CCPR research spans a broad range of demographic and population issues and is focused on five main topics. Many CCPR affiliates also work on topics related to the causes and consequences of migration and immigration as an integral part of the five main topics listed below.
CCPR researchers also generate and disseminate longitudinal data sets on individuals and households to the research community. For more information on these data sets, click here.
Families play a key role in the inter-generational transmission of attitudes, values, and resources and in demographic processes. Recent societal changes have substantially altered family forms and family life in ways that are not yet well understood. CCPR researchers are pioneers in the study of diverse family forms (e.g., variations by social class, immigrant status and ethnicity, cohabitation, same-sex couples, living apart together (LAT) relationships, orphanhood) and their consequences for children, elderly parents, and family decision-making and exchange. For specific examples of CCPR research being conducted on the topic of Contemporary Family and Household Dynamics, click here.
Public policy can significantly affect life in urban neighborhoods. Neighborhood conditions, in turn, are thought to influence individuals’ well-being. Despite the growing literature in this area, most studies have significant theoretical and methodological limitations that limit our knowledge of neighborhood effects. CCPR research is highly innovative because it considers the process of residential choice, aggregate population distribution that arises from individual choice, and the effects of neighborhood characteristics on individual well-being simultaneously. This research is also based on innovative data, theories, and methods. For specific examples of CCPR research being conducted on the topic of Neighborhood Dynamics and Individual Welfare, click here.
Over the past 40 years, economic inequality has increased dramatically in the US, and inequalities persist in other nations. Understanding the causes and consequences of inequality is essential to develop policies to reduce them. CCPR research in this area is especially innovative because it spans the entire life course and focuses on how demographic processes influence inequality and mobility and because it develops and exploits new data sources. Research on inequality and socioeconomic mobility cuts across most domains of population research at CCPR, but some CCPR researchers, spanning several disciplines and academic departments, focus explicitly on these topics. For specific examples of CCPR research being conducted on the topic of Inequality and Social/Economic Mobility, click here.
Health is fundamental to population dynamics because of its influence on mortality, fertility, and migration, and, in turn, the influence of migration and fertility on health. It is intricately entwined with economic and social processes such as labor productivity, income inequality, and social and economic mobility. CCPR affiliates have been pioneers in studying social, behavioral, and biological interactions to understand the physiological consequences of behavior and social environments. They have also been at the forefront of integrating theory on social stratification and stress into research on socioeconomic status and race/ethnic health disparities. CCPR researchers also develop novel experimental designs and evaluate policy initiatives which test these ideas in real-world settings. For specific examples of CCPR research being conducted on the topic of Social Dimensions of Health, click here.
Demographic, socioeconomic, and health processes often unfold over long periods of time. For individuals, current behavior, choices, and stocks (e.g., assets, human capital) are affected not only by current contexts, but also by conditions and events throughout life, or even in previous generations. At the macro level, societal change typically takes many years and is affected by prior social, economic, and political contexts, as population scientists have recognized for many years. Nonetheless, most of the research in population science (and in other fields) ignores these crucial life course and long term effects – often because data to examine them are poor or unavailable. CCPR affiliates are at the forefront of research examining life course and long term effects and in generating innovative data sets that allow other researchers to investigate these effects. For specific examples of CCPR research being conducted on the topic of Life Cycle and Long Term Change, click here.
