Congratulations to the recipients of the Penn Arts & Sciences Making a Difference in Global Communities and Klein Family Social Justice Grants. The Population Studies Center (PSC) and Population Aging Research Center (PARC) researchers who received the grants include Hans-Peter Kohler (PSC/PARC), Diverse Global Communities and Local Resource Allocation; Emilio A. Parrado (PSC/PARC), Reducing Inequalities in College Access in Latinx Communities in Philadelphia; Angela Duckworth (PSC), Diversity and Equity Initiative (DivE In) for the Mind Sciences; Morgan Hoke (PSC), Community Assessment of Race-Related Experience of Stress for Black Mothers.
Hans-Peter Kohler (PSC/PARC Research Associate) was interviewed on the KYW News Radio In Depth podcast about the consequences of declining birth rates in the United States.
Hans-Peter Kohler (PSC/PARC Research Associate) was interviewed on Smart Talk (WTIF), a regional radio program, about the relationship between population growth, fertility rates, and economic impacts. Tune in at 31:20 to listen to the discussion.
New Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC): Kämpfen, Fabrice, Fatima Zahra, Hans-Peter Kohler, and Rachel Kidman. 2021. "The Effects of Negative Economic Shocks at Birth on Adolescents’ Cognitive Health and Educational Attainment in Malawi." University of Pennsylvania Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC), 2021-67.
New Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC): Kohler, Iliana, Fabrice Kämpfen, Alberto Ciancio, James Mwera, Victor Mwapasa, and Hans-Peter Kohler. 2021. "Curtailing COVID-19 on a Dollar-a-Day in Malawi: Implications for the Ongoing Pandemic." University of Pennsylvania Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC), 2021-66.
A new LDI/PARC Research Brief on a recent study by Alberto Ciancio, Fabrice Kämpfen, Hans-Peter Kohler, and Iliana Kohler looking at the health effects of blood pressure screenings for adults in rural Malawi. The PARC team found that adults with elevated blood pressure who were referred to a health care provider were 22 percentage points less likely to have hypertension four years later. They also reported better subjective mental health and were more likely to be taking blood pressure medication. The study has a number of important implications for health screenings and population health management in rural and low-income countries.
The Population Aging Research Center, Norma B. Coe, and Hans-Peter Kohler were featured in a Penn Today profile piece.
Hans-Peter Kohler (PSC/PARC Research Associate), Iliana Kohler (PSC/PARC Research Associate), and Fabrice Kämpfen (PSC/PARC Postdoctoral Researcher) were featured in a Penn Today article about their research which focuses on how mental health has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
New Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC): Agarwal, Neha, Hans-Peter Kohler, and Subha Mani. 2020. "Path Dependence in Disability." University of Pennsylvania Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC), 2020-57.
Hans-Peter Kohler (PSC/PARC Research Associate) is part of a new research project, funded by National Institutes of Health, and in collaboration with the Columbia University Health Sciences and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. The project entitled, Changing Lives, Changing Brains: How Modern Family and Work Life Influence ADRD Risks, uses Norwegian register data to study family and work life influences on cognition. The aim is to help to identify "sensitive periods'' over the life course and how they mediate genetic risks of cognitive decline and ADRD.
The Population Aging Research Center (PARC) received renewed funding from the National Institute on Aging (NIA)! Read the announcement from new Co-PI's Hans-Peter Kohler and Norma B. Coe.
New Population Center Work Paper (PSC/PARC): Amin, Vikesh, Jere Behrman, Jason Fletcher, Carlos Flores, Alfonso Flores-Lagunes, and Hans-Peter Kohler. 2020. "Genetic Risks, Adolescent Health and Schooling Attainment." University of Pennsylvania Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC), 2020-49.
New Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC): Ciancio, Alberto, Fabrice Kämpfen, Iliana Kohler, Daniel Bennett, Wändi Bruine de Bruin, Jill Darling, Arie Kapteyn, Jürgen Maurer, and Hans-Peter Kohler. 2020. "Know Your Epidemic, Know Your Response: COVID-19 in the United States." University of Pennsylvania Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC), 2020-44.
New Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC): Batyra, Ewa, Hans-Peter Kohler, and Frank Furstenberg. 2020. "Changing Gender Gaps in the Timing of Partnership Formation in Sub-Saharan Africa." University of Pennsylvania Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC), 2020-43.
CGTN's Sean Callebs spoke to Hans-Peter Kohler (PSC/PARC Research Associate) about the economic impact of slowing population growth.
New Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC): Ciancio, Alberto, Fabrice Kämpfen, Hans-Peter Kohler, and Iliana Kohler. 2020. "Health Screening for Emerging Disease Burdens Among the Global Poor." University of Pennsylvania Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC), 2020-41.
Revised and updated Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC): Amin, Vikesh, Jere Behrman, Jason Fletcher, Carlos Flores, Alfonso Flores-Lagunes, and Hans-Peter Kohler. 2019. "Mental Health, Schooling Attainment and Polygenic Scores: Are There Significant Gene-Environment Associations?." University of Pennsylvania Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC), 2020-24.
New Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC): Ciancio, Alberto, Adeline Delavande, Hans-Peter Kohler, and Iliana Kohler. 2020. "Mortality Risk Information, Survival Expectations and Sexual Behaviors." University of Pennsylvania Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC), 2020-39.
New Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC): Kohler, Iliana, Chiwoza Bandawe, Alberto Ciancio, Fabrice Kämpfen, Collin Payne, James Mwera, James Mkandawire, and Hans-Peter Kohler. 2020. "The Mature Adults Cohort of the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health (MLSFH-MAC)." University of Pennsylvania Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC), 2020-33.
New Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC): Myroniuk, Tyler, Hans-Peter Kohler, and Iliana Kohler. 2020. "Marital Dissolutions and Changes in Mental Health: Evidence from Rural Malawi." University of Pennsylvania Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC), 2020-32.
Hans-Peter Kohler is quoted in a Popular Science article entitled, "Why a Decline in U.S. Birth Rates Could Actually Help Our Economy."
New Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC): Castro Torres, Andrés, Luca Maria Pesando, Hans-Peter Kohler, and Frank Furstenberg. 2019. "Family Change and Variation Through the Lens of Family Configurations in Low- and Middle-Income Countries." University of Pennsylvania Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC), 2019-31.
New Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC): Amin, Vikesh, Jere Behrman, Jason Fletcher, Carlos Flores, Alfonso Flores-Lagunes, and Hans-Peter Kohler. 2019. "Mental Health, Schooling Attainment and Polygenic Scores: Are There Significant Gene-Environment Associations?." University of Pennsylvania Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC), 2019-24.
Hans-Peter Kohler was quoted in a Time Magazine article about reasons for the declining birth rates in the country.
U.S. fertility rates are at an all-time low, partially due to delayed parenthood, increased childlessness, fewer unplanned teenage pregnancies, and declines in immigration. As explained by Hans-Peter Kohler, Pilar Gonalons-Pons, and Emilio Alberto Parrado in Penn Today, the drop isn’t cause for alarm but does bring to light questions about work, family, and immigration policies that can affect population growth.
Hans-Peter Kohler, PSC & PARC research associate, discusses the recent decline in U.S. birth rates on a Marketplace podcast. “At the level we are observing it in the U.S., it is not a problem. If the U.S. had South Korean, Japanese, or Italian fertility rates, arguably, the pressure to do something about this might be higher,” says Kohler.
PSC researcher, Hans-Peter Kohler, was quoted in a Washington Post article about his work on fertility, birthrates, and the shift in US birthrates among teens and young adults.
In a recent edition of The Nation, a prominent Malawi newspaper, Chiwoza Bandawe wrote about the Mental Health of Malawi's Mature Adults and the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health research project, headed by Iliana and Hans-Peter Kohler.
Hans-Peter Kohler of the School of Arts and Sciences is interviewed on PBS Newshour on the downward trend in the birthrate despite improved economic conditions. Watch interview here. This interview was also quoted in the Associated Press (AP).
LDI Senior Fellows Douglas Wiebe and Mitesh Patel of the Perelman School of Medicine and Hans-Peter Kohler of the School of Arts and Sciences are using pilot grants to test concepts ranging from the support of Philadelphia's effort to launch the first safe injection site to the effect of survival perceptions on HIV patients and the change of physician behavior. Read LDI article here.
Global Family Change: Persistent Diversity with Development, authored by Luca Maria Pesando, Andrés Castro, Hans-Peter Kohler, Frank Furstenberg and other international collaborators, was posted today in the PSC Working Paper Series. Read the abstract and paper here.
During the past 20 years, Hans-Peter Kohler of the School of Arts and Sciences has investigated how social, epidemiological and demographic factors affect people in Malawi. His is a rare example of a longitudinal study focused on a population in a low-income nation that has had to confront stressors like famine and AIDS. Read the Omnia article here.
