Richard Fry is a senior researcher at Pew Research Center. He is an expert on school and college enrollment in the United States, as well as the returns to education in the labor market and marriage market, and its connection to household economic well-being such as net worth. Fry’s analyses are largely empirical, as he has extensive expertise analyzing U.S. Census Bureau and other federal data collections. Before joining Pew Research Center in 2002, he was a senior economist at the Educational Testing Service. Fry received his doctorate in economics from the University of Michigan. Fry regularly documents U.S. educational and enrollment milestones, the economic well-being of the nation’s young adults, the role of student debt in financing college education, and the changing relationship between education and marriage and cohabitation.
Richard Fry
Expertise:
Twitter: r_fry1
Publications
STEM Jobs See Uneven Progress in Increasing Gender, Racial and Ethnic Diversity
The higher education pipeline suggests a long path is ahead for increasing diversity, especially in fields like computing and engineering.
Amid a pandemic and a recession, Americans go on a near-record homebuying spree
The number of American homeowners increased by an estimated 2.1 million over the past year, according to the Census Bureau.
Racial and ethnic gaps in the U.S. persist on key demographic indicators
The charts below allow for comparisons between racial or ethnic groups over time on a range of measures including educational attainment, household income, life expectancy and others. You may select any two groups at a time for comparison.
Prior to COVID-19, child poverty rates had reached record lows in U.S.
In 2019, the share of American children living in poverty was on a downward trajectory, reaching record lows across racial and ethnic groups.
The pace of Boomer retirements has accelerated in the past year
In the third quarter of 2020, about 28.6 million Baby Boomers reported that they were out of the labor force due to retirement.
Americans are divided on whether colleges that brought students back to campus made the right decision
Half of U.S. adults say colleges and universities that brought students back to campus made the right decision, while 48% say they did not.
A majority of young adults in the U.S. live with their parents for the first time since the Great Depression
The share of 18- to 29-year-olds living with their parents has become a majority since U.S. coronavirus cases began spreading early this year.
Amid coronavirus outbreak, nearly three-in-ten young people are neither working nor in school
Between February and June 2020, the share of young adults who are neither enrolled in school nor employed has more than doubled.
Prior to COVID-19, Urban Core Counties in the U.S. Were Gaining Vitality on Key Measures
Compared with 2000, suburban populations are less engaged in the labor market, experiencing declining incomes and seeing home values that have not kept pace with those of the central cities.
Are you in the American middle class? Find out with our income calculator
About half of U.S. adults lived in middle-income households in 2018, according to our new analysis of government data.
