DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY

Area(s) of Interest

Family, Demography, Stratification and Social Inequality, Work and Occupations, Health

Biography

Using demographic and other quantitative methods, Christine Percheski studies economic inequality, families, and health policy in the United States. 

Percheski's current research portfolio includes investigations of 1) cohort change in the associations between childhood family characteristics and adult family formation; 2) demographic characteristics of couples with large age gaps between partners; 3) cohort changes in gender and racial wage gaps; 4) impacts of college campus closures on students’ educational outcomes; and 5) variations in PrEP prescriptions by public health infrastructure across U.S. counties. Percheski is also starting a project on how siblings help each other in adulthood.   

Percheski's previous research has considered questions such as how employment patterns have changed across birth cohorts of college-educated women, how health characteristics are associated with relationship stability among married and cohabiting parents, and how the Great Recession impacted intended and unintended pregnancy rates differently for married and cohabiting women. Percheski has also examined inequalities in health insurance coverage for adults and in health care utilization and access among children. In an NSF-funded project, Percheski assessed trends in wealth of households with children relative to the elderly, variations in wealth by family structure, and racial gaps in wealth among children.

Courses Taught

SOCIOL 101-6: American Families after the Sexual Revolution 

SOCIOL 210: Families and Society

SOCIOL 305: Demography

SOCIOL 310: Family and Social Learning

SOCIOL 376: Families: A Global Approach

SOCIOL 476: Topics in Sociological: Analysis: Sociology of Families

Publications

Marriage, Kids, and the Picket Fence? Household Type and Wealth among US Households, 1989 to 2019. With C. Gibson-Davis; Sociological Science 2022.

Children and the Elderly: Wealth Inequality among America’s Dependents. With Christina Gibson-Davis; Demography 2018.

Marriage, Family Structure, and Maternal Employment Trajectories. Social Forces 2018.

Deciding to Wait: Partnership Status, Economic Conditions, and Pregnancy During the Great Recession
With Rachel Kimbro; Sociological Science 2017

Income Inequality: New Trends and Research Directions
With Leslie McCall; Annual Review of Sociology  2010

Opting Out? Cohort Differences in Professional Women’s Employment Rates from 1960 to 2005; American Sociological Review 2008

Family Structure and the Reproduction of Inequalities
With Sara McLanahan; Annual Review of Sociology 2008

Inequality among American Families with Children: 1975-2005
With Bruce Western and Deirdre Bloome; American Sociological Review 2008