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September 11, 2024 | News | SPOTLIGHT

Less smoking and better education: Improving U.S. Mortality Trends

iStockphoto.com / Suriyawut Suriya

A recent study found that behavioral changes, such as a decline in smoking, and social progress, including an expansion of education, have contributed to recent improvements in U.S. mortality. Together, these two factors accounted for 65% of the improvements in mortality. The researchers also identified an increase in psychological distress as a contributing factor to the slowing of mortality improvement in the U.S. during the study period, but most of the slowing remains unexplained. more

September 10, 2024 | News | Latest Publications

Summer 2024

Find out what new publications have been released in July, August and September 2024. more

September 10, 2024 | News | New Faces at MPIDR

Welcome Sha Jiang!

MPIDR/Schulz

The Research Group Kinship Inequalities, led by Diego Alburez-Gutierrez, and the Laboratory of Population Dynamics and Sustainable Well-being, led by Emilio Zagheni, have the great pleasure of welcoming Sha Jiang as a new team member. more

September 06, 2024 | News | SPOTLIGHT

Robust improvements in cognitive health in European countries, but not in the United States

iStockphoto.com / LightFieldStudios

Cognitive impairment is a major concern for the aging population, with more than 55 million people worldwide suffering from dementia, a number expected to triple by 2050. A recent study found that compared to the United States, most European countries have shown significant improvements in average memory function among adults aged 50 and older over the past two decades. The study's findings highlight the need for further research and public health efforts to understand the reasons for cross-national differences in cognitive health trends, particularly the relatively stagnant trend in the United States. more

September 04, 2024 | News | Special Issue

"Pandemic Babies: The Covid-19 Pandemic and its Impact on Fertility and Family Dynamics" published

iStockphoto.com / DrAfter123

In the midst of the pandemic, a team from the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) organized a conference on "Pandemic Babies? The Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on fertility and family dynamics". The conference brought together more than 100 international researchers to discuss their research on the impact and consequences of the pandemic on families and fertility. The special issue of Population and Development Review, "Pandemic Babies: The Covid-19 Pandemic and Its Impact on Fertility and Family Dynamics" has now been published. more

September 03, 2024 | News

MPIDR welcomes the 2024 EDSD Cohort!

MPIDR/Wilhelm

Just this week a new cohort of 15 EDSD students is starting their classes at MPIDR. The European Doctoral School of Demography (EDSD) is an eleven-month, sponsored program that is offered every year aiming to provide students with an appropriate high-level education in demography to pursue their doctoral studies. more

September 03, 2024 | Press Release

Pandemic Childcare Burden on Mothers: Study Reveals Increased Mental Health Strain

iStockphoto.com / Portra

During the Covid-19 pandemic, parents suddenly had to cope without formal childcare, placing a significant strain on mothers in particular. A recent study from the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) examines the changes in childcare arrangements during the pandemic and how this impacted parents' mental health. Mothers who continued to be primarily responsible for childcare experienced increased stress and exhaustion during the pandemic. Fathers, on the other hand, benefited in terms of health when their partner continued to provide the majority of childcare duties. more

August 30, 2024 | News

Congratulations Xinyi Zhao

private

On August 28, 2024 Xinyi Zhao successfully defended her dissertation on "Gender inequality in academia: Opportunities and Challenges in the Era of Globalization and Digitalization" at the University of Oxford, passing the viva without any corrections. more

August 29, 2024 | News | SPOTLIGHT

Tackling Childhood Obesity Could Reduce Socioeconomic Inequalities in Adolescent Mental Health

iStockphoto.com / Dusan Stankovic

A recent study shows that reducing childhood obesity could reduce inequalities in emotional problems. Socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent mental health are also explained by the unequal distribution of childhood obesity. Children from low socioeconomic status (SES) families have more emotional problems because obesity rates are higher in this group. However, there is no evidence that obesity is more detrimental to mental health in some socioeconomic groups than in others. more

August 14, 2024 | News

Happy and Healthy Within the Family Structure

iStockphoto.com / skynesher

Our well-being partly depends on the family constellations we are embedded in. The intergenerational position is particularly decisive, a new study says. more

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The Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in Rostock is one of the leading demographic research centers in the world. It's part of the Max Planck Society, the internationally renowned German research society.