Volume 1 | Winter 2020-2021
The National Center for Family & Marriage Research (NCFMR) was established in 2007 to help improve our understanding of how family structure is linked to the health and well-being of children, adults, families, and communities and to inform policy development and programmatic responses.
What's News at the NCFMR
Decline in Unintended Births
Although unintended births - those categorized as too early or unwanted - have declined in recent years in the U.S., about three in ten births in recent years were unintended. Second births are least often categorized as unintended, at 25%, with the highest share of births that are unintended occurring among third or later births, at 40%. To learn more about unintended childbearing in recent years, check out Unintended Births: Variation across Social and Demographic Characteristics (FP-21-02).
Variation in Intendedness by Birth Order
Source: NCFMR analyses of pregnancy data files from NSFG cycles 2015-17 and 2017-2019.
Family Profiles

Original reports summarizing and analyzing nationally representative data with the goal to provide the latest analysis of U.S. families. These profiles examine topics related to the NCFMR's core research themes.
Unintended Births: Variation Across Social and Demographic Characteristics
Thirty Years of Change in Unintended Births
Marriage in the U.S.: Twenty-five Years of Change, 1995-2020
NCFMR In the News

NCFMR research topics are wide-ranging and diverse. Our research projects that have garnered national media attention this past month are listed below.
Why marriage and divorce rates are dropping during the pandemic
5-state study suggests big drop in divorces
Divorces and marriages tumbled in U.S. during Covid, study shows
US divorce rates have hit a 50-year LOW because people are more 'selective' about their spouses and couples who marry older are staying together longer
Wendy D. Manning
ASR Appoints Manning to Three-Year Term

Wendy D. Manning, Dr. Howard E. and Penny Daum Aldrich Distinguished Professor, has been appointed to a three-year term as Deputy Editor of the American Sociological Review (ASR), the flagship journal of the American Sociological Association and the premiere journal in our field. Her term began January 1, 2021. Congratulations, Wendy!
Just Released
Books

Charlotte J. Patterson, Martín-José Sepúlveda, and Jordyn White, Editors, The National Academies Press
Richard A. Settersten Jr., Glen H. Elder Jr., and Lisa D. Pearce, Chicago Press Books

Data

IPUMS Current Population Survey (CPS)
IPUMS Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS)

Multimedia
2021 N&N Calendar

Calendar of Events


February

Virtual Applied Demography Conference 2021 -- Population Association of America (PAA)
Conference Dates: February 2-4

Call for Submissions -- American Sociological Association (ASA) 2021 Annual Meeting
Emancipatory Sociology: Rising to the Du Boisian Challenge
Submissions Due: February 3

Call for Applications -- Russell Sage Foundation (RSF) Summer Institute
Migration Research Methods (SIMRM)
Applications Due: February 10

Call for Submissions -- 13th Annual IPUMS Research Awards Competition
Submissions Due: February 12

Call for Papers -- Special Issue of the Journal of Family Studies (JFS)
Fathers and Fatherhood
Papers Due: February 15

Call for Applications -- Russell Sage Foundation Summer (RSF) Institutes
Computational Social Science (SICSS)
Social Science Genomics (SISSG)
Applications Due: February 22

Call for Applications -- Population Reference Bureau (PRB)
U.S. Policy Communication Training Program
Applications Due: February 22

Call for Proposals -- 2021 Groves Conference on Marriage and Family
A Virtual Conference on Family Advocacy and Family Policy: Caring for Families in the Exo- and Macro-Spheres
Proposals Due: February 25


March

Call for Proposals -- National Council on Family Relations (NCFR)
The Science of Families: Nurturing Hope, Happiness, & Health
Proposals Due: March 1
Conference Dates: November 3-6, 2021

Call for Applications -- National Council on Family Relations (NCFR)
NCFR Honors Student Recognition Program
Application Deadline: March 1

Call for Articles -- Russell Sage Foundation (RSF)
Social and Economic Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Articles Due: March 10

Free Webinar -- Military Families Learning Network (MFLN)
Supporting Parents and Children Through Hazards and Disasters
Webinar Date: March 10

Free Webinar -- Military Families Learning Network (MFLN)
Surviving the 2020 Pandemic: Lessons Learned on How to Best Support Our EI/ECSE Communities
Webinar Date: March 24


April

Center for Family & Demographic Research (CFDR) Virtual Symposium
COVID-19 and Families
Symposium Date: April 15


May

Call for Letters of Inquiry (LOIs) -- Russell Sage Foundation
LOIs Due: May 4

Population Association of America (PAA) 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting
Annual Meeting Dates: May 5-8
NCFMR Team

Co-directors
Dr. Susan L. Brown
Dr. Wendy D. Manning

Social Science Data Analyst
Dr. Krista K. Payne

Technical Writer
Lesley Wadsworth

Graduate Research Assistants
Lindsey Aldrich
Lisa Carlson
Katherine Graham
Leslie Reynolds