Lauren Jones

Lauren Jones conducts research on how government policies and economic conditions influence consumer behaviour and family wellbeing. Her passion lies in producing rigorous, policy-driven research with the goal of enhancing the material conditions of families and children. Dr. Jones’s work spans the fields of health, labour, public, and household economics; her studies include research on public health insurance, prescription drug use, tax credits and in-kind transfer programs, child care policy, and traffic safety. In one line of work, she studies how household finance and spending decisions are impacted by expansions to cash and in-kind transfers. She also explores how these programs affect long-term health and family formation. Another line of work focuses on risky health behaviours. She has examined the effectiveness of traffic safety legislation on child restraint use and fatalities, the risks of drunk driving, and questions surrounding prescription drug use and misuse. Most recently, Dr. Jones has studied the market impacts of child care policy, including public financing and quality regulations. Her work has been published in the Journal of Human Resources and Journal of Health Economics, and has won best-paper awards in the Canadian Journal of Economics and Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. Dr. Jones’s primary appointment is held in the Department of Management at the University of Toronto Scarborough. Before joining the University of Toronto in 2025, Lauren spent 10 years on the faculty at The Ohio State University. She holds a PhD from Cornell University and completed her postdoctoral training at the University of Toronto.