Christine Percheski
Assistant Professor of Sociology and Institute for Policy Research Faculty Fellow, Northwestern University
Northwestern University
1810 Chicago Avenue
Evanston, Illinois 60208
(847) 491-2697
Expertise & Civic Involvements
Percheski’s research focuses on American families and the ways family life is changing, including recent increases in unmarried parenthood and the rise of new employment patterns among mothers and fathers. Much of her work considers how changes in family life affect poverty, income inequality, and access to health insurance for children and adults. She asks how public policies should adapt to changes in American families.
SSN Briefs
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Co-Authored with Ann Orloff, SSN Basic Facts, July 2012
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Co-Authored with Christopher Wildeman, SSN Key Findings, March 2012
Key Publications
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"Income Inequality: New Trends and Research Directions" (with ). Annual Review of Sociology 36, no. 1 (2010): 329-47. Reviews what scholars know about increasing income gaps in American society.
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"Inequality among American Families with Children: 1975-2005" (with ). American Sociological Review 73, no. 6 (2008): 903-920. Income inequality among American families with children increased tremendously over the past three decades, but the rise in single-parent families is not the culprit.
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"Opting Out? Cohort Differences in Professional Women’s Employment Rates from 1960 to 2005" American Sociological Review 73, no. 3 (2008): 497-517. Today’s college-educated professional women are working more than ever before, contrary to many stories in the media that suggest women are leaving the boardroom for the nursery.
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"Becoming a Dad: Employment Trajectories of Married, Cohabiting, and Non-resident Fathers" (with ). Social Science Quarterly 89, no. 2 (2008): 482-501. Compares work hours of married and unmarried fathers with a new baby, and finds that unmarried fathers work as much as married fathers by the time of the child’s fifth birthday.
Media Contributions
- Christine Percheski's research on female voters cited in "Man Winning Most Married Moms Poised for White House," Bloomberg News, June 25, 2012.
- "Marriage Stable despite Sense of Shifting Values," Interview with Eight Forty-Eight, Chicago Public Radio (WBEZ), July 20, 2011.
Talks and Briefings
- "Family Characteristics and Economic Well-Being in the U.S.: Comparing the Recent Recession with the Recessions of the Early 1980s," International Sociological Association Research Committee on Social Stratification (RC28), August 1, 2011.
- "Family Complexity, Children’s Health Insurance Coverage, and Access to Quality Health Care," (with Sharon Bzostek), Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, November 1, 2010.
- "Welfare Reform and Economic Inequality among American Families," Eastern Sociological Society, March 1, 2010.
- "Rising Numbers of Uninsured Adults: The Role of Changes in American Families," Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, November 1, 2009.
- "Marriage Advantages, Child Costs: Family Structure and Income Inequality among American Women across Birth Cohorts," Population Association of America Annual Meeting, April 1, 2009.