Family Demography

2.0 credits · Graduate

This graduate seminar explores changes in family behaviors and household relationships from a demographic perspective. It focuses centrally on contemporary trends in the United States, considering (sometimes competing) interpretations of the causes and consequences of family change and variation, drawing on literature from demography, sociology, economics, and human development. Emphasis is placed on critically evaluating research in this area, including assessments of data quality, research design, and causal inference. Topics include union formation and dissolution, fertility, family structure, parenting, and the intersection of work and family. Cross-cutting these topics, we examine variation in family patterns by social class, race/ethnicity, and gender, and we think about their implications for the well-being of family members, social inequality, and public policy.