Education
Ph.D., Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1976
Research Focus
American children's use of time, work and family, research methods, fathers and fathering, and family policy
Current Grant
NICHD: Family Processes, Intergenerational Learning, and Involved Fathering
Courses
FMSC 610 Research Methods in Family Science
FMSC 698P Methods for Policy Research on Families
FMSC 698S Analysis of Family Systems and Dysfunction
FMSC 700 Applications of Advanced Quantitative Methods to Family Research
Career Highlights
- Author/editor of 5 books, including Handbook of Measurement Issues in Family Research, Children at the millennium: Where have we come from, where are we going? (2001), Caring for children in low-income families (1993), The National Child Care Survey, 1990 (1991), and Risking the future: Adolescent sexuality, pregnancy and childrearing (1987).
- Author of more than 100 articles and book chapters, with publications in such journals as Journal of Marriage and the Family, Population Research and Policy Review, Child Development, Journal of Policy Analysis & Management, Journal of Family Issues, Demography, Social Science Quarterly, Pediatrics, Work and Occupations, and Young Children.
- Author of grants and contracts totaling over $7 million, including research on child care and welfare reform.
- Recipient of College (HLHP) Research and Development Award, 2005.
- Testified three times on Capitol Hill during the Congressional debates on child care legislation and welfare reform.
- Former Co-Director of the Michigan Panel Study of Income Dynamics and founding Director of its Child Development Supplement, 1994-2001.
- Senior Research Associate at the Urban Institute in Washington, DC (1977-1983, 1988-1994), directing the National Child Care Survey (1990), and collaborating on A Profile of Child Care Settings.
- Health Scientist Administrator at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 1983-1988.
- Recipient of the Jensen Lectureship (1991-92), jointly sponsored by the American Sociological Association and Duke University, for research contributing to the goal of providing social action with a more rational grounding in tested knowledge.
- Past Board Member and Finance Committee Chair of the Population Association of America, and past Chair of the Sociology of Children Section of the American Sociological Association.
- Faculty Associate, Maryland Population Research Center.
Selected Publications
Hofferth, S., Kinney, D., & Dunn, J. (in press). The hurried child: Myth vs. reality. Life Balance: Biological, Psychological, and Sociological Perspectives on Lifestyle and Health.
Hofferth, S.; Welk, G.; Treuth, M.; Randolph, S.; Curtin., S.; & Valliant, R. (in press). Validation of a diary measure of children’s physical activities. Sociological Methodology.
Goldscheider, F., Hofferth, S., Spearin, C., & Curtin, S. (in press). Fatherhood across two cohorts: Factors affecting early family roles. Journal of Family Issues.
Pinzon-Rondon, A., & Hofferth. S. (in press). Children working in the streets of Colombian Cities: Different pathways to the street lead to different populations, Children and Youth Services Review.
Brandon, P., Hogan, D., & Hofferth, S. (in press). Do disabilities in former TANF families hasten their returns to cash assistance? Social Science Research.
S. Hofferth, S. & Casper, L. (Eds.). (2007). Handbook of measurement issues in family research. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Hofferth, S., Cabrera, N., Carlson, M., Coley, R.L., Day, R., & Schindler, H. (2007). Resident father involvement and social fathering. Hofferth S. & Casper, L. (Eds.), Handbook of measurement issues in family research (pp. 335-374). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Hofferth, S.L. (2006). Men’s involvement in the family. In Encyclopedia of Sociology, Ritzer, G. & Bianchi, S. (Eds.).
Hofferth, S. L. (2006). Response bias in a popular indicator of reading to children. Sociological Methodology 36, 301-315.
Ryan, Suzanne, Jennifer Manlove, & Hofferth, Sandra. (2006). State-level welfare policies and nonmarital subsequent childbearing. Population Research and Policy Review 25(1), 103-126.
Hofferth, S.L. (2006). Residential father family type and child well-being: Investment versus selection. Demography 43, 53-77.
Hofferth, S.L., & Curtin, S. (2006). Parental leave statutes and maternal return to work after childbirth in the United States. Work and Occupations 33, 73-105.
Hofferth, S.L. (2005). Secondary data analysis in family research. Journal of Marriage and Family 67, 891-907.
Hofferth, S.L. & Curtin, S.A. (2005). Leisure Time Activities in Middle Childhood. In What Do Children Need to Flourish? Conceptualizing and Measuring Indicators of Positive Development, L. Lippman & K. Moore (eds). Springer Science & Business Publishers, 2005.
