Women with children and a heterosexual male partner do the most housework—more even than single moms, according to an analysis of time-use data.1 Specifically, married and cohabiting mothers report more housework than never-married or divorced/separated mothers, but all mothers report about the same amount of child-care time, find Joanna Pepin of the University of Texas…

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Scientists have long debated the importance of nature versus nurture—genes versus the environment—in shaping the choices people make and the paths their lives take. Two decades of research make it increasingly clear that both nature and nurture always play a role—that is, the extent to which genetic factors affect behavior depends on the social environment…

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People who did not spend their entire childhoods living in a stable two-parent family face greater chances of downward economic mobility than their peers who did, finds Deirdre Bloome of the University of Michigan.[1] Children who experience changes in family living arrangements because of divorce, cohabitation, or remarriage are more likely to “fall down the…

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Children who enter kindergarten after experiencing repeated household changes are more likely to display problem behaviors that inhibit learning and disrupt classrooms, Paula Fomby of the University of Michigan and Stefanie Mollborn of the University of Colorado show. Such changes include residential moves and shifts in family composition and household routines. Their findings—coupled with other…

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Births to teenage mothers in the United States have hit record lows for eight successive years, but experts are quick to point out that U.S. teen birth rates are far above those in other high-income countries.

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Neighborhoods that are more walkable, with accessible public transportation, and amenities such as parks that promote physical and social activity are associated with better health.

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The prescription opioid painkillers that helped fuel the surge in U.S. drug overdose deaths were first approved by the Federal Drug Administration in late 1995.

The before-and-after fatality rates tell a shocking story: In 1994, the age-adjusted drug overdose death rate was 4.8 deaths per 100,000 people; by 2015, the rate had more than tripled to 16.3 per 100,000.

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The percentage of U.S. adults who smoke has fallen dramatically during the past 50 years, from 42 percent in 1965 to just 15 percent in 2015.1 Despite this decline, roughly one in five U.S. deaths is due to tobacco-related disease, making it the nation’s top cause of preventable disease and death.

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U.S. Hispanics tend to defy the odds: They outlive non-Hispanic whites by three years on average, despite having lower income and education levels. In 2014, life expectancy at birth for the U.S. Hispanic population was 81.8 years, compared with 78.8 years for the U.S. non-Hispanic white population.1 For nearly three decades, demographers have probed why…

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New studies add to the growing body of research on the toll U.S. mass incarceration is taking on prisoner’s children and families. Three recent articles in the journal Demography document the spillover effects of the prison boom on family poverty, couples’ relationship stability, and child well-being.

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