Contexts

sociology for the public

In Brief

News and notes.

Swedish Parents Get the Interview

Research typically finds evidence for a “fatherhood premium” and a “motherhood penalty”: parenthood is good for fathers’ earnings and reduces mothers’ earnings. However, studies directly testing employer discrimination are few and inconclusive in their results. Read More

Fewer Kids, More Equality

An across-the-board decrease in larger families might be a net gain for child outcomes—and its pronounced change among disadvantaged families might help reduce American inequality. Read More

Health, Now and Later

What is the relationship between diabetes and personality? Read More

Of Porn and Prayer

Is the rise in pornography consumption reducing religiosity? Read More

Get Tough on the Huddled Masses

Illegal documentation status elicits the strongest support for aggressive policing. Read More

Success and Failure in Framing Social Movements

How social movements frame their issues is crucial for success or failure, but understanding how framing works remains a challenge for researchers and activists alike. Read More

How Grown Siblings Divide Care Work

The “graying” of the U.S. population has meant more adults caring for their elderly parents—whether that means picking up more expenses, moving your mother-in-law into … Read More

Marriage and the Genetic Risk of Depression

In other stress and depression news, a new study uses data on twins to investigate genetic and environmental effects on mental health. Genetic effects refer … Read More

Long-Term Job Insecurity is Depressing

Losing your job is hugely stressful, and more and more people have experienced this stress since the Great Recession. In Society and Mental Health, Sarah … Read More

Measuring Race to Measure Inequality

Conversations about racial classifications—who is what—typically center around self-identification, and social scientists try to write survey questions that properly capture it. But how we measure … Read More