Traditional and Non-traditional Caregivers Define "Family" and Caregiving Obligations - PubMed Narrow definitions of family can constrain survey items about obligations regarding who should care for older adults. Current measurement often does not account for the increased prevalence of…

Friends, neighbors, former spouses—new research finds dementia caregivers draw on a wide range of relationships, yet surveys still focus narrowly on spouses and adult children. Better measurement could reveal the full scope of who provides care. 🔗

Join our next Brown Bag Seminar on Wednesday, March 18 at 12pm PT.

@dennisfeehan.bsky.social, Associate Professor at UC Berkeley, will present, "What Do We Lose if We Lose the Demographic and Health Surveys? Quantifying Research Impact with Digital Trace Data.”

events.berkeley.edu/popsci/event...

Perceptions of the Future and Pregnancy Avoidance in the U.S - PubMed The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11113-025-09962-2.

Why are U.S. birth rates so low when most Americans still want two kids? New research finds that economic pessimism and relationship uncertainty drive short-term pregnancy avoidance, even among those who are financially stable. 🔗

Silver sanctions: Legal financial obligations in an aging population - PubMed This research was funded by a grant to the University of Washington from Arnold Ventures. We thank the collaborators of the Collective to Study the Broad Reach and Burden of Monetary Sanctions for…

Most Americans will receive a traffic fine at some point. But new research finds adults 50+ are getting them at a rapidly growing rate—far outpacing population growth—and facing steeper penalties than younger drivers, with serious consequences for their financial security.🔗

Contraception and abortion misinformation among crisis pregnancy center attendees and non-attendees - PubMed Endorsement of misinformation about contraception and abortion was common among prenatal care patients who attended a CPC but did not differ by crisis pregnancy center attendance.

Myths about contraception and abortion are common among pregnant people in Ohio—and visiting a crisis pregnancy center didn't make them more likely. Proactive counseling by providers is key to closing the knowledge gap.🔗

The Impact of Paid Family Leave on Employers: Evidence from New York - PubMed To study the impacts of New York's 2018 Paid Family Leave (PFL) policy on employer outcomes, we designed and fielded a survey of small firms in New York and a control state, Pennsylvania, which does…

New research finds that NY's Paid Family Leave law didn't burden small businesses—it may actually have helped them. Employers reported higher ratings of worker commitment and cooperation, and no evidence of adverse impacts on productivity, attendance or teamwork. ➡️

A Research Note on Unconditional Cash Transfers and Fertility in the United States: New Causal Evidence - PubMed As cash transfer policies have gained traction in recent years, interest in how financial resources could impact fertility has also grown. Increasing an individual's purchasing power with additional…

Do cash transfers affect fertility? New research finds modest monthly payments to low-income mothers had little overall effect on births. Relationship status mattered more than income. Money alone isn't a fertility lever. 🔗

Racial-Ethnic Differences in Care Networks of Older Adults: Empirical Exploration of Possible Explanations - PubMed The findings highlight the need for more research and policy interventions to address the diverse challenges faced by socially disadvantaged older adults.

We often link racial differences in elder care to cultural values. New research says the bigger story is structural. Black and Hispanic older adults rely more on family caregivers not due to stronger family values but lower marriage rates, lower incomes, and less access to paid care.

The Economics of Childbearing: Trends, Progress, and Challenges The neoclassical economics of childbearing turns 65 this year, marking the anniversary of Gary Becker's foundational article on the subject in 1960. This review article begins with a study of how...

Find #CCPR Director @marthajbailey.bsky.social paper here:

www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

The Birthrate Is Plunging. Why Some Say That’s a Good Thing.

U.S. birth rates have been declining, but #CCPR Director @marthajbailey.bsky.social finds that there has been no drop in the number of children born over the last 30 years.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/27/u...

