Molly Martin

Dr. Molly Martin is Professor of Sociology and Criminology at Pennsylvania State University, with affiliations in Demography. Her research investigates how inequalities are reproduced across generations, examining family influences on educational attainment, welfare use, and income inequality.

Martin's current projects analyze how family characteristics and processes affect child health, particularly adolescent obesity. She leads an interdisciplinary team studying income effects on child wellbeing using natural experiments. Additional research examines health disparities among children of Mexican immigrants.

With funding from the Russell Sage Foundation and NICHD, her work integrates social, economic and health inequality perspectives. She teaches courses on social stratification, family sociology, and demographic methods.