Marie Mélanie Fontaine, Research Professional at CIRANO, Ph.D. Student in Economics, defended her thesis virtually at UQAM. Due to the lockdown, the event took place on March 30, using Zoom.

Marie Mélanie Fontaine's thesis, for which she received the "Excellent" mention, is entitled "Trois essais empiriques sur le bien-être économique et le travail des femmes au Canada" (Three empirical essays on women's economic well-being and work in Canada). In her thesis, Marie Mélanie Fontaine examines the economic consequences of events in women's lives, such as the birth of a child or marital breakdown, on the trajectory of their earnings.

She was co-directed by Marie Connolly and Catherine Haeck, both Professors in the Department of Economics at ESG UQAM, CIRANO Researchers and Fellows. Raquel Fonseca and Philip Merrigan, also Professors at ESG UQAM and CIRANO Fellows, were part of the jury.

Marie Mélanie Fontaine, has been involved in several projects at CIRANO with her thesis directors:

• Les politiques familiales du Québec évaluées à partir des trajectoires de revenus d’emploi des parents et des personnes sans enfant
• État des lieux sur les écarts de revenus entre les parents et les femmes et hommes sans enfant au Québec et dans le reste du Canada

Marie Mélanie Fontaine will continue her academic career with a postdoctoral fellowship under the direction of Catherine Haeck.