Research
My research seeks to understand social inequality across the life course, which I typically measure in terms of disparities in physical and mental health, as well as survival.
Most of life is a series of forgettable experiences. Monumental events pepper life’s mundane moments, from the often celebrated—completing school, marrying, having a child—to the dreaded—a child’s death, divorce, or illness. My work carefully documents how the occurrence, timing, and context surrounding such major life events can leave an indelible mark on individuals’ lives, either inhibiting or facilitating their ability to achieve a “good life” for themselves and for their children. My international research focuses on contexts where individuals are charting their life’s course in politically, economically, and ecologically unforgiving environments.
Here I have listed my publications thematically. Please see my CV if you want to see what I’ve been up to each year.
The population prevalence & salience of bereavement
Smith-Greenaway, Emily, Weitzman, Abigail, Lin, Yingyi, and Katarina Huss. 2024. Intergenerational clustering of under-five mortality: A cohort perspective in low- and middle-income countries, Demography.
Smith-Greenaway, Emily, Lin, Yingyi, and Abigail Weitzman. 2024. The intergenerational transmission of health disadvantage: Can education disrupt it?, Journal of Health and Social Behavior.
Livings, Michelle, Smith-Greenaway, Emily, Margolis, Rachel and Ashton Verdery. 2023. Lost support, lost skills: Children’s cognitive outcomes following grandparental death, Social Science Research, 116: 102942.
Smith-Greenaway, Emily and Yingyi Lin. 2023. Is the mortality-fertility nexus gendered? A research note on sex differences in the impact of sibling mortality on fertility preferences, Population Studies.
Livings, Michelle, Smith-Greenaway, Emily, Margolis, Rachel and Ashton Verdery. 2022. Bereavement and mental health: The generational consequences of a grandparent’s death. Social Science & Medicine-Mental Health.
Smith-Greenaway, Emily, Yeatman, Sara, and Abdallah Chilungo. 2022. Life after Loss: A Prospective Analysis of Mortality Exposure & Unintended Fertility. Demography, 59(2): 563-585.
Smith-Greenaway, Emily, Alburez-Gutierrez, Diego, Trinitapoli, Jenny, and Emilio Zagheni. 2021. Global burden of maternal bereavement: indicators of the cumulative prevalence of child loss. BMJ Global Health, 6(4): e004837.
Smith-Greenaway, Emily and Abigail Weitzman. 2020. Sibling mortality burden in low-income countries: A descriptive analysis of sibling death in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. PLOS ONE, 15(10): e0236498.
Smith-Greenaway, Emily and Jenny Trinitapoli. 2020. Maternal cumulative prevalence of child mortality show heavy burden in sub-Saharan Africa. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(8): 4027-4033. (See Editor-invited commentary by Kevin JA Thomas)
cOVID-19 BEREAVEMENT
Wang, Haowei, Smith-Greenaway, Emily, Margolis, Rachel, Baldry, Shawn and Ashton Verdery. 2022. Mourning in a pandemic: The differential impact of widowhood on mental health during COVID-19. The Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 77(12): 2306-2316.
Wang, Haowei, Verdery, Ashton, Margolis, Rachel, and Emily Smith-Greenaway. 2022. Bereavement from COVID-19, Gender, and Reports of Depression Among Older Adults in Europe. The Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 77(7): e142-e149.
Kidman, Rachel, Margolis, Rachel, Smith-Greenaway, Emily and Ashton Verdery. 2021. Estimates and Projections of COVID-19 and Parental Death in the US. JAMA Pediatrics, 175(5): 745-746.
Verdery, Ashton, Smith-Greenaway, Emily, Margolis, Rachel and Jonathan Daw. 2020. Tracking the reach of COVID-19 kin loss with a bereavement multiplier applied to the United States. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(30): 17695-17701.
Intergenerational TRANSMISSION & Influence
Smith-Greenaway, Emily. 2020. Does Parents’ Union Instability Disrupt Intergenerational Advantage? An Analysis of sub-Saharan Africa. Demography, 57:445–473.
Weitzman, Abby and Emily Smith-Greenaway. 2020. The Marital Implications of Bereavement: Child Death and Intimate Partner Violence in West and Central Africa. Demography, 57:347-371.
Smith-Greenaway, Emily, Weitzman, Abigail and Abdallah Chilungo. 2019. Child Sex Composition, Parental Sex Preferences, and Marital Outcomes: Evidence from a Matrilineal Context. Journal of Marriage and Family, 81(56): 1126-1143.
Smith-Greenaway, Emily, Brauner-Otto, Sarah, and William Axinn. 2018. The Education of Adult Children and Parental Mortality. Social Science Research, 76: 157-168.
Smith-Greenaway, Emily. 2016. Premarital childbearing in sub-Saharan Africa: Can investing in women’s education offset disadvantages for children?. Social Science & Medicine (Population Health), 2:164-174.
Smith-Greenaway, Emily and Sangeetha Madhavan. 2015. Maternal Migration and Child Vaccination in Benin: An Analysis of Disruption and Adaptation Processes. Social Science Research, 54: 146-158.
Smith-Greenaway, Emily and Kevin Thomas. 2014. Exploring Child Mortality Risks Associated with Diverse Patterns of Maternal Migration, Population Research and Policy Review, 33:873-895.
Smith-Greenaway, Emily. 2013. Maternal Reading Skills and Child Mortality in Nigeria: A Reassessment of Why Education Matters, Demography, 50(5): 1551-1561.
