Warlick's scholarly interests are in the area of poverty policy and the effect of income taxes and transfers on the low income families and the elderly. From 1976-1979 she served as an economist in the Office of Income Security Policy, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare where she participated in the formulation and evaluation of policy regarding social insurance and income maintenance for the aged and disabled. From 1979-1982 she was a Research Associate at the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin. She joined the Department of Economics at Notre Dame in 1982. From 1989-1997 she served as Associate Dean in the College of Arts and Letters and Director of the Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts. She has chaired the Department of Economics and Policy Studies between 2003 and 2010. She is the founding and current director of the Poverty Studies Interdisciplinary Minor introduced in 2008. This minor serves undergraduates from all colleges within Notre Dame.
Warlick has published in both national and foreign journals and in numerous books regarding income maintenance policy and aging. Her current research focuses on the effects of school switching on student achievement. She teaches courses in the economics of poverty and the economics of education.
Warlick is a long-term member of the board of directors of the Early Childhood Development Center providing childcare services to the Notre Dame and Saint Mary's communities.