This week Victor Mwapasa and Chiwoza Bandawe from the University of Malawi College of Medicine visited the University of Pennsylvania. Hans-Peter and Iliana Kohler have written with Victor and Chiwoza about the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health for several years. The group's research has focused on the relationship between HIV prevalance, transmission and disclosure and family health. Recently Hans-Peter, Iliana, Chiwoza, and Colin Payne authored a paper about the Demography of Mental Health Among Mature Adults in a Low-Income, High-HIV-Prevalence Context. This summer a team of researchers including Penn PhD students went to Malawi to train and do data collection. The collaborators will meet on Friday to discuss current research and the PSC coud not be more pleased to host them.
Global Family Change
A few weeks ago Hans-Peter Kohler (PI) and Frank Furstenberg (Co-PI) embarked on a journey to better understand the complex ways in which families are changing across the world. Global Family Change (GFC) is an NSF funded project that will explore how families change on a global scale and will build a wealth of data to share. If you weren't able to make it to Luca Maria Pesando's, talk "Global Family Change: The Reshaping of Society's Most Fundamental Institution with Development" last week you are in luck! The presentation, followed by a lively discussion, is now available on our YouTube channel.
Tukufu Zuberi, Emilio Parrado and Hans-Peter Kohler are quoted in a new Omnia article: "The Past, Present, and Future of Human Migration."
Hans-Peter Kohler and Philip Anglewicz are mentioned in UNAIDS about their journal article Migration and HIV Infection in Malawi.
New Working Paper: Payne, C.F., I.V. Kohler, C. Bandawe, K. Lawler, and H.-P. Kohler. 2016. "Cognitive Health among Older Adults: Evidence from Rural Sub-Saharan Africa." University of Pennsylvania Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC) WP2016-3.
Hans-Peter Kohler's work on social networks in Malawi is mentioned in a recent Penn Current article about his newly funded Gates Foundation work in India with Cristina Bicchieri.
New PSC/PARC Working Paper: Sudharsanan, N., J.R. Behrman, and H.-P. Kohler. 2016. "Limited Common Origins of Multiple Adult Health-Related Behaviors: Evidence from U.S. Twins." University of Pennsylvania Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC) WP2016-2.
New PSC/PARC Working Paper: "Effects of Birth Control Policies on Women’s Age at First Birth in China" by Menghan Zhao and Hans-Peter Kohler
Population Association of America 2016 Nominations include: Presidential nomination for Irma T. Elo, Nomination Committee nomination for Hans-Peter Kohler, and Board of Directors nomination for former graduate Quincy Stewart ('01).
Hans-Peter Kohler was recently quoted in a New York Times article about women waiting to have children.
Hans-Peter Kohler and Susan C. Watkins are mentioned in a Penn Current article discussing two decades worth of research on AIDS in Malawi.
A new study from Hans-Peter Kohler finds that AIDS treatment even benefits people in Malawi who are not infected and not taking the medicine.
Hans-Peter Kohler is quoted in a Penn News article about how AIDS treatment benefits people without HIV/AIDS.
Hans-Peter Kohler and Jere R. Behrman's work informing UN global sustainable development goals is featured in the new Penn SAS magazine Omnia.
New Working Paper: Castanheira, Helena Cruz and Hans-Peter Kohler. 2015. "It is Lower Than You Think it is: Recent Total Fertility Rates in Brazil and Possibly Other Latin American Countries." PSC Working Paper Series, WPS 15-5.
In July, Hans-Peter Kohler presented in the UK House of Lords in an event organized by the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on Population, Development and Reproductive Health (APPG). The event was a celebration of the 2015 World Population Day and the release of the 2015 APPG Report on Population Dynamics and the Sustainable Development Goals.
He is cited in the report (p. 35), which is now available: Population Dynamics and the Sustainable Development Goals
Hans-Peter Kohler (in collaboration with Ayesha Kharsany at the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa [CAPRISA]), recently received a 5yr NIH R01 Grant for "Identifying sources of HIV infection in adolescent girls in rural South Africa". The aim of this project is to utilize an innovative approach to identify networks of HIV transmission, combining extensive epidemiologic sampling with phylogenetic analyses of HIV-1 sequence data and traditional sexual networking methods. Insights into the sexual networking patterns driving high HIV incidence in adolescent girls in rural South Africa could be critical for informing future design of HIV prevention interventions.
Hans-Peter Kohler and recent graduate Thomas Anderson's forthcoming Population and Development Review article on gender values and fertility in Asia is featured in The Economist.
New PSC Working Paper: Anglewicz, Philip, Mark VanLandingham, Lucinda Manda-Taylor, and Hans-Peter Kohler. 2015. "Cohort Profile: The Migration and Health in Malawi (MHM) Study." PSC Working Paper Series, WPS 15-4.
