The US does not value caregiving, and many think women’s labor force participation is problematic.
You can identify a society’s priorities by what it spends money on. The US’s refusal to invest in childcare infrastructure speaks volumes.
Summer plans? Oh - we are just hanging out with the best group of people at the Data-Intensive Workshop on July 20 -21. That amazing crew could include you! Apply by April 1st! https://lcc.umn.edu/DIRC-workshop
Heads up US demographers. Our main NIH study sections (SSPA/SSPB) are being disbanded. I don’t know what this means. public.csr.nih.gov/StudySection...
Glad to have been interviewed for this piece, along with @kaseybuckles.bsky.social @marthajbailey.bsky.social, and @econmsk.bsky.social. And be sure to check out the companion piece!
Support northeast Minneapolis families if you can!
Sock monkeys holding signs that say “STOP ICE” and “STOP KILLING OUR NEIGHBORS”
Things feels calmer now in Minneapolis but the ICE siege is far from over. Many families are traumatized and remain in hiding, we still have over 900 ICE agents in Minnesota, and the economic impacts on our city—and especially on our targeted neighbors—are staggering.
Happy to have contributed to this along w/ @karenguzzo.bsky.social @marthajbailey.bsky.social & Melissa Kearney. My favorite from Karen: “We spent decades shaming women 4 having kids under the wrong circumstances, 4 not having their ducks in a row. Now they are holding up their end of the bargain.”
The Data Infrastructure Network will mark its fifth year at the Social Science History Association Annual Meeting in Atlanta! We want to highlight your work, ideas, and discoveries! The deadline to submit your abstract is March 15, 2026. Details are here: ssha2026.ssha.org
📢 Call For Papers
Hill Kulu, @udemsar.bsky.social and I are pleased to invite submissions to our session “Spatial Proximity of Families and Generations” at the BSPS 2026. We welcome studies that examine intergenerational geographic proximity and its effects on family members. @bspsuk.bsky.social
The 2026 SSHA call for proposals has been extended to March 15th. Read more and submit here: ssha.org/conference/c...
Spread the word!
Graphs show age-specific fertility and mortality rates, as well as total fertility and life expectancy from 1750 to 2000.
👓Recommended Reading📚Analysing Biases in Genealogies: Liliana P. Calderón-Bernal Diego Alburez & Emilio Zagheni investigated the accuracy of data from ascending genealogies for estimating fertility and mortality rates.
www.demogr.mpg.de/go/RRead
Contemporary US pronatalism, of which the Heritage Foundation is the most powerful player, is blatantly sexist and racist and fueled by Christian Nationalism.
This isn’t an exaggeration - it’s explicitly spelled out in their plan to “save America by saving the family.”
Problem about the loneliness epidemic is, it's everywhere except in representative survey data. Let's look at where the claim comes from. 1/
Come work with us in Helsinki! A permanent position for a lecturer in social science history, associated with a joint Master's program with the UCL. DL February 27th! jobs.helsinki.fi/job/Helsinki...
@kmcdono.bsky.social @danielwilson.bsky.social and I have a new OA article out: eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A... It’s about the fragmented landscape of historical data, and what we can do about it to improve discoverability, sustainability and reuse.
Do you teach demographic history? Are you planning to be at the Social Science History Association conference in wonderful Atlanta in November? Do you want to participate in a teaching roundtable about our admittedly niche, but awesome, subject? If you do, contact me! DM me here, or email!
Abstract Empirical research in historical demography is usually time-consuming and labour-intensive. Recent developments in machine learning offer new possibilities for building very large databases with reduced time and costs, though these new methods raise new challenges as well. This article describes the process of constructing the POPP database, a data collection project based on the exploitation of the nominative lists of the Parisian population censuses of 1926, 1931, and 1936. This database provides a host of information for almost 9 million individuals: their name and surname, year and location of birth, nationality, relation to the household head, and occupation. The article discusses the digitisation of archival sources — several hundred thousand handwritten pages — their transformation into a database by computer scientists using machine learning techniques, and the work required on the part of social scientists to correct and adapt the resulting data for statistical purposes. Beyond its methodological contribution, this article also discusses the various ways in which the POPP database will improve our knowledge of the economic, social, and demographic evolution of an important European urban population
The datapaper of the POPP databse is out !!! And it's in Historical Life Course Studies
POPP. An OCR-Generated Database of the Population Censuses of Paris (1926–1936)
hlcs.nl/article/view...
Headline from The Hill reading "How to raise birth rates is the wrong question: Here’s what we should be asking"
One of the most frustrating things about the current US discourse over low birth rates is its laser focus on "how can we raise birth rates?" In this op-ed for @thehill.com, I explain why that's the wrong question and what we should be asking instead. 1/6
thehill.com/opinion/heal...
This is all due to the incredible resistance of the people of Minnesota.
Their resilience - and their determination - helped enforce the Constitution in a way that political elites in Congress and the courts did not or could not.
I have never been prouder to be a Minnesotan.
If anything, things are even more dire as 🧊 becomes more secretive in their activities,. Combined with decline in documented violence, people not in MN assume (incorrectly) things are back to normal & pushback against even most common-sense reforms (a bare minimum) unfortunately gaining traction.
Friends, can I ask you to spread the word that we have a THREE-YEAR postdoc in American history at Cambridge up for grabs - ANY field, but applications are due March 1 so don't delay - apply, apply, apply! networks.h-net.org/jobs/69790/u...
“Strong financial support for mothers from the government can make motherhood more affordable and promote gender equality in economic resources.”
Investing in mothers and families - even if it doesn’t raise the birth rates - is worth doing.
I am excited to be hiring two post-doctoral positions at UCLA--please share with your networks. www.aeaweb.org/joe/listing.....
Remember to get those abstract submissions in for the 2026 Data-Intensive Research Conference hosted in Minneapolis in July! The deadline is TODAY (February 2nd). lcc.umn.edu/DIRC-proposals
Judge Biery signed the order with a photo of Liam and two bible verses: The first is "But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven." The second is simply "Jesus wept."
Astonishing thing for a judge to do.
Glad to share a new paper, “Reproductive responses to revolution and repression in Finland, 1917–1919”, now open access in The History of the Family! doi.org/10.1080/1081... 1/11
Join us for Virtual Office Hours TODAY (1/28) from 10:00am-11:30am CT. You'll have the chance to connect with IPUMS data experts and get your questions answered. Pop in anytime, but registration is required: z.umn.edu/IPUMS-VOH
We did it! We reached the wind chill that is the same in °F and °C!
Now that all right-thinking people are inspired to emulate Minnesota, here's your first step.
(h/t @lookitup.baby and @mostlybree.kitrocha.com )
They have quite an operation going.
www.mprnews.org/episode/2026...
