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Gender, Family, and Social Change

gfsc-icon-100Broad changes in recent decades, including economic restructuring and the stagnation of male wages, the gender revolution and the entry of women into labor force, and the aging of most populations, have transformed family life in ways that are still not well understood. MPRC researchers are leaders in the study of how these larger changes affect families and individuals in both the U.S. and in other countries. Many aspects of family life (how they form, their size, composition and stability, and inequalities in family experiences) have direct impact on larger demographic processes underlying the composition, geographic distribution, and growth of the population. Thus the study of family life is of central concern to population research.

Areas of focus include :

  • Transition to adulthood and family formation
  • Parenting over the life course
  • Intersection between gender, work, and family

Examples of current projects in these areas can be found below.


The modern mortgage set the stage for the US baby boom

The modern mortgage set the stage for the US baby boom

The dramatic changes in the accessibility of home ownership may have “set the stage” for the baby boom

The modern mortgage set the stage for the US baby boom - Read More…

Preterm birth during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico

Preterm birth during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico

Protective behaviors subject to heterogeneous socioeconomic and structural constraints may lead to unequal health outcomes during health emergencies.

Preterm birth during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico - Read More…

Differential convergence in twenty-first-century gender gaps in home tasks

Differential convergence in twenty-first-century gender gaps in home tasks

Faculty Associate Liana Sayer finds that gendered norms associated with different forms of unpaid labors may be becoming redefined

Differential convergence in twenty-first-century gender gaps in home tasks - Read More…

Grandmothers' support and its effect on mental health among young mothers in Nairobi

Grandmothers' support and its effect on mental health among young mothers in Nairobi

Madhavan and colleagues examine grandmothers' employment and living status impact on support to daughters and grandchildren

Grandmothers' support and its effect on mental health among young mothers in Nairobi - Read More…

Examination of pregnancy related deaths in Georgia

Examination of pregnancy related deaths in Georgia

Mokhtari and colleages examine Georgia's high maternal mortality rate, disparities, and data needs

Examination of pregnancy related deaths in Georgia - Read More…

Improving mental health for older adults

Improving mental health for older adults

Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) could reduce health disparities

Improving mental health for older adults - Read More…

Medication and procedural abortions before 13 weeks gestation and risk of psychiatric disorders

Medication and procedural abortions before 13 weeks gestation and risk of psychiatric disorders

Faculty Associate Julia Steinberg and colleaguse set out to test risks associated with having a medication or procedural abortion prior to 13 weeks of pregnancy

Medication and procedural abortions before 13 weeks gestation and risk of psychiatric disorders - Read More…

Dyadic patterns in childbirth intention

Dyadic patterns in childbirth intention

Monica Caudillo, with MPRC affiliate colleagues, uses National Survey of Family Growth Data for Population Research and Policy Review article

Dyadic patterns in childbirth intention - Read More…

Wildfires and Child Health

Wildfires and Child Health

Faculty Associate Michel Boudreaux leads an R01 to measure impact of increasing particulant pollution on child health

Wildfires and Child Health - Read More…

A cross-national investigation of women's empowerment

A cross-national investigation of women's empowerment

Desai and Yu tap into dimensions of empowerment in household, work, and education across 28 countries

A cross-national investigation of women's empowerment - Read More…

The opioid epidemic's effects on families

The opioid epidemic's effects on families

Caudillo and Cohen investigate how family structures have changed with rising opioid epidemic death rates

The opioid epidemic's effects on families - Read More…