Can a warm and supportive adult protect against mental health problems amongst children with experience of adversity? A twin-differences study - PubMed The apparent protective effect of a warm, supportive adult against mental health problems following ACEs is largely explained by genetic and environmental confounding. This suggests that…

We've long believed a supportive adult can shield children from the mental health effects of adversity. New research says it's more complicated. A study of 2,000+ twins found that when genetics and family environment are accounted for up to 81% of that protective effect disappears. 📖

Neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage and child health: The role of neighborhood mobility networks - PubMed Despite a large body of work on neighborhood effects on health, past studies are limited in their treatment of neighborhoods as largely static spaces with (dis)advantages based primarily on the…

No neighborhood is an island. The places your community travels to every day — stores, schools, parks — form a network that shapes children's health. New research shows that network can matter more for child health than where a child actually lives.🔗

What does research say about how Black and Native American families navigate a child's serious illness? Almost nothing—because almost no one has asked. Of 2,762 studies, only 6 included Black families. Zero included Native American families. To improve care, we first have to look. 🔗 buff.ly/baLUGgQ

Childhood fluoride exposure and cognition across the life course - PubMed How are children's fluoride exposures associated with cognitive test performance in adolescence and midlife? Whereas most prior research has estimated effects of exposure to extremely high levels of…

Is fluoride in tap water bad for kids' brains? A a new nationally representative U.S. study finds that kids exposed to recommended fluoride levels in tap water scored modestly *better* on math, reading & vocabulary in high school — with no cognitive harm detected at midlife. 🔗

According to new research, by 2030, a sustained 1% annual drop in MMR coverage could lead to:

17,000 measles cases/year
4,000 hospitalizations/year
$1.5 billion in added annual costs/year

But this potential for cascading impacts from declining vaccine uptake is not inevitable.

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The Carolina Center for Population Aging and Health (CCPAH) and the USC | UCLA Center on Biodemography and Population Health (CBPH) will host "Weathinar: Hazards, Exposures and Health" on Friday, Feb. 27 from 1:30-3:30 p.m. EST. Register now at unc.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

When states require fully insured employers to cover in vitro fertilization (IVF), what do self-insured employers provide? - PubMed While state in vitro fertilization coverage mandates are important policy initiatives to improve access to in vitro fertilization, our findings suggest that state mandates are insufficient to expand…

Living in a state with an IVF insurance mandate? Your employer may still not cover it. A new study finds that only 41% of self-insured employers in mandate states cover IVF. Federal action may be the only way to close the gap. 📖

School Climate and Sleep Duration Among Adolescents at the Intersection of Multiple Social Positions - PubMed Findings underscore the impact that schools have on adolescents' sleep health. Our study indicates that adolescents with multiple minoritized social positions face additional challenges impacting…

⏰️ Teens average just 6.75 hours of sleep on school nights. A more positive school climate is linked to longer sleep—about 25 extra minutes per night. Students with multiple minoritized identities who perceive negative school climates sleep the least. 🔗

New paper in the Population Center Working Papers (PSC/PARC) series!

Parenthood Penalties in Same-Sex Couples: How Parental Status Shapes Paid Work Specialization in American Couples

by Emily Curran

READ IT HERE:
https://repository.upenn.edu/handle/20.500.14332/62251

Co-Designing Effective Pediatric Vaccine Promotion Strategies: Insights From Rural Wisconsin Parents - Susan Racine Passmore, Morgan N. Medina, Lynne Margalit Cotter, Emma E. Henning, Mahima Bhattar, ... Rural distrust in science, intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic, has led to concern about the ongoing uptake of pediatric vaccination. It is also unclear ho...

🐄New #publication in Health Promotion Practice from CDE and @cdhauw.bsky.social affiliate Malia Jones

“Co-Designing Effective Pediatric Vaccine Promotion Strategies: Insights From Rural Wisconsin Parents”

➡️ doi.org/10.1177/1524...

