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
Displaying 1 - 10 of 102 results
U.S. household growth over last decade was the lowest ever recorded
The 2020 census counted 126.8 million occupied households, representing 9% growth over the 116.7 million households counted in the 2010 census.
Rising Share of U.S. Adults Are Living Without a Spouse or Partner
On key economic outcomes, single adults at prime working age increasingly lag behind those who are married or cohabiting
On some demographic measures, people in same-sex marriages differ from those in opposite-sex marriages
Adults – particularly men – who are in same-sex marriages have a somewhat different demographic profile from adults in opposite-sex marriages.
First-Generation College Graduates Lag Behind Their Peers on Key Economic Outcomes
College graduates without a college-educated parent have lower incomes and less wealth, on average, than those with a parent who has a bachelor’s or higher degree.
6 facts about America’s STEM workforce and those training for it
Black and Hispanic workers remain underrepresented in STEM jobs compared with their share of the U.S. workforce.
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.
