Demography of Social Stratification

Issues pertaining to social stratification are increasingly considered in demographic research. In recent studies of morbidity and mortality, for example, education, income, and occupation typically have substantially large net effects (e.g., Cambois, Robine, and Hayward 2001; Duleep 1989; Gortmaker and Wise 1997; Johnson, Sorlie, and Backlund 1999; Mare 1990; Rogers 1992; Ross and Mirowsky 1999; Ross and Wu 1995). Similarly, studies of fertility frequently refer to education and other variables pertaining to social class (e.g., Li and Choe 1997; Kohler, Behrman, and Watkins 2001; Powers and Hsueh 1997)—or at least to socioeconomic considerations involved in labor force participation, child-care costs, and economic opportunity costs (e.g., Blau and Robins 1989; Borg 1989). Socioeconomic motives and consequences are also important issues in demographic research on immigration and migration (e.g., Boyle et al. 2001; Oropesa and Landale 2000; Reed 2001). A recent presidential address to the Population Association of America focused provocatively on socioeconomic inequality and concomitant social problems (Massey 1996). The address was published in Demography along with the commentaries of noted experts in the demography of social stratification (Danziger 1996; Farley 1996; Hout,