Linda Waite

Professor, University of Chicago

Linda J. Waite is Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago, and Research Associate at the University’s National Opinion Research Center, where she directs the Center on Aging. Her research focuses primarily on the family, from the youngest to the oldest ages. To study the early stages of family life, she has examined the choices families make for childcare for preschool children. Regarding the middle stages of life, she has explored the interrelationship between work and family decisions. For the later stages, she has studied intergenerational support and exchange and family structure and living arrangements of older adults. She is currently examining the relationship between functioning and living arrangements at older ages. Waite is co-author, with Frances Goldscheider, of New Families, No Families: The Transformation of the American Home, which received the Duncan Award from the American Sociological Association. She is Past President of the Population Association of America. Her book, The Case for Marriage: Why Married People are Happier, Healthier and Better Off Financially, with Maggie Gallagher, is being published by Doubleday in September.