I am a post-doctoral researcher at the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I will join the Department of Sociology at The Ohio State University as a Research Scientist this fall. I completed my PhD in Human Ecology from UW Madison's Department of Consumer Science in May 2023. I hold an MS and BS in Economics from Kolkata, India.

My research examines how low-income families in the United States experience and respond to economic insecurity, with a focus on debt, life events and changes in family structure, and the role of public policy in mitigating economic hardship in these contexts. I study the prevalence of low-income debt, how mothers’ economic wellbeing is connected to union dissolution and post-separation living arrangements, and how family transitions interact with employment, income, debt holdings, and systems of public support. Using evidence from Wisconsin and the United States more broadly, my work asks how policy shapes the financial stability of families facing material hardship, and how household-level experiences of instability can inform more equitable policy design.

In my spare time I love to read, cook, and find new eateries to explore. 

You can reach me at tchanda@wisc.edu.