Research Themes

The NCFMR supports research efforts designed to investigate the links between family and well-being at all stages of the life course (e.g., childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, middle adulthood, and older adulthood), rendering special attention to how the consequences of family behaviors persist across the various life stages. The NCFMR emphasizes both substantive and methodological complexities that need the attention of family scholars to formulate comprehensive, powerful policy prescriptions, including: complex families; methodological and data advances; subpopulation variation (socioeconomic status, race and ethnicity, nativity status, and residence); and links between academic research and policy. NCFMR's research program focuses on several broad research questions that we believe are central to moving the field forward and improving policy effectiveness.