Joseph D. Wolfe

Associate Professor of Sociology

Welcome

Joseph D. Wolfe

I'm an Associate Professor of Sociology at The University of Alabama Birmingham. I hold a Ph.D. in Sociology and an M.S. in Applied Statistics from Indiana University Bloomington.

As a medical sociologist, my research examines how social structural factors shape health outcomes across the lifespan. I am particularly interested in understanding racial and socioeconomic health inequalities and their historical trajectories. My current work investigates (1) the links between adult children's educational attainment and their aging parents' longevity, (2) explanations of the association between debt and midlife health, and (3) the shifting social determinants of health disparities across historical contexts.

One of my favorite parts of data analysis is visualization. I enjoy translating complex results into graphs that clearly (and simply) communicate findings. I believe that thoughtful visual design is a critical part of doing good research. Below are a few of my favorite graphs.

Trends in teen births, education, employment, and earnings
Five-year moving proportion of White women's health limitations by birth cohort and years of schooling
Baseline Predicted Survival Curves by Race, Familial Generation, and Educational Attainment
Average marginal effects of financial stressors on midlife health problems
Three-year moving proportion of women providing any carework by age and cohort

Select Publications

  1. Wolfe, Joseph D., Mieke Beth Thomeer, and Shawn Bauldry. 2024. "Twentieth Century Change in the Educational Costs of Adolescent Childbearing." American Journal of Sociology 129(6): 1763-1791.

  2. Wolfe, Joseph D., Mieke Beth Thomeer, and Rin Reczek. 2023. "Age at First Birth and Women's Midlife Health: Cohort and Race Differences Across the 20th Century." Social Science & Medicine 301: 1-9.

  3. Wolfe, Joseph D., Elizabeth H. Baker, Jalal Uddin, and Stephanie Kirkland. 2022. "Varieties of Financial Stressors and Midlife Health Problems, 1996-2016." The Journals of Gerontology: Series B 77(1): 149-159.

  4. Wolfe, Joseph D., Shawn Bauldry, Melissa A. Hardy, and Eliza K. Pavalko. 2018. "Multigenerational Attainments, Racial Inequalities, and the Mortality of Silent Generation Women." Journal of Health and Social Behavior 59: 335-351.

  5. Pavalko, Eliza K., and Joseph D. Wolfe. 2016. "Do Women Still Care? Cohort Changes in U.S. Women's Care for the Ill or Disabled." Social Forces 94: 1359-1384.

  6. Wolfe, Joseph D. 2009. "Age at First Birth and Alcohol Use." Journal of Health and Social Behavior 50: 395-409.

In the Media