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Karen Benjamin Guzzo
@karenguzzo.bsky.social
Demographer and Sociologist. Director of the Carolina Population Center. LEGO Karen
I wrote this new piece for The Conversation because I haven’t stopped thinking about Nolan Wells since news of his disappearance, and then his death, broke. I hope you’ll read it and share it widely. theconversation.com/white-parent...
White parents who tell their kids that race doesn’t matter are ignoring the long shadow of racism
18-year old Nolan Wells’ death in Mississippi has raised again the importance of ‘the talk’ that Black parents have with their children. But what do white parents tell their kids about race?
theconversation.com
Student debt is a life-structuring system. After surveying 1,600+ borrowers and conducting in-depth interviews, I built an interactive site showing how debt reshapes careers, families, mental health, trust, and adulthood. Take a look more-than-a-monthly-payment.daniel-anthony-colli.chatgpt.site
More Than a Monthly Payment
A mixed-methods portrait of student debt.
more-than-a-monthly-payment.daniel-anthony-colli.chatgpt.site
Student debt is more than a monthly payment. My new public research site brings together 1,810 survey records and 67 interviews on financial security, well-being, college value, and repayment. more-than-a-monthly-payment.daniel-anthony-colli.chatgpt.site #StudentDebt
Families have always been the primary caregivers for the sick, but children who act as caregivers face unique burdens and challenges. That this scenario exists is a clear sign of massive policy and structural failures.
The U.S. Relies on Family Caregivers. Millions of Them Are Kids. (Gift Article)
The modern health care system requires the work of caregiving to fall to whoever else lives in a household — even if they’re kids.
nytimes.com
I'm organizing a session on Reproductive Injustice for PAA this year. Send along all your depressing papers. I'll read them for science! ✊✊✊ higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com/POPULATIONAS...
🚨 And there we have it... Thanks to the Disclosure Avoidance Order, ACS 1-year data release is delayed. www.census.gov/newsroom/pre...
Census Bureau Releases Schedule for Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Statistics and Updates About the American Community Survey Estimates
The Census Bureau is set to release the 2025 Income, Poverty and Health Insurance statistics from the CPS ASEC.
census.gov
It's here! The @popassocamerica.bsky.social Call for Papers for its 2027 annual meeting is officially live! Lots of great topics. Start thinking about your submissions!!! paa_acgi.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT...
Get to work
ALT: Get to work
static.klipy.com
And if you're still clamoring for more discussion of low fertility & pronatalism, sign up for @hsph.harvard.edu's 2026 Maternal and Child Health Symposium, also offered hybrid, in November. hsph.harvard.edu/research/mat...
And if you're really keyed up about low fertility and pronatalism, there's a great *hybrid* conference the following week on August 20th. www.mcgill.ca/popcentre/ev...
And if you're really keyed up about low fertility and pronatalism, there's a great *hybrid* conference the following week on August 20th. www.mcgill.ca/popcentre/ev...
If you're attending #ASA2026 in NYC later this week/next week, please join us bright & early on Monday for a session on pronatalism.
If you're attending #ASA2026 in NYC later this week/next week, please join us bright & early on Monday for a session on pronatalism.
Always a hoot seeing the IFS folks twist themselves in knots trying to selectively argue the instances in which correlation doesn't equal causation since most of their arguments about family structure and outcomes are largely based on correlational evidence.
Young people can’t afford to date. The cost of living is discouraging people from even thinking about the possibility of a romantic relationship or having kids.
Gen Z Can’t Afford a First Date (Gift Article)
From $130 dinners to expensive cocktails and even exorbitant movie tickets, a crushing economy in New York City is creating a fresh barrier to love.
nytimes.com
I've been noticing how @washingtonpost.com has been running a ton of opinion pieces opposing taxation of the super-rich. (Go figure.) So I wrote about it.
Does the Washington Post want democracy to die in darkness?
Its publishers appear to be rooting for the oligarchs.
motherjones.com
This is what happens when you simultaneously gut reproductive health and the safety net.
Mississippi recorded an infant mortality rate of 9.7 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2024, the highest the state has seen in more than a decade, according to the Mississippi State Department of Health.
Blanche’s remarks “go far beyond the actions on abortion he promised during his confirmation hearing. They also conflict with promises President Donald Trump made on the campaign trail to keep the federal government from enforcing restrictions on the pills.”
Blanche assures anti-abortion supporters that Dobbs will be ‘permanent in every single state’
The acting attorney general made the remarks during a private call with faith leaders.
politico.com
I have detailed notes, if anyone is interested...
