Katy Kozhimannil’s work combines her two passions, “data and women’s health.” Kozhimannil is an MPC faculty member and assistant professor in the School of Public Health in the Health Policy and Management division. Her work examines the measurement and improvement of maternity care quality, focusing on vulnerable populations and geographic variations, including rural health. Through her scholarship and advocacy on the behalf of reproductive-age women, Kozhimannil contributes to the evaluation and implementation of policy that has the power to improve maternal health care and the lives of women and their families.
The Census Bureau will keep marital history questions—but what’s next?
When the Census Bureau announced its recommendation to keep marital history questions in the American Community Survey (ACS) after soliciting comments from the public for 90 days, you may have assumed that demographers everywhere were relieved. And why not? Their retention in the ACS was a major victory for, well, everyone: academics, journalists, statisticians, policy analysts, and anyone with a stake in the history of the two largest program in the federal government, Social Security and Medicare.
But there was troubling news hidden in this announcement: the Bureau’s “deeply flawed” method for evaluating questions is still in place.