Dr. Jessica Houston Su is a sociologist who studies American family life and inequality. As a family demographer, she uses a sociological lens and quantitative analytic techniques to examine social patterns of family formation and how they are related to the health and well-being of parents and children.

Her research contributes to the sociological literature in families, health, inequality, work, and demography. One stream of her research examines the causes and consequences of unintended and nonmarital fertility. For example, she examines how both macro and micro economic resources shape patterns of unintended childbearing.

Professor Su also examines the short- and long-term implications of unintended childbearing for the mental health of parents and children, and another stream of research examines how nonstandard work schedules are related to the well-being of working mothers and their young children.

Her research appears in peer-reviewed journals such as Demography, the Journal of Marriage and Family, and the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

Professor Su earned her Ph.D. in Sociology from Cornell University, and her B.A. in Sociology from Dartmouth College.