Daniel Carlson is an associate professor of Family and Consumer Studies at the University of Utah. He is a sociologist and family demographer whose research focuses on the consequences of the Second Demographic Transition (SDT) for social inequalities across race, class, and gender and the utility of work-family policies in reducing these inequalities.
He is currently conducting a National Science Foundation funded study examining changes in parents’ divisions of labor during the COVID-19 pandemic. This 5-year survey-based panel study, which began in April 2020, aims not only to demonstrate how the pandemic affected parents’ engagement in paid work and unpaid domestic labor but also the long-term consequences of these changes for parents’ well-being and gender equality broadly.
Dr. Carlson’s research has been published in academic journals such as Gender & Society, Journal of Marriage and Family, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Men & Masculinities, and Journal of Social Policy and featured in media outlets like The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Time, and the Atlantic. He is deputy editor of Journal of Marriage and Family and a member of the board of directors for the Council on Contemporary Families.