Madonna Harrington Meyer

• 2024 Fall
  • SOC/WGS 364/664 Aging and Society

Madonna Harrington Meyer is a University Professor at Syracuse University. She is a professor of sociology at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor of Teaching Excellence. She is a senior research associate at the Center for Policy Research, faculty affiliate at the Aging Studies Institute and faculty research affiliate at the Lerner Center. 

She is co-author, with Ynesse Abdul-Malak, of "Grandparenting Children with Disabilities" (2020). She is co-editor, with Ynesse Abdul-Malak of "Grandparenting in the United States" (2016).  She is co-editor with Elizabeth Daniele of "Gerontology: Changes, Challenges, and Solutions" (2016). 

She is author of "Grandmothers at Work: Juggling Families and Jobs" (2014), winner of the Gerontological Society of America’s Kalish Book Award. She is co-author with Pamela Herd of "Market Friendly or Family Friendly? The State and Gender Inequality in Old Age" (2007), which also won the Gerontological Society of America’s Kalish Book Award.  She is editor of "Care Work: Gender, Labor, and the Welfare State" (2000). 

Her work appears in leading journals including American Sociological Review, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Gender & Society, and Social Problems. Her research has been reported in the media including New York Times, NPR, U.S. News and World Report, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Christian Science Monitor and LA Times.

In 2016 she was named winner of the American Sociological Association (ASA) Section on Aging and the Life Course (SALC) Matilda White Riley Distinguished Scholar Award. 

"Hunger SNAPs: Food Insecurity among Older Adults", Sponsored by Russell Sage Foundation.

"HIV/AIDS and Older Adults City Council Initiative", Sponsored by Department of Health and Mental Hygiene of the City of New York.

"Changing Demographics, Stagant Social Policies", Sponsored by American Sociological Association.

"Assessing the Impact of Medicaid Equalization Policies on Access to Nursing Home Care", Sponsored by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

"Studying the Feasibility of a National Medicaid Equalization Law", Sponsored by Borchard Foundation on Law & Aging.

• Books
  • Harrington Meyer, M., Abdul-Malak, Y., Grandparenting Children with Disabilities. Springer Publications, 2020.
  • Gerontology: Changes, Challenges, and Solutions. Harrington Meyer, M., Daniele, E. A. (eds.) Praeger Publishing, 2016.
  • Grandparenting in the United States. Harrington Meyer, M., Abdul-Malak, Y. (eds.) Baywood Press, 2016.
  • Harrington Meyer, M., Grandmothers at Work: Juggling Families and Jobs. NYU Press, 2014.
  • Harrington Meyer, M., Herd, P., Market Friendly or Family Friendly? The State and Gender Inequality in Old Age. Russell Sage Foundation, 2007.
  • Care Work: Gender, Labor, and the Welfare State. Harrington Meyer, M. (ed.) Routledge Press, 2000.
• Journal Articles
  • Harrington Meyer, M., Reilly, S. and Finan, J. M., "The U.S. Should Expand Access to Dental Care for Older Adults." Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion: Population Health Research Brief Series, 2021.
  • Harrington Meyer, M., Abdul-Malak, Y., "Policy Challenges for Grandparents Caring for Grandchildren with Disabilities." Journal of Elder Policy, 2020.
  • Abdul-Malak, Y., Harrington Meyer, M., "Physical Health Impacts of Grandparenting Children with Disabilities." Lerner Center and Center for Aging and Policy Studies. Syracuse University, 2020.
  • Harrington Meyer, M., "Grandmothers at Work during Coronavirus." Lerner Center. Syracuse University, 2020.
  • Herd, P., Favreault, M., Harrington Meyer, M. and Smeeding, T. M., "A Targeted Minimum Benefit Plan: A New Proposal to Reduce Poverty Among Older Social Security Recipients." RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 2018.
  • Harrington Meyer, M., "Emerging Issues for Older Couples: Protection of Income, Right to Intimacy, and End-of-Life Decisions." Generations, 2007.
  • Himes, C. L., Harrington Meyer, M., "Gender and Race Differences in the Impact of Obesity on Work and Economic Security in Later Life in the U.S." Hallymn International Journal of Aging, 2007.
• Book Chapters
  • Harrington Meyer, M., Kandic, A., "How Social Policies affect Grandparent Care Work." In Life Course Implications of US Public Policies. Wilmoth, J. M., London, A. S. (eds.) Routlege, 2021.
  • Harrington Meyer, M., Stevens, J. D., "Changes in Medicaid for People with Disabilities." In Medicaid: Enrollment, Eligibility, and Key Issues. Lanford, D. (ed.) Nova Science Publishers, Inc., 2020.
  • Harrington Meyer, M., Kandic, A., "Grandparenting in the US." In Innovation in Aging. igx023, 2017.
  • Harrington Meyer, M., "'Introduction to Volume I: Social and Life Course Issues,' Pp. ix-xv, and 'Introduction to Volume II: Health and Well-Being,' Pp. ix-xiv,." In Gerontology: Changes, Challenges, and Solutions. Harrington Meyer, M., Daniele, E. (eds.) Praeger Publishing, 2016.
  • Harrington Meyer, M., "Grandmothers’ Financial Contributions and the Impact on Grandmothers." In Grandparenting in the United States. Harrington Meyer, M., Abdul-Malak, Y. (eds.) Baywood Press, 2016.
  • Harrington Meyer, M., Abdul-Malak, Y., "Grandparenting in the United States." In Grandparenting in the United States. Harrington Meyer, M., Abdul-Malak, Y. (eds.) Baywood Press, 2016.
  • Harrington Meyer, M., Abdul-Malak, Y., "Single-Headed Family Economic Vulnerability and Reliance on Social Programs in Aging Policies and New “American Families." Angel, J., Settersten, R. (eds.) Public Policy and Aging Report, 2015.
• Book Reviews
  • Harrington Meyer, M., "Book Review of Deborah Carr's Golden Years? Social Inequality in Later Life." In Sociological Forum. , 2020.
  • Harrington Meyer, M., "Book Review: A Different Shade of Gray: Midlife and Beyond in the Inner City by Katherine S. Newman." American Journal of Sociology, 2004.
  • Harrington Meyer, M., "Book Review: Making Gray Gold: Narratives of Nursing Home Care, by Timothy Diamond." Contemporary Sociology, 1994.
  • Harrington Meyer, M., "Book Review: Old Age and the Search for Security: An American Social History, by Carole Haber and Brian Gratton." Contemporary Sociology, 1994.
  • Harrington Meyer, M., "Book Review: A Generation of Change: America’s Older Population, by Jacob S. Siegel." In The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. , 1993.
• Encyclopedia Entries
  • Harrington Meyer, M., Pagan, M., "Social Security." In The Sage Encyclopedia of Lifespan Human Development. Bornstein, M. H. (ed.) SAGE Publications Inc., 2018.
  • Harrington Meyer, M., "Social Security Policy." In Oxford Encyclopedia of American Political, Policy, and Legal History. VanderMeer, P., Critchlow, D. (eds.) Oxford University Press, 2012.
• Technical Report
  • Herd, P., Smeeding, T. and Harrington Meyer, M., A Targeted Minimum Benefit Plan (MBP) A New Proposal to Reduce Poverty among the Elderly. , 2009.

