The Council on Contemporary Families held its 18th Annual Conference, Families as They Really Are: Demographics, Disparities, and Debates, on March 4-5, 2016.
Description
Two days of interactive panels and workshops provided researchers, clinicians, non-profit professionals, and journalists the opportunity to directly engage with some of the most influential family scholars in the U.S. as they discussed their research on the causes and consequences of contemporary trends in family life and their links to family policy and disparities in health and well-being over the life course. Additional highlights included flash sessions spotlighting the newest work of junior family scholars, a media workshop on effective public engagement and communication of family scholarship, a media awards luncheon, and a celebration of the recently published 2nd edition of the book Families as They Really Are (Barbara Risman and Virginia Rutter, Eds.).
Recap
Day 1: Friday March 4, 2016
Keynote Address: Same Sex Couples and Family Well-Being
Keynote Speaker: Wendy Manning, Distinguished Professor of Sociology at Bowling Green State University
Panel: Demographic Portraits of Contemporary Families
Presider: Shannon Cavanagh, University of Texas Austin
- Marcia Carlson, University of Wisconsin Madison
Recent Patterns and Implications of Non-marital Childbearing
- Kelly Raley, University of Texas Austin
Declines in Marriage: The Importance of Socioeconomic Inequality - Zhenchao Qian, Brown University
Marital Assimilation or Not? Marriage Markets, Ethnoracial Diversity,
and Marital Endogamy among U.S. Hispanics - Carla Pfeffer, University of South Carolina –
Learning from Transgender Partnerships and Families: Major Themes and Future Directions
Panel: Disparities in Family Contexts & Processes
Presider: Frank Furstenberg
- Sharon Sassler, Cornell University
Cohabitation Nation? Social Class Differences in Cohabitors’ Relationship Processes - Liana Sayer, University of Maryland
Gendered Family Structure Disparities in Leisure Time
- Daniel Carlson, Georgia State University
The Shifting Consequences of the Division of Household Labor
- Fenaba Addo, University of Wisconsin Madison
Debt, Assets, and Relationship Formation in Young Adulthood
| Day 2: Saturday, March 5, 2016 |
Keynote Address: diversitydatakids.org – Developing an Information System to Monitor Racial and Ethnic Equity in Child Health
Keynote Speaker: Dolores Acevedo-Garcia,
Samuel F. and Rose B. Gingold Professor of Human Development and Social Policy, and
Director, Institute for Child Youth and Family Policy at Brandeis University
Flash Session I: Parenting across Social Context
Presider: Corinne Reczek, The Ohio State University
- Maria Johnson, University of Delaware
- Chelsea Smith, University of Texas, Austin
Family Structure Instability and Children’s Weight Gains and Losses from Childhood into Adolescence - Zhe Zhang, The Ohio State University
The long-arm of motherhood: motherhood “penalty” for wellbeing over the life course? - Elizabeth Cozzolino, University of Texas, Austin
Jail for Child Support Nonpayment - Megan Carrol, University of Southern California
Who are Gay Fathers?
Panel: Diversity and Disparities in Families across the Life Course
Presider: Shannon Cavanagh, University of Texas Austin
- Yolanda Padilla, University of Texas Austin & Mary Held, University of Tennessee
Remittances: The Invisible Story behind Enduring Immigrant Ties - Jenifer Bratter, Rice University
The Ties That Bind across Racial Lines: A Focus on Class, Family Structure and Kin Support in Mixed-Race and Monoracial Families - Debra Umberson, University of Texas Austin
Legacy of Loss: Race Differences in Exposure to Death over the Life Course
Flash Session II: Negotiating Marital and Couple Relationships
Presider: Corinne Reczek, The Ohio State University
- Joanna Pepin, University of Maryland
- Paige Gabriel, University of Texas, Austin
- Ellyn Arevalo Steidl, University of Texas, Austin
- Rachel Donnelly, University of Texas, Austin
Childhood Adversity, Daily Stress, and Marital Strain in Same- and Different-Sex Marriages - Andrea L. Roach & Ashley E. Ermer, University of Missouri Columbia
Panel: Contemporary Debates and Family Policy
Presider: Kristi Williams, The Ohio State University
- Shawn Fremstad, Center for American Progress
Partnered but Poor: Debates on Poverty & Family Policy - Tama Leventhal, Tufts University & Robert Crosnoe, University of Texas Austin
Debating Early Childcare
- Joseph Potter, University of Texas Austin
Debates on Reproductive Health Policy (and how they intersect with family policy)
