How records of life's milestones help solve cold cases, pinpoint health risks and allocate public resources

Vital records document the birth, death, marriage and divorce of every individual. A more centralized system in the US could help public health researchers better study pandemics and disease.

Paula Fomby, Professor of Sociology and Research Associate in Population Studies, University of Pennsylvania • conversation
Feb. 15, 2023 • ~10 min

US birth rates are at record lows – even though the number of kids most Americans say they want has held steady

Childbearing goals have remained remarkably consistent over the decades. What has changed is when people start their families and how many kids they end up having.

Karen Benjamin Guzzo, Professor of Sociology and Director of the Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • conversation
Jan. 12, 2023 • ~7 min

Old age isn't a modern phenomenon – many people lived long enough to grow old in the olden days, too

Nasty, brutish – but not necessarily short. Here’s how archaeologists know plenty of people didn’t die young.

Sharon DeWitte, Professor of Anthropology, University of South Carolina • conversation
Aug. 10, 2022 • ~8 min

The maximum human life span will likely increase this century, but not by more than a decade

Jeanne Calment of France died in 1997 at the age of 122 years and 164 days. That record will be broken this century, statistical models suggest.

Adrian Raftery, Boeing International Professor of Statistics and Sociology, University of Washington • conversation
Aug. 10, 2021 • ~8 min

Coronavirus: a warning to Latin America and the Caribbean to dramatically increase COVID-19 testing

A group of population experts have called on governments in Latin American and the Caribbean to urgently ramp up testing for COVID-19 before it's too late.

Marília R. Nepomuceno, Research Scientist, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research • conversation
April 8, 2020 • ~6 min

Newborn babies weigh less today – possibly due to the increased popularity of cesarean sections and induced labor

The decline in US birth weight is somewhat of a puzzle for public health researchers.

Andrea Tilstra, Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology, University of Colorado Boulder • conversation
March 11, 2020 • ~4 min

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