Professor Edith Gray
Research interests
Family change
My main area of research is family demography. I am currently involved in researching the following areas:
- Inequality in family formation
- Repartnering, cohabitation and living-apart-together relationships
- Fertility, contraception and travelling for reproductive care
- Parenting
- Men's involvement in family life
- Civic involvement
Other research interests
- Data quality
- Use of longitudinal data
- Ethical issues in research
Biography
Edith Gray is Professor at the School of Demography in the Australian National University’s Research School of Social Sciences. Her research area is family demography, particularly childbearing in Australia and other middle and high-income countries, with a focus on social-policy setting. She has been a Chief Investigator on six ARC Discovery Projects on family formation, fertility, dissolution and life course trajectories.
Edith is a Council member on the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population, and the Asian Population Association. She is Chair of the National Organising Committee for the upcoming International Population Conference, Brisbane 2025. She also provides research expertise through government and non-government consultancies, is the immediate past Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Population Research (2007-2014), and was the Convenor of the 20th Biennial Australian Population Association conference held in Canberra in 2022.
Publications
- Lazzari, E, Gray, E & Baffour, B 2022, 'A dyadic approach to the study of perceived subfecundity and contraceptive use', Demographic Research, vol. 47, no. 1.
- Guan Q, Raymer J and Gray E (2022) Identifying different sources of school enrolment change in the Australian Capital Territory. Australian Population Studies 6(1), 37-40.
- Lyons, A, Rasmussen, M, Anderson, J et al. 2021, 'Counting gender and sexual identity in the Australian census', Australian Population Studies, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 40-48.
- Lazzari, E, Gray, E & Chambers, G 2021, 'The contribution of assisted reproductive technology to fertility rates and parity transition: An analysis of Australian data', Demographic Research, vol. 45, no. 35, pp. 1081-1096.
- Lyons, A, Anderson, J, Rasmussen, M et al. 2020, 'Toward making sexual and gender diverse populations count in Australia', Australian Population Studies, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 14-29.
- Thomson, E, Gray, E & Carlson, M 2020, 'Multi-Partner Fertility in Europe and the United States', in Robert Schoen (ed.), Analyzing Contemporary Fertility, Springer, Cham, Switzerland, pp. 173-198.
- Evans, A & Gray, E 2020, 'Cross-national differences in income pooling among married and cohabiting couples', Journal of Marriage and Family, DOI: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jomf.12721, pp. 1-17.
- Rasmussen, M, Carroll, K, Evans, A et al 2020, 'Researching Young Men and Family Formation: Two Stories, DOI: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1097184X19895298, Men and Masculinities.
- Beaujouan, E, Reimondos, A, Gray, E et al. 2019, 'Declining realisation of reproductive intentions with age', Human Reproduction, vol. 34, no. 10, pp. 1906-1914.
- Gray, E & Evans, A 2019, 'Changing education, changing fertility: a decomposition of completed fertility in Australia', Australian Population Studies, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 1-15.
- Reimondos, A, Gray, E & Evans, A 2018, 'How moving a box changed the religious landscape of Australia', Australian Population Studies, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 59-61.
- Gray, E & Evans, A 2018, 'Geographic variation in parity progression in Australia', Population, Space and Place, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 1-11.
- Evans, A & Gray, E 2018, 'Marriage and Happiness: changing Australian attitudes to marriage', in Shaun Wilson and Markus Hadler (ed.), Australian Social Attitudes IV: The age of insecurity, Sydney University Press, Sydney, pp. 195-209.
- Kippen, R, Gray, E & Evans, A 2018, 'High and Growing Disapproval of sex-selection technology in Australia', Reproductive Health, vol. 15, no. 134, pp. 1-9.
- Evans, A & Gray, E 2018, 'Modelling Variation in Fertility Rates using Geographically Weighted Regression', Spatial Demography, vol. 6, pp. 121-140.
- Gray, E 2015, 'Repartnering', in Genevieve Heard and Dharmalingam Arunachalam (ed.), Family Formation in 21st Century Australia, Springer, Dordrecht, pp. 101-121.
- Gray, E & Arunachalam, D 2015, 'Patterns of Contraceptive Use', in Genevieve Heard and Dharmalingam Arunachalam (ed.), Family Formation in 21st Century Australia, Springer, Dordrecht, pp. 123-140.
- Thomson, E, Lappegard, T, Carlson, M et al. 2014, 'Childbearing across partnerships in Australia, the United States, Norway, and Sweden', Demography, vol. 51, no. 2, pp. 485-508.
- Reimondos, A & Gray, E 2013, 'Do same-sex couples earn 29% more?', in The Conversation & Helen Sykes (ed.), The story of the 2013 election: Insight & analysis from Australia's leading minds, Future Leaders, Melbourne, pp. 266-269.
- Gray, E & Zhao, Z 2013, 'Introduction: Recent demographic change and contemporary studies of population', in Edith Gray & Zhongwei Zhao (ed.), Population Studies: Volume I, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, London, United Kingdom, pp. 1-6.
- Gray, E & Zhao, Z 2013, 'Introduction: Recent fertility changes and theoretical development in fertility studies', in Edith Gray & Zhongwei Zhao (ed.), Population Studies: Volume II, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, London, United Kingdom, pp. 1-7.
