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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.


Institutional Change and the Consequences of Military Service

Institutional Change and the Consequences of Military Service

In a Collaborative Research project funded by the National Science Foundation, Meredith Kleykamp looks at outcomes in marriage, education, employment and earnings among veterans and non-veterans over the last 40 years.

Institutional Change and the Consequences of Military Service - Read More…

Social Observatory Coordinating Network

Social Observatory Coordinating Network

Faculty Associates Sandra Hofferth and Klaus Hubacek are participating in an NSF-funded interdisciplinary effort to explore the feasibility and potential structure of a network of social observatories akin to networks in the physical sciences

Social Observatory Coordinating Network - Read More…

How Does the Amount of Time Mothers Spend with Children Matter?

How Does the Amount of Time Mothers Spend with Children Matter?

Dr. Milkie's research helps to reshape cultural frames regarding maternal time and children's well being

How Does the Amount of Time Mothers Spend with Children Matter? - Read More…

Teens, Technology, and Dating Violence

Teens, Technology, and Dating Violence

Donna Howard and colleagues are studying the impact of electronic communication technologies on dating violence

Teens, Technology, and Dating Violence - Read More…

Exploring the culture of despair

Exploring the culture of despair

Faculty Associate Melissa Kearney and Philip B. Levine find that inequality trumps location in predicting early childbearing out of wedlock

Exploring the culture of despair - Read More…

Macroeconomic Conditions and Marital Dissolution

Macroeconomic Conditions and Marital Dissolution

Faculty Associate Melissa Kearney explores marriage markets through an R03 with North Carolina State University

Macroeconomic Conditions and Marital Dissolution - Read More…

Grandparents caring for grandchildren in China

Grandparents caring for grandchildren in China

Faculty Associate Feinian Chen is wrapping up a five-year K01 project studying the role of grandparenting in China

Grandparents caring for grandchildren in China - Read More…

Transitions to Fatherhood

Transitions to Fatherhood

Sandra Hofferth and Frances Goldscheider have just published an article entitled “Family Structure and the Transition to Early Parenthood” in Demography

Transitions to Fatherhood - Read More…

How Does Parental Stress Affect Child Outcomes?

How Does Parental Stress Affect Child Outcomes?

Natasha Cabrera has completed a paper on “Parenting and early predictors of Latino children’s cognitive and social development: Direct and Indirect Effects”

How Does Parental Stress Affect Child Outcomes? - Read More…

Intergenerational Parenting and Health

Intergenerational Parenting and Health

MPRC Associate Terrence Thornberry is studying Intergenerational Health using the Rochester Youth Development Study

Intergenerational Parenting and Health - Read More…

Using IHDS Data to Explore Inequality in India

Using IHDS Data to Explore Inequality in India

Sonalde Desai and Reeve Vanneman study the "Determinants of Maternal and Child Health in India"

Using IHDS Data to Explore Inequality in India - Read More…

American Time Use Survey Data Extract Builder (ATUS-X) and Conferences

American Time Use Survey Data Extract Builder (ATUS-X) and Conferences

The American Time Use Survey Data Extract Builder has been up and running for a number of years, and the research team has sponsored conferences in 2007, 2009, and 2011

American Time Use Survey Data Extract Builder (ATUS-X) and Conferences - Read More…

Family Processes, Intergenerational Learning and Involved Fathering

Family Processes, Intergenerational Learning and Involved Fathering

MPRC associates are collaborating on a component project that investigates intergenerational mechanisms through which “responsible fathering” may be transmitted.

Family Processes, Intergenerational Learning and Involved Fathering - Read More…