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Through its Fellows program, each year the AAPSS recognizes outstanding scholars and/or public servants who have made significant contributions to public policy and social science. This year, the Academy welcomes four new fellows: Claude Fischer, professor of sociology at the University of California Berkeley; Ira Katznelson, professor of political science and history at Columbia University; John Laub, Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Maryland; and Cecilia Rouse, Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University. In keeping with the noteworthy achievements of the other 107 Academy fellows, each of these fellows� careers exemplifies the connection between academic research and policymaking. They will be officially inducted into the Academy on May 7, 2015, at our gala dinner in Washington, D.C.� AAPSS Fellows Explore the Shifts in the Institution of Marriage The extreme levels of income inequality in our country have been well documented; the pronounced chasm between the wealthiest Americans and poorest Americans has become clear. There has been an outpouring of research and commentary about what this phenomenon means for America’s economy and global competitiveness. But how does income inequality influence our nation’s social institutions? How do stark wealth disparities shape the lives of children and families? By analyzing the linkages between socioeconomic status and marriage, AAPSS Fellows, Andrew Cherlin and Isabel Sawhill, confront these difficult questions directly in their recent books. Among other theories, the decline in what has been traditionally understood as the nuclear family has been attributed to increasing work opportunities for women and changing social values. Cherlin’s work, Labor’s Love Lost, offers another theory. He argues that declining marriage rates in America are the result of the economy and lack of low-level jobs; those who are less-educated face fewer job options and experience less financial stability, which prompts them to delay marriage or forgo it altogether. Like Cherlin, Sawhill notes that marriage is changing in America and she tracks the exigencies of this shift. In Generation Unbound, Sawhill advocates for changing “drifters”, those who are having unplanned children early and outside of marriage, into “planners”, those who are delaying parenthood until they marry.� By applying fundamentals of behavioral economics, Sawhill argues that it is possible to move from a culture that accepts a high number of unplanned pregnancies to a culture in which adults only have children when they are ready to be parents.AAPSS and Brookings Partner for Seminar on Family Complexity On November 20, 2014, AAPSS and the Center on Children and Families at the Brookings Institution co-sponsored a seminar on family complexity in the United States. The July 2014 volume of the ANNALS, “Family Complexity, Poverty, and Public Policy,” co-edited by Daniel Meyer and Marcy Carlson, both from the University of Wisconsin�Madison, provided the framework for the event. The theme of the seminar, which gathered policy-makers, was “Family Complexity and Public Policy: Should We Consider Changes to Policy in Light of Contemporary Family Patterns?” Research has demonstrated that children's experiences of family over the last 50 years have shifted dramatically. In the United States there are more nonmarital births, more instability in partnering among parents, and more children splitting their time between parents following separation or divorce than ever before. Dr. Meyer opened the event with an overview of these recent changes to the family structure and the associated pressures they put on public policy.� Brad Wilcox of the University of Virginia and the National Marriage Project followed with a response, which in turn led to an open discussion with seminar attendees. The event underscored the Academy’s commitment to strengthening the link between rigorous academic research and policymaking. Postsecondary Educational Attainment: Practical Pathways to Improvement The Lumina Foundation has agreed to convene and host a conversation between state policy-makers and researchers that is based on findings presented in The ANNALS, Volume 655: "The Role of State Policy in Promoting College Access and Success,” co-edited by Laura Perna and Michael McLendon. The ANNALS volume presents research that examines the extent to which various state policies do and do not advance the attainment agenda. The Lumina event will be held on February 19�20 in Washington DC, and the discussion will focus on ways to increase postsecondary attainment by strengthening connections between research and state policy.
Coming Up in The ANNALS:
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Amy Gutmann, University of Pennsylvania President and AAPSS Fellow, participated in the 2015 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. She attended as a member of the event's Global University Leaders Forum; approximately 30 university presidents from leading higher education institutions around the world are members of this group. While there, Gutmann discussed the ways in which higher education drives economic and social progress. AAPSS Fellow Kathryn Edin has co-authored, It�s Not Like I�m Poor, a book that analyzes social mobility and the ways in which low-income families navigate the social safety net (welfare and the Earned Income Tax Credit). The book was published in January 2015.� � If you are not on our distribution list and would like to get the AAPSS Dispatch, sign up today.
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