- Gray, E & Zhao, Z 2013, 'Introduction: Recent mortality decline and theoretical development in mortality studies', in Edith Gray & Zhongwei Zhao (ed.), Population Studies: Volume III, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, London, United Kingdom, pp. 1-6.
- Gray, E & Zhao, Z 2013, 'Introduction: Migration, urbanization and environment', in Edith Gray & Zhongwei Zhao (ed.), Population Studies: Volume IV, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, London, United Kingdom, pp. 1-4.
- Gray, E, Evans, A & Reimondos, A 2013, 'Childbearing desires of childless men and women: When are goals adjusted?', Advances in Life Course Research, 18, pp. 141–149.
- Gray, E 2013, 'Fatherhood and Men's Involvement in Paid Work in Australia', in Ann Evans and Janeen Baxter (ed.), Negotiating the Life Course: Stability and Change in Life Pathways, Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg Germany, pp. 161-174.
- Gray, E, Khoo, S & Reimondos, A 2012, 'Participation in different types of volunteering at young, middle and older adulthood', Journal of Population Research, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 373-398.
- Gray, E & Zhao, Z, (Eds), 2012, Population Studies, 4 Volume Set, Critical Concepts in the Social Sciences, Routledge.
- Kippen, R, Evans, A & Gray, E 2011, 'Australian attitudes toward sex-selection technology', Fertility and Sterility, vol. 95, no. 5, pp. 1824-1826.
- Reimondos, A, Evans, A & Gray, E 2011, 'Living-apart-together (LAT) relationships in Australia'. Family Matters, no. 87, pp. 43-55.
- Reimondos, A, Evans, A, & Gray, E 2011. 'Reports of relationship timing: Missing data and couple agreement'. Survey Research Methods, vol.5, no.2, pp. 75-87.
- Gray, E & McDonald, P 2010, 'Using a reproductive life course approach to understand contraceptive method use in Australia', Journal of Biosocial Science, vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 43-57.
- Gray, E, Evans, A, Anderson, J et al 2010, 'Using split-population models to examine predictors of the probability and timing of parity progression', European Journal of Population, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 275-295.
- Skew, A, Evans, A & Gray, E 2009, 'Repartnering in the United Kingdom and Australia', Journal of Comparative Family Studies, vol. 40, no. 4, pp. 563-585.
- Evans, A, Barbato, C, Bettini, E et al 2009, 'Taking Stock: Parents' Reasons For and Against Having a Third Child', Community, Work and Family, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 437-454.
- Gray, E & Evans, A 2008, 'The Limitations of Understanding Multi-partnered Fertility in Australia', People and Place, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 1-8.
- Gray, E & Evans, A 2008, 'Do Couples Share Income? Variation in the Organisation of Income in Dual-earner Households', Australian Journal of Social Issues, vol. 43, no. 3, pp. 441-457.
- Kippen, R, Evans, A & Gray, E 2007, 'Parental Preference for Sons and Daughters in a Western Industrial Setting: Evidence and Implications', Journal of Biosocial Science, vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 583-597.
- Gray, E, Kippen, R & Evans, A 2007, 'A boy for you and a girl for me: Do men want sons and women want daughters?', People and Place, vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 1-8.
- Mitchell, D & Gray, E 2007, 'Declining fertility: Intentions, attitudes and aspirations', Journal of Sociology, vol. 43, no. 1, pp. 23-44.
- Breusch, T & Gray, E 2006, 'Replicating a Study of Mothers' Forgone Earnings in Australia', Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 31, pp. 107-125.
- Breusch, T & Gray, E 2005, 'Negotiating the Life Course Survey: Introduction and Perspective', Australian Journal of Labour Economics, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 111-119.
- Kippen, R, Gray, E & Evans, A 2005, 'The Impact on Australian Fertility of Wanting One of Each', People and Place, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 12-20.
- Evans, A & Gray, E 2005, 'What Makes an Australian Family?', in S. Wilson, G. Meagher, R. Gibson, D. Denemark, M. Western (ed.), Australian Social Attitudes: The First Report, UNSW Press, Sydney, pp. 12-29.
- Gray, E & Evans, A 2005, 'Parity Progression in Australia: What Role Does Sex of Existing Children Play?', Australian Journal of Social Issues, vol. 40, no. 4, pp. 505-520.
- Ackland, R & Gray, E 2005, 'What can potential migrants find out about Australia from the WWW?', People and Place, vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 12-22.
- Breusch, T & Gray, E 2004, 'New estimates of mothers forgone earnings using HILDA data', Australian Journal of Labour Economics, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 125-150.
- Gray, E, McDonald, P & Evans, A 2003, 'Demographic data in Australia', The Australian Economic Review, vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 235-44.
- Gray, E 2002, 'What do we know about mens fertility levels in Australia?', People and Place, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 1-10.
- Gray, E 2001, 'Colliding spheres: work and family initiatives, and parental realities', Just Policy, vol. 24, pp. 33-40.
- Gray, E 2000, 'Household Work for Men and Women: Implications for Future Childrearing Decisions', Journal of Australian Studies, Australian Cultural History; Special Joint Issue: Diaspora: Negotiating Asian-Australia, vol. 64, pp. 85-97.
Projects and Grants
Grants information is drawn from ARIES. To add or update Projects or Grants information please contact your College Research Office.
- Inequality in first family formation in contemporary Australia (Primary Investigator)
- Hidden relationships: Living apart together in Australia (Secondary Investigator)