Pamela J Smock

Pamela J Smock

Professor of Sociology, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts and Research Professor, Population Studies Center, Institute for Social Research

BIO

Pamela Smock is Professor of Sociology and Research Professor at the Population Studies Center. Her research interests lie at the intersection of demography and inequality. Her research focuses on changing family patterns in the U.S., the economic consequences of divorce and marriage for women and men, cohabitation, nonresident fatherhood, single-mother families, the motherhood wage penalty, and social class and racial-ethnic variation in family patterns.

Professor Smock’s work has been published in leading sociology and demography journals including American Sociological ReviewAnnual Review of Sociology, DemographyJournal of Marriage and Family and Social Forces. Currently, Professor Smock is examining the intersection of relationship biographies, including older life-long single adults, and late-life economic well-being – and the role of the structure of Social Security benefits in maintaining economic disparities. Another recent project uses an intersectional lens to examine the economic fallout of family disruption for Latinx, white, and Black men and women (see paper here) forthcoming in Journal of Family and Economic Issues).

Smock has served as Editor-in-Chief of Demography, the flagship journal of the Population Association of America, and Deputy Editor of Journal of Marriage and Family. She was  President of the Association of Population Centers and has held other elected positions in the Population Association of America and the American Sociological Association. Dr. Smock is an elected member of the honorary society Sociological Research Association.

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