate professor of public policy and urban affairs, and economics, as well as the associate director of the Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy. Photo by Ruby Wallau/Northeastern University

Do women in economics face extra scrutiny?

In the field of economics, seminars are critical to the growth of professionals and the field as a whole. But, new research from associate professor Alicia Sasser Modestino shows that men and women are treated very differently at such seminars.

by Molly Callahan January 14, 2020

A soft gripper attachment holds a fake fish in Taşkın Padır's lab in the Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

Seafood processing plants are harsh environments for human workers. They don’t have to be.

Researchers at Northeastern are designing robots to make the seafood processing industry safer and more comfortable for human workers and more efficient and profitable for companies.

by Laura Castañón August 28, 2019

Counter-cyclical trends in college enrollment, and especially graduate school enrollment, are par for the course, says Alicia Sasser Modestino, a Northeastern professor who has studied the relationship between employer demands and the labor market.

People are less likely to enroll in college when the economy is doing well. Why is that?

Northeastern professor Alicia Sasser Modestino, who has conducted studies analyzing the relationship between employer demands and the labor market, says that counter-trends in college enrollment, and especially graduate school enrollment, are par for the course.

by Khalida Sarwari August 5, 2019

The Greater Boston Housing Report Card graded cities and towns in Massachusetts on a number of factors, including how many units they’ve produced over the past five years, whether they are producing enough housing relative to their size, and the degree of diversity in their population. Photo by iStock.

How bad is the housing crisis in Greater Boston?

There are not enough homes to go around for everyone; homelessness is on the rise; and modern zoning practices continue to perpetuate racial and economic segregation, according to a new study authored by Northeastern professor Alicia Sasser Modestino.

by Khalida Sarwari July 30, 2019

Associate professor Alicia Sasser Modestino, a labor market expert in Northeastern’s College of Social Sciences and Humanities speaks during a symposium at Northeastern on Friday. Photo by Adam Glanzman/Northeastern University

Looking through the glass ceiling: Symposium examines state of women’s advancement

How far have women advanced in the fields of leadership, entrepreneurship, and public policy? It’s a question that a half-day symposium at Northeastern sought to answer Friday. The answer, based on presentations by a wide-ranging group of stakeholders, seems to be that while progress has certainly been made, there’s still a long way to go.

by Molly Callahan March 6, 2017

According to labor market expert Alicia Sasser Modestino, we should “expect slower economic growth in the wake of a mass deportation—the exact opposite of what the Trump administration is promising in its first term.” Photo by iStock.

Why Trump’s deportation plan could damage the economy

Associate professor Alicia Sasser Modestino, a labor market expert, says that we should “expect slower economic growth in the wake of a mass deportation—the exact opposite of what the Trump administration is promising in its first term.”

by News@Northeastern March 1, 2017