Kimberly McErlean studies inequalities in family life at the intersection of social class, gender, work, and public policy, typically leveraging dyadic, longitudinal, and comparative quantitative research methods. Her research has been published in the Journal of Marriage and Family, Demography, Socius, and Demographic Research, among other outlets. One stream of her research examines how gendered household and labor market dynamics shape family formation, dissolution, and other related outcomes. Another research stream examines how family transitions shape the gendered division of labor and other outcomes related to economic and social well-being. Kimberly has a particular interest in understanding how and why these family and gendered dynamics are socially stratified within and across different country contexts.
Kimberly’s future research will continue to investigate the causes and consequences of gender and class inequality in families. One set of projects will take a historical perspective to understand trends in family diversity in the United States, examining the drivers of these trends at both the individual and population level. Another set of projects will continue her comparative work across the life course of couples, using gendered life course trajectories to predict health and well-being outcomes across different contexts.