Sandberg, J.F. & Hofferth, S. (2005). Changes in children’s time with parents: A correction. Demography 42, 391-395.
Hofferth, S. & Curtin, S. (2005). Poverty, food programs and childhood obesity. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 24, 703-726.
Hofferth, S., Stanhope, S., & Harris, K.M. (2005). Remaining off welfare in the 1990s: The influence of public policy and economic conditions. Social Science Research 34(2), 426-453.
Duncan, G. J., Hofferth, S. L., & Stafford, F. P. (2004). Evolution and change in family income, wealth, and health: The Panel Study of Income Dynamics, 1968-2000 and Beyond. In J. S. House, F. T. Juster, R. L. Kahn, H. Schuman, & E. Singer (Eds.), A telescope on society: Survey research & social science at the University of Michigan and beyond (pp. 156-193). Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.
Hofferth, S. L. (2003). The American family: Changes and challenges for the 21st century. In H. Wallace, G. Green, & K. Jaros (Eds.), Health and welfare for families in the 21st century (pp. 71-79). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.
Roth, J., Brooks-Gunn, J., Linver, M., & Hofferth, S. (2003). What happens during the school day?: Time diaries from a national sample of elementary school teachers. Teachers College Record 105(3), 317-343.
Hofferth, S. (2003). Race/ethnic differences in father involvement in two-parent families: Culture, context, or economy. Journal of Family Issues 24(2), 185-216.
Brandon, P., & Hofferth, S. (2003). Determinants of out-of-school child care arrangements among children in single-mother and two-parent families. Social Science Research, 32, 129-147.
Hofferth, S., & Anderson, K. G. (2003). Are all dads equal? Biology versus marriage as basis for paternal investment. Journal of Marriage and Family, 65, 213-232.
Hofferth, S., Stanhope, S., & Harris, K. M. (2002). Exiting welfare in the 1990s: Did public policy influence recipients' behavior? Population Research and Policy Review, 21, 433-472.
Hofferth, S. L. (2002). Did welfare reform work? Implications for 2002 and beyond. Contexts: Understanding People in their Social Worlds, 1, 45-51.
Hofferth, S. L., & Reid, L. (2002). Early childbearing and children's achievement and behavior over time. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health (formerly Family Planning Perspectives), 34, 41-49.
Hofferth, S. L., Reed, L., & Mott, F. (2002). The effects of early childbearing on schooling over time. Family Planning Perspectives, 33, 259-267.
Hofferth, S. L., Pleck, J., Stueve, J. F., Bianchi, S., & Sayer, L. (2002). The demography of fathers: What fathers do. In C. Tamis-LeMonda & N. Cabrera (Eds.), Handbook of father involvement. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Hofferth, S. L., & Sandberg, J. F. (2001). Changes in children's time with parents, U.S., 1981-1997. Demography, 38, 423-436.
Hofferth, S. L. (2001). Women's employment and care of children in the United States. In L. van Dijk & T. van der Lippe (Eds.), Women's employment in comparative perspective (pp. 151-174). Hawthorne, New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
Hofferth, S. L., & Sandberg, J. F. (2001). Changes in American children's use of time, 1981-1997. In T. Owens & S. Hofferth (Eds.), Advances in life course research series: Children at the millennium: Where have we come from, where are we going? New York: Elsevier Science.
Hofferth, S. L., & Sandberg, J. F. (2001). How American children spend their time. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 63(2), 295-308.
Hofferth, S. L., Phillips, D., & Cabrera, N. (2001). Public policy and family and child well-being. In A. Thornton (Ed.), The well-being of children and families: Research and data needs. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan.
Yeung, W. J., Sandberg, J. F., Davis-Kean, P., & Hofferth, S. L. (2001). Children's time with fathers in intact families. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 63(1), 136-154.
Cabrera, N., Tamis-LeMonda, C., Bradley, R., Hofferth, S. L., & Lamb, M. E. (2000). Fatherhood in the 21st century. Child Development, 71(1), 127-136.
Hofferth, S. L., Smith, J., McLoyd, V., & Finkelstein, J. (2000). Achievement and behavior among children of welfare recipients, welfare leavers, and low-income single mothers. Journal of Social Issues, 56(4), 747-774.
www.popcenter.umd.edu/people/hofferth_sandra
www.childactivities.umd.edu