New PSC Working Paper: Anderson, Thomas and Hans-Peter Kohler. 2015. "Demographic Transition Revisited: Low Fertility, Socioeconomic Development, and Gender Equity." PSC Working Paper Series, PSC 15-3.
New PSC Working Paper: Kohler, Iliana V., Collin F. Payne, Chiwoza Bandawe, and Hans-Peter Kohler. 2015. "The Demography of Mental Health Among Mature Adults in a Low-Income High HIV-Prevalence Context." PSC Working Paper Series, PSC 15-1.
Hans-Peter Kohler and Jere R. Behrman have been involved in the Copenhagen Consensus Project: Post-2015 Consensus and have contributed this paper: Population and Demography Assessment Paper.
Hans-Peter Kohler and Thomas Anderson's research on South Korean fertility published in Asian Population Studies was cited in the Washington Post.
Hans-Peter Kohler is quoted in a September 6, 2013 New York Times article about the fertility rate in the United States.
Collin Payne and Hans-Peter Kohler's research with J. Mkandawire in PLOS Medicine (also see the article discussion) has been featured in an interview on Voice of America and in a Voice of America news article and has appeared in the Penn Current.
New PSC Working Paper: Fedor, Theresa M., Hans-Peter Kohler, and Jere R. Behrman. 2013. "The Impact of Married Individuals Learning HIV Status in Malawi: Divorce, Number of Sexual Partners, Condom Use with Spouses." PSC Working Paper Series, PSC 13-02.
New PSC Working Paper: Kohler, Hans-Peter, Stéphane Helleringer, Jere R. Behrman and Susan C. Watkins. 2013. "The Social and the Sexual: Networks in Contemporary Demographic Research." PSC Working Paper Series, PSC 13-01.
New PSC Working Paper: Kohler, Iliana V., Philip Anglewicz, Hans-Peter Kohler, John F. McCabe, Ben Chilima and Beth J. Soldo. 2012. "Evaluating Health and Disease in Sub-Saharan Africa: Minimally Invasive Collection of Plasma in the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health (MLSFH)." PSC Working Paper Series, PSC 12-05.
New PSC Working Paper: Kohler, Hans-Peter. 2012. "Copenhagen Consensus 2012: Challenge Paper on "Population Growth."" PSC Working Paper Series, PSC 12-03.
Now available: Myrskylä, Mikko, Hans-Peter Kohler and Francesco Billari. 2011. "High Development and Fertility: Fertility at Older Reproductive Ages and Gender Equality Explain the Positive Link." Population Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania, PSC Working Paper Series, PSC 11-06.
Hans-Peter Kohler and Jere R. Behrman participated in the Rethink HIV project by the Copenhagen Consensus Center and the Rush Foundation that focused on identifying effective interventions in the fight against HIV/Aids across sub-Saharan Africa. Their assessment paper for the prevention of the sexual transmission of HIV was the basis of the policy recommendations in this area.
Now Available: Delavande, Adeline and Hans-Peter Kohler. 2011. "HIV/AIDS-related Expectations and Risky Sexual Behavior in Malawi." PSC Working Paper Series, PSC 11-04.
Hans-Peter Kohler has been named the Frederick J. Warren Professor of Demography in the School of Arts and Sciences. See the Almanac article here.
Hans-Peter Kohler and Sam Preston are both cited in "The Only Child: Debunking the Myths" in TIME on July 8, 2010.
Hans-Peter Kohler's research on happiness and parenting was mentioned in the New York Magazine article, "All Joy and No Fun: Why parents hate parenting," on July 4, 2010.
The paper by Hans-Peter Kohler, Mikko Myrskylä, and Francesco Billari is discussed in an article entitled "Bending the Population Curve," in the latest issue of the Pennsylvania Gazette Nov/Dec 2009.
An article in SAS Frontiers, "A New Baby Boom?" discusses the paper by Hans-Peter Kohler, Mikko Myrskylä, and Francesco Billari.
"Advances in development reverse fertility declines," a paper by Mikko Myrskylä, Hans-Peter Kohler, and Francesco C. Billari has just been published in Nature. Also see the commentary "Demography: Babies make a comeback" by Shripad Tuljapurkar, the Editor's Summary of their research findings, and the Nature Podcast on burgeoning birth rates.
New Book Announcement: Engelhardt, Henriette, Hans-Peter Kohler, Alexia Fürnkranz-Prskawetz, Eds. 2009. Causal Analysis in Population Studies Concepts, Methods, Applications. The Springer Series on Demographic Methods and Population Analysis, Vol. 23. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.