Harrington Meyer, M., Delapaz, A., Aging and Social Change, University of Galway, "Grandparenting and Food Insecurity in the US" (September, 2024)

American Sociological Association, "Invisible Civic Engagement: the Case of Grandmothers Caring for Grandchildren" (August, 2024)

Eastern Sociological Society, "The Complexities of Food Insecurity in Old Age" (March, 2024)

University of Gothenburg, "Assessing US Old Age Food Insecurity" (November, 2023)

Future Professoriate, "Comprehensive Exams and Dissertations" (November, 2023)

Professional Development Seminar, Sociology, Syracuse University, "Developing a Research Agenda" (November, 2023)

SPA HUST, Syracuse University, "Conducting In-Depth Interviews: The Case of Grandparenting Children with Disabilities" (August, 2023)

ARC 2023 5th World Congress on Aging and Rejuvenation, "Measuring US old age food insecurity" (July, 2023)

Harrington Meyer, M., Abdul-Malak, Y., Panel of Gender, Family Histories and Late-Life Economic Well- Being, Gerontological Society of America, "How Marital Status Shapes Grandparenting Children with Disabilities" (November, 2021)

Dynamics of Accumulated Inequalities for Seniors in Employment (DAISIE), Karlstad University, Sweden, "Grandparenting Children with Disabilities: Impact on Work and Retirement" (May 25, 2021 - May 26, 2021)

Harrington Meyer, M., Abdul-Malak, Y., Dynamics of Accumulated Inequalities for Seniors in Employment (DAISIE), Karlstad University, "Financial Impacts of Caring for Grandchildren with Disabilities" (May 25, 2021)

Wellness and Aging seminar at SUNY, "Grandmothers at Work" (April 20, 2021)

Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science, "Impact of Caring for Grandchildren with Disabilities on Grandparent Emotional Wellbeing" (October, 2020)

Harrington Meyer, M., Stevens, D., Roundtable, Section on Aging and the Life Course, American Sociological Society, "Changes in Medicaid for People with Disabilities" (August, 2020)

Lerner Lab, Syracuse University, "Issues in In-Depth Interviewing" (February 20, 2020)

Harrington Meyer, M., Abdul-Malak, Y., BSS, Gerontological Society of America, "Grandparenting Children with Disabilities and Its Impact on Grandparent Health" (November, 2019)

Social Psychology, Health, and the Life Course (SHeL) Seminar, University of Indiana, "Intensive Care: Grandparenting Children with Disabilities" (September 27, 2019)

Critical Issues for Food Policy Research in the Current Environment, Syracuse University, "Food Insecurity among Grandparents Caring for Grandchildren: Personal Stories" (September, 2019)

Graduate Student Pro-Seminar, Syracuse University, "Planning Research in Graduate School" (September, 2019)

Author meets Critics, Rose Monograph, Special Session, American Sociological Association, "Comments on Deborah Carr’s Golden Years" (August, 2019)

Harrington Meyer, M., Abdul-Malak, Y., Family Section, American Sociological Association, "Extremely Intensive Care: Grandparenting Children with Disabilities" (August, 2019)

Current Debates in Aging and the Life Course: Public Policy, American Sociological Association, "How Social Policies affect Grandparent Care Work" (August, 2019)

Irish Centre for Social Gerontology, "How Policy and Place Matter: Grandparenting Children with Disabilities" (May, 2019)

Sociology Department, Syracuse, "Extremely Intensive Carework: Grandparenting Children with Disabilities" (February, 2019)

Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor of Teaching Excellence, Syracuse University (2007 - 2010)