Hired Pen, inc., helps researchers communicate their work to a broader audience. We provide expert writing and editorial services, project management, strategic communications, and design and production for the research and policy communities.

Our goal is to help policymakers and others better understand the issues, and make better use of research in their policy and program decisions.

We specialize in U.S. social welfare policy, broadly defined to include poverty and its ramifications, education, health, mental health, sociology, social work, employment and training, economics, and other related fields. Our work stands out for its depth of knowledge, understanding of nuance, and its commitment to excellence. With more than 20 years writing and editing in the academic world, Hired Pen, inc., possesses a knowledge of the field you will not find anywhere else.

Recent News

• Not Quite Adults: Why 20-Somethings Are Delaying Adulthood and Why It's Good for All of Us by Ray and Settersten goes into third printing. She blogs about the topic here
• Barbara Ray writes opening chapter in Mother's Work and Children's Lives: Low-Income Families after Welfare Reform, by Rucker Johnson, Ariel Kalil, and Rachel Dunifon
• Hiredpen begins blogging for Network on Building Resilient Regions
• Hiredpen creates and manages online magazine for MacArthur Foundation's Digital Media and Learning program.
• Hiredpen edits new report by NBER and writes the executive summary for Moving to Opportunity, a rigorous evaluation of a HUD-directed effort to determine whether living in lower-poverty neighborhoods improves well-being.
• Ray contributes lead article (with Rick Settersten) to Future of Children

Fast Fact: In chronically poor rural areas, only 45% of residents have completed only high school or less. source: Carsey Institute, "Education in Chronically Poor Rural Areas Lags across Generations."