Margaret M. Gough Courtney

Hello! I am a Social Science Analyst in the Program Demonstration and Research Division of the Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

I was previously Associate Professor of Sociology and Co-Director of The Social Determinants of Health and Health Disparities Lab at the University of La Verne in La Verne, CA. I received my Ph.D. in sociology, and M.A. in statistics, from the University of Michigan, where I trained at the Population Studies Center. My research takes a social demographic approach to topics related to inequality, health, family, and the labor market. 

In one branch of research I've studied how economic hardship and family obligations affect health and well-being, with a particular focus on health-related behaviors and risk of obesity. A second branch of research has used a social epidemiological approach to examine how exposure to social, economic, environmental, and political factors is related to accelerated aging processes, including inflammation in the body and diminished bone mineral density. This is a collaborative project with Dr. Kanya Godde, a biological anthropologist, and was supported with a multiple-PI R15 grant from the National Institute on Aging ("A Model of Accelerated Aging: Social, Political, Economic, Environmental, and Biological Factors' Effects on Osteoporosis, High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein, and Telomere Length").

A third branch of research has examined relationships among gender, family, and external factors, such as the labor market, national policy change, and the COVID-19 pandemic. This branch includes studies characterizing the relationships between labor market experiences and spouses' unpaid labor time; studies examining relationships between family formation and wage penalties (or premiums) that men and women experience in the labor market; and how the experience of national policy changes (e.g., the Affordable Care Act) and major events (e.g., the COVID-19 pandemic) lead to changes in patterns of family formation.

At HUD, I have developed survey and interview instruments; overseen contract and grant research; conducted in-house research on family formation among those receiving rental subsidies or living in public housing; synthesized the Jobs Plus, Family Self-Sufficiency, and Rent Reform Demonstration evaluations into a working paper; and developed procurement packages.