Building on PSC’s strengths in demography and the social study of race and ethnicity, plus Penn’s targeted institutional investment, to advance work on a central issue of the 21st Century: the relationship between health and inequality this research theme covers: population composition, migration, race and ethnic identity, and health and inequality.

PSC is anchored by a long, distinguished tradition and topics are a major source of intellectual identification across fields within the PSC, as researchers who are not trained in formal demography, but who are studying fertility, marriage, family etc. are attracted to population research. Research areas include: Fertility, Family planning, and Reproductive Health and Mortality.

Addresses differences in health and social outcomes between and within populations that are functions of individual differences in the characteristics with which individuals are endowed, from genes and their phenotypic expression through family background characteristics.

PSC has a strong scientific and professional presence in international population research and is engageed to address leading challenges at the intersection of global demographic change and global health.

Two research areas connected to existing strengths, with sufficient critical mass (projects and interest) to merit special PSC support are: Population and the Environment &
“Big Data” and Population Science.