Joe LaBriola

I am a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at UC Berkeley. My research examines the origins of socioeconomic and racial inequalities in the United States, drawing from urban sociology, sociology of the family, and the sociology of work. One strand of my research is geared towards understanding how advantaged households maintain their economic standing and transmit their advantages to future generations. In my dissertation, For Rent: Local Residential Development, Rising Housing Costs, and Inequality, I investigate how affluent homeowners across the United States fight to block nearby residential development, and demonstrate the consequence of rising housing costs for White-Black wealth inequality. I have also collaborated on a series of papers that document the causes of widening class gaps in parental investments in children. A second strand of my research examines causes of inequality in the experience of precarious work, and the consequences of this work for life chances.