We told you the new Disclosure Avoidance Order would lead to less data, less privacy, or both. Today at Joint Statistical Mtgs we learned which one. Confidentiality protections in Title 13 are non-negotiable, & accuracy is now high priority, so... less data Details TBD Expect a blog from Census soon
Research on immigration flows can point to complex, heterogeneous effects. But in research on increased immigration _enforcement_, negative social consequences are pretty much the rule. Arrests, detentions, and deportations make everyone worse off.
This paper shows that immigration enforcement can _increase_ crime. Undocumented immigrants already have the lowest crime rate, but tough-on-immigration policy makes immigrants less likely to report crime. So immigration enforcement worsens the problem it was ostensibly meant to solve
In 1995, among women 40-49, 64% w/ a PhD had ever married & had kids. In 2024, that share had risen to 78%. No changes b/w 2024 & 1995 among those w/ a 4 yr degree, at 75%. In 1995, among women 40-49 w/ just a HS degree, 85% had ever married & had kids. In 2024, that share had fallen to 69%.
Jesse Waters is such a vile misogynist. What a loser.
An Atlanta-area police chief accessed Flock cameras 500 times to track the movements of his ex-girlfriend and her teenage daughter. At least 50 cops have been similarly charged with misusing Flock "including to stalk women without their knowledge or consent"
How rogue officers turned a nationwide camera network into a tool for stalking
Flock’s array of license-plate cameras was built to fight crime. But at least 50 law enforcement officers were charged with or accused of misusing it and other systems.
wapo.st
Getting some money to aid groups is good, but it’s not nearly enough, especially when most of the money allocated by Congress is likely to go unspent or repurposed for other uses by Vought/OMB.
U.S. Restores Some Vaccine and Health Aid to Unicef, Gavi and World Food Programme (Gift Article)
The amount is still far below what the U.S. spent previously on humanitarian and health aid, but resumes the flow of money for key efforts to fight malnutrition and disease.
nytimes.com
If The Odyssey has got you into a Greek myth phase, let me recommend Circe (and other books) by Madeline Miller. madelinemiller.com/circe/
Teaching grad Family Sociology this fall. What are the best papers you’ve read in the past two years? Self-noms welcome! Any topic, geographic context, etc.
Greys Anatomy: Kathleen Shepherd (Amy Acker)
ALT: Greys Anatomy: Kathleen Shepherd (Amy Acker)
static.klipy.com
NIH is hosting a webinar on August 14th to "clarify the [Unified Funding Strategy's] rationale, goals, and implementation across NIH; address misconceptions; and help foster communication between NIH staff and applicants, recipients, researchers, and the wider research community."
NOT-OD-26-099: NIH Webinar: You're Invited: A Conversation on NIH's Unified Funding Strategy
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: NIH Webinar: You're Invited: A Conversation on NIH's Unified Funding Strategy NOT-OD-26-099. NIH
grants.nih.gov
I collected cool new pilot data, and I'd really like to spend some time playing with it, but instead I have to do admin work and should probably finished my in-progress stuff first. Being responsible is stupid.
Man Says 'I Want To Play'
ALT: Man Says 'I Want To Play'
static.klipy.com
Did Minnesota attack the *other* states who've been hit? 🤔
Hackers targeted municipal water systems in 7 states this week, FBI says
The federal warning comes after more than 30 water facilities in Minnesota were breached.
nbcnews.com
Trump: "We heard in Minnesota there was a cyberattack and they blame it on Iran. I don't think so. I blame it on Minnesota because they're grossly incompetent. Iran's got bigger problems than worrying about Minnesota."
I wrote last year about the US Administration's plans to eviscerate Optional Practical Training, America's largest single source of global STEM talent: www.piie.com/blogs/realti... That came to pass. The White House is sharpening its tools to shatter OPT, and thus kneecap many US universities.
Exclusive | U.S. Weighs $100,000 Fee for Foreign Students Wanting to Work After Graduation
The proposed policy would particularly affect Silicon Valley, Wall Street and universities.
wsj.com
“[The] historical logic of workplace feminization…goes something like this: A job gets worse in some way — say, it pays less or becomes more grueling or monotonous or generally less prestigious — at which point men become less interested in doing it. Employers then turn to women to fill the ranks.”
In Trump’s Economy, Job Gains Go to Women. That’s Not an Entirely Good Thing. (Gift Article)
Despite the administration’s best attempts, the diminishing status of many American jobs is driving a spike in women’s employment.
nytimes.com
Incompetence is par for the course with this administration.
U.S. Government Mislabels Map of African Countries at AIDS Conference (Gift Article)
Nigeria, a coastal country in western Africa, was landlocked in the Sahara, among other errors. The department said it had been “hastily altered.”
nytimes.com