Director
Dr. Jennifer Augustine is a family sociologist and family demographer. Her research is primarily focused on better understanding how parents’ socioeconomic circumstances contribute to the wellbeing of their children and the reproduction of inequality across generations. She is also interested in identifying contemporary forms gender inequality in family life. Dr. Augustine launched FIRL in 2022 to engage students as well as other faculty at the University of South Carolina in research focused on contemporary American family life and the family-related processes –for example, how parents balance work and family demands, or how they form romantic relationships and maintain stable unions– that contribute to both persistent and emerging forms of inequality in American society. Dr. Augustine also actively teaches on these topics in her classes, including SOCY 305: Sociology of Families and SOCY 356: Sociological Perspectives on U.S. Poverty.