Research

For 60 years, the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies has been advancing the field of population research, shifting its initial focus on overpopulation to now examine timely and critical issues involving demographic shifts, resources, health, and the environment. We continue to rely strongly on a robust cadre of multi-disciplinary faculty to advance the field of population science. Although we cover an array of topics, we address some of the world’s leading population and demographic challenges by focusing our social demography and population health research in the following four research focal areas:

• Aging Societies
• Youth, Families and Social Mobility
• Work, Policy, and Well-Being
• Population Dynamics of Climate Change

The Harvard Pop Center is currently involved in numerous projects that span our focal areas and capitalize on the expertise of our wide range of faculty members.

The resources offered at the Harvard Pop Center are designed to spearhead and support interdisciplinary research. Our Research Core is a team of specialists that offers a comprehensive array of services to our faculty members, postdoctoral fellows, and affiliated researchers.

The Harvard Pop Center actively posts work-in-progress papers in the form of PDFs to our website, as well as providing a list of previously produced working papers that are available upon request.