Judith Seltzer
Research Professor
My research interests include kinship patterns, intergenerational obligations, relationships between nonresident fathers and children, and how legal institutions and other policies affect family change. I am especially interested in kinship institutions that are in flux, such as marriage and cohabitation in the contemporary United States or divorced and non-marital families. I also explore ways to improve the quality of survey data on families. In 2013 my colleagues and I added a module with family rosters to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to provide new data on U.S. family networks. My teaching focuses on family and kinship and on population-related topics. I am currently a member of the Committee on National Statistics of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. I am a past president of the Population Association of America and have held elected offices in the American Sociological Association’s sections on family (which I chaired) and population. In 2021, I received the ASA Family Section Distinguished Career Award.
Degrees
Ph. D., University of Michigan
Selected Publications
"Doubling up when times are tough: A study of obligations to share a home in response to economic hardship," (with Lau and Bianchi). Social Science Research, 41, 1307-1309, 2012.
"Demographic change and parent-child relationships in adulthood," (with Bianchi). Annual Review of Sociology, 39, 275-90, 2013.
"Coresidence and geographic proximity of mothers and adult children in stepfamilies," (with Yahirun and Bianchi). Journal of Marriage and Family, 75(5), 1164-80, 2013.
"Parent-child relationships at the transition to adulthood: A comparison of immigrant and native-born youth," (with Hardie), Social Forces, 95(1), 321-353, 2016.
"Stepfamily structure and transfers between generations in U.S. families," (with Wiemers, Schoeni, Hotz, and Bianchi). Demography, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-018-0740-1 (shareable: https://rdcu.be/bZckU)
"The family safety net of black and white multigenerational families," (with Park and Wiemers). Population and Development Review, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1111/padr.12233
"Family change and changing family demography," Demography, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-019-00766-6 (shareable: https://rdcu.be/bZchL)
"Spatial distance between parents and adult children in the United States," (with Choi, Schoeni, Wiemers, and Hotz). Journal of Marriage and Family, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12606
"Disparities in vulnerability to complications from COVID-19 arising from disparities in preexisting conditions in the United States," (with Wiemers, Abrahams, AlFakhri, Hotz, and Schoeni). Research in Social Stratification and Social Mobility, 2020.
Previous Courses by Term
Family and Social Change
Working Group in Sociology
Applications of Economic Theory: California Population Research Topical Seminar Series
California Population Research Topical Seminar Series
Working Group in Sociology
Applications of Economic Theory: California Population Research Topical Seminar Series
California Population Research Topical Seminar Series
Working Group in Sociology
Working Group in Sociology
Applications of Economic Theory: California Population Research Topical Seminar Series
California Population Research Topical Seminar Series
Working Group in Sociology
California Population Research Topical Seminar Series
Working Group in Sociology
Working Group in Sociology
Family and Social Change
Sociology of Family
Introduction to Theory and Major Empirical Research in Social Demography
Sociology of Family
Family and Social Change
Sociology of Family
Fiat Lux Freshman Seminars
Special Topics in Sociology
Sociology of the Family
Special Topics in Sociology
Working Group in Sociology
Special Topics in Sociology
Special Topics in Sociology
Family and Social Change
Introduction to Theory and Major Empirical Research in Social Demography
Applications of Economic Theory
Working Group in Sociology
Applications of Economic Theory
Working Group in Sociology
Applications of Economic Theory
Family and Social Change
Working Group in Sociology
Applications of Economic Theory
Fiat Lux Freshman Seminars
Family and Social Change
Working Group in Sociology
Applications of Economic Theory
Working Group in Sociology
Applications of Economic Theory
Working Group in Sociology
Applications of Economic Theory
Undergraduate Seminar
Introduction to Theory and Major Empirical Research in Social Demography
Working Group in Sociology
Introduction to Theory and Major Empirical Research in Social Demography
Working Group in Sociology
Proseminar: Sociology
Sociology of Family Demographic and Economic Behavior
Undergraduate Seminar
Proseminar: Sociology
Introduction to Theory and Major Empirical Research in Social Demography
Working Group in Sociology
Undergraduate Seminar
Proseminar: Sociology
Introduction to Theory and Major Empirical Research in Social Demography
Working Group in Sociology
Proseminar: Sociology
Special Topics in Sociology
Proseminar: Sociology
Special Topics in Sociology
Proseminar: Sociology
Special Topics in Sociology
Undergraduate Seminar
Introduction to Theory and Major Empirical Research in Social Demography
Undergraduate Seminar
Introduction to Theory and Major Empirical Research in Social Demography
Previous Courses by Course
Family and Social Change
2019 Spring Quarter
2014 Fall Quarter
2013 Spring Quarter
2008 Winter Quarter
2005 Fall Quarter
2004 Fall Quarter
Working Group in Sociology
2018 Fall Quarter
2018 Spring Quarter
2018 Winter Quarter
2017 Fall Quarter
2017 Spring Quarter
2017 Winter Quarter
2015 Spring Quarter
2011 Fall Quarter
2006 Spring Quarter
2006 Winter Quarter
2005 Fall Quarter
2004 Fall Quarter
2004 Spring Quarter
2004 Winter Quarter
2003 Fall Quarter
2003 Spring Quarter
2002 Winter Quarter
2001 Fall Quarter
Applications of Economic Theory: California Population Research Topical Seminar Series
2018 Spring Quarter
2017 Spring Quarter
Applications of Economic Theory: California Population Research Topical Seminar Series
California Population Research Topical Seminar Series
2018 Spring Quarter
2018 Winter Quarter
2017 Spring Quarter
2017 Winter Quarter
Sociology of Family
2014 Winter Quarter
2013 Spring Quarter
2013 Winter Quarter
Sociology of Family
2014 Winter Quarter
2013 Spring Quarter
2013 Winter Quarter
Introduction to Theory and Major Empirical Research in Social Demography
2013 Fall Quarter
2007 Winter Quarter
2003 Fall Quarter
2002 Winter Quarter
2000 Winter Quarter
Special Topics in Sociology
2012 Spring Quarter
2012 Winter Quarter
Fiat Lux Freshman Seminars
2012 Spring Quarter
2004 Fall Quarter
Sociology of the Family
2012 Winter Quarter
Sociology of the Family
2012 Winter Quarter
Special Topics in Sociology
2010 Winter Quarter
2009 Fall Quarter
Applications of Economic Theory
2006 Spring Quarter
Applications of Economic Theory
2006 Winter Quarter
Applications of Economic Theory
Applications of Economic Theory
2004 Spring Quarter
2004 Winter Quarter
Undergraduate Seminar
2003 Fall Quarter
2000 Winter Quarter
Introduction to Theory and Major Empirical Research in Social Demography
Proseminar: Sociology
2002 Spring Quarter
2001 Spring Quarter
Undergraduate Seminar
2002 Winter Quarter
Proseminar: Sociology
2002 Winter Quarter
2001 Winter Quarter
Sociology of Family Demographic and Economic Behavior
2002 Winter Quarter
Proseminar: Sociology
2001 Fall Quarter
2000 Fall Quarter
Undergraduate Seminar
2001 Fall Quarter
1999 Fall Quarter
Special Topics in Sociology
2001 Spring Quarter
Special Topics in Sociology
2001 Winter Quarter
Special Topics in Sociology