Julia Honoroff

Bio

Dr. Julia Honoroff is an applied developmental psychologist whose research investigates how early childhood programs and housing policy shape family well-being and caregiver decision-making. As a Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow at Penn, she is working with Dr. Sara Jaffee in the Department of Psychology and contributing to the PHLHousing+ Evaluation, a large-scale study of housing cash transfers and child outcomes in Philadelphia.

She earned her Ph.D. in Human Development and Social Policy from Northwestern University in 2025, where her dissertation used mixed methods to explore how families navigate overlapping systems of education, employment, and childcare. Julia conducted fieldwork across local and national initiatives, including two-generation workforce programs and the rollout of universal prekindergarten in Chicago. Her research has been supported by fellowships from the Institute of Education Sciences and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. At Penn, she continues to examine how policies can be designed to reflect the everyday needs and goals of families with young children.