Exploring primary care physician biases in adolescent contraceptive counseling - PubMed We found that clinicians demonstrated several biases in how they provide contraceptive recommendations to adolescent patients. These biases were often associated with their personal beliefs and…

Is your teen's doctor recommending birth control based on the patient's needs—or on assumptions about age and race? New research finds clinician bias is shaping contraceptive counseling for adolescents in ways that sideline patient choice. 🔗

Medicaid Helps Americans Afford the Contraceptives They Want—but Access Boils Down to Your Address New research links Medicaid with better access to preferred birth control methods, especially in disadvantaged neighborhoods—but these neighborhoods are concentrated in states that have not expanded…

Your zip code should not determine your birth control options. But new data show it does.
Medicaid expansion boosted access to more effective contraception in the most disadvantaged communities — yet many are in states that still haven't expanded Medicaid.
Read more 👉 tinyurl.com/bdfkvecw

Associations between wildfire smoke exposure and health-related quality of life: findings from the Lovelace Smokers Cohort - PubMed Exposure to WFS was associated with worse SGRQ and SF-36 scores, with notable differences in temporal patterns between mental and physical health measures. Our findings also underscore the importance…

A new study from @unm.edu links exposure to wildfire smoke pollution to worse physical and mental health. Physical impacts persisted up to 30 days while mental health effects were mostly short-term. Wildfire smoke appeared more harmful than general air pollution. #ClimateHealth

Exploring Racial and Ethnic Differences in Utilization of Medications for Obesity Management in a Nationally Representative Survey - PubMed The results of this study suggest that there are racial and ethnic disparities in the use of obesity-management medications.

New research from @ccpratucla.bsky.social finds racial and ethnic gaps in U.S obesity-management medication use. Eligible Asian, Black and Hispanic adults are less likely than White adults to receive obesity medications even after adjusting for health and socioeconomic factors. #HealthEquity

Religious Traditions Exhibit Heterogeneous Effects on Vaccination Uptake: A U.S. County-Level Regression Analysis Supporting Tailored Health Outreach - PubMed Religious traditions influence preventive health measures through limited but significant group-specific processes. Church-sect positioning partially explains these patterns, with historically…

New study from @upenn.edu finds COVID-19 vaccination varies by faith community. Counties with more Evangelical Protestants had lower rates while more Catholics and Mainline Protestants was linked to higher rates. Republican voting preference was the top predictor. #Vaccination

Gender differences in associations between spousal cognitive decline and marital strain: Evidence from the U.S. older couples - PubMed Despite extensive research demonstrating how marriage affects health, less is known about how health changes impact marriages, particularly when one spouse's health declines. This study extends the…

New research from @uwmadison.bsky.social and the University of Chicago finds gender differences in marital strain with cognitive impairment. Wives report higher strain but friend support may help. Husbands report lower strain yet more socializing is linked to higher strain. #Aging #Caregiving

U.S. Birth Rate Trends: Patterns, Drivers, and Implications for American Families Please join us on Wednesday, October 8, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in 2075 Rayburn House Office Building for

PAA and APC will host an in-person congressional briefing on Oct. 8, 3:30 pm. An expert panel of social scientists will discuss birth rate trends and impact of policy incentives like tax credits and paid family leave on family planning decisions.

Penn Population Studies Newsletter - August 15, 2025

The latest PENN POPULATION STUDIES NEWSLETTER includes news & events that feature our students & researchers, including @vincebed.bsky.social, Norma B. Coe and Jere R. Behrman.

READ THE ISSUE:

👀 An op-ed by @um-psc.bsky.social alum @ebeam.bsky.social and Holly Painter with a population perspective on youth sports! @usatoday.com

The BERKELEY POPULATION SCIENCES BROWNBAG SERIES returns! Our first three talks feature:

Ian Lundberg - UCLA
@nathanlo.bsky.social - Stanford University
@mpbitler.bsky.social‬ - UC Davis

Join us Wednesdays, 12 - 1PM at 310 Social Sciences Building, or via Zoom ID: 985 2901 0198 Passcode: DEMOG_BB