Smith-Greenaway, Emily. 2013. Mothers' Reading Skills and Child Survival in Nigeria: Examining the Relevance of Mothers' Decision-making Power, Social Science & Medicine, 97:152-160.
The Lasting Influence of Educational Experiences
Smith-Greenaway, Emily. 2015. Educational Attainment and Adult Literacy: A Descriptive Account of Select Countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Demographic Research, 33: 1015-1034.
Ghimire, Dirgha, Axinn, William, and Emily Smith-Greenaway. 2015. Impact of the Spread of Mass Education on Married Women’s Experience with Domestic Violence. Social Science Research, 54: 319-333.
Smith-Greenaway, Emily. 2015. Are Literacy Skills Associated with Young Adults’ Health in Africa? Evidence from Malawi. Social Science & Medicine, 127: 124-133.
Smith-Greenaway, Emily, Leon, Juan, and David Baker. 2012. Understanding the Association between Maternal Education & Use of Health Services in Ghana: Exploring the Role of Health Knowledge, Journal of Biosocial Science, 1(1): 1-15.
Baker, David, Leon, Juan, Smith-Greenaway, Emily, Collins, John, and Marcela Movit. 2011. The Underappreciated Education Effect on Population Health: A Reassessment, Meta-analysis of All-cause Mortality, and an Improved Hypothesis, Population and Development Review, 37(2): 307-332.
considering context to Understand Disparities
Somefun, Oluwaseyi, Banougnin, Boladé Hamed, and Emily Smith-Greenaway. 2024. The relationships between drought exposure, fertility preferences, and contraceptive behavior: A multi-country study, Studies in Family Planning, 55(1): 5-21.
Liu, Shengjie and Emily Smith-Greenaway. 2024. Racial and Ethnic Minorities Disproportionately Exposed to Extreme Daily Temperature Variation in the United States, PNAS Nexus, 3(5): 176-83.
Smith-Greenaway, Emily and Shelley Clark. 2017. Variation in the Link between Parental Divorce and Child Health Disadvantage in Low and High Divorce African Settings. Social Science and Medicine (Population Health), 3: 473-486.
Smith-Greenaway, Emily. 2017. Community Context and Child Health: A Human Capital Perspective. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 58(3): 307-321.
Clark, Shelley, Koski, Alissa, and Emily Smith-Greenaway. 2017. Recent Trends in Premarital Births in sub-Saharan Africa. Studies in Family Planning, 48(1):3-22. [Lead Article]
Jadhav, Apoorva, Weitzman, Abigail, and Emily Smith-Greenaway. 2016. Household Sanitation Facilities and Women's Risk of Non-Partner Sexual Violence in India. BMC Public Health, 16(1): 1139-1149.
Smith-Greenaway, Emily and Jenny Trinitapoli. 2014. Polygynous Contexts, Family Structure, and Infant Mortality in sub-Saharan Africa, Demography, 51(2):341-66. [lead article]
Smith-Greenaway, Emily and Jessica Heckert. 2013. Does the Orphan Disadvantage “Spill Over”? An analysis of whether living in an area with a higher concentration of orphans is associated with children’s school enrollment in sub-Saharan Africa, Demographic Research, 28(40): 1167-1198.
The Demographic Relevance of Intentions, Desires, and Emotions
Smith-Greenaway, Emily, Lin, Yingyi, and Sara Yeatman. 2024. Global scripts, local constraints: Education as a risk factor for unintended pregnancy, Socius, 10: 1-25.
Chamberlin, Stephanie, Njerenga, Synab, Smith-Greenaway, Emily, and Sara Yeatman. 2022. Women’s Life Experiences and Shifting Reports of Pregnancy Planning, Maternal and Child Health Journal, 26(8): 1719-1726.
Yeatman, Sara, and Emily Smith-Greenaway. 2021. Women’s health decline following (some) unintended births: A prospective study. Demographic Research, 45(17): 547-576.
Smith-Greenaway, Emily and Sara Yeatman. 2020. Unrealized Educational Expectations and Mental Health: Evidence from a Low-Income Country. Social Forces, 98(3): 1112-1142.
Axinn, William, Ghimire, Dirgha, and Emily Smith-Greenaway. 2017. Emotional Variation and Contraceptive Use to Limit Fertility. Demography, 54(2): 437-458.
Yeatman, Sara and Emily Smith-Greenaway. 2018. Birth Planning and Women’s and Men’s Health in Malawi. Studies in Family Planning, 49(3): 213-235.
Smith-Greenaway, Emily and Christie Sennott. 2016. Death and Desirability: Retrospective Reporting of Unintended Pregnancy after a Child’s Death. Demography, 53(3):805-834.
Connecting Early and Later Life Course Experiences
Stoebenau, Kirsten, Madhavan, Sangeetha, Smith-Greenaway, Emily and Heide Jackson. 2021. Economic Inequality and Divergence in Family Formation in sub-Saharan Africa, Population and Development Review, 47(4): 881-1232.
Smith-Greenaway, Emily, Koski, Alissa, and Shelley Clark. 2021. Women’s Marital Experiences Following Premarital Fertility in Sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Marriage and Family, 83 (2), 394-408.
Smith-Greenaway, Emily and Shelley Clark. 2017. Women’s Marriage Behavior following a Premarital Birth in Sub Saharan Africa. Journal of Marriage and Family, 80(1): 256-270.