Jan Mutchler, PhD
Graduate faculty in Gerontology; Associate Director of the Gerontology Institute
jan.mutchler@umb.edu
(617) 287-7321
Office: Third floor, Wheatley, Room 105
Curriculum Vitae

For more information on our graduate programs, contact: gerontology@umb.edu

Professor Jan Mutchler received her PhD in Sociology from the University of Texas at Austin. She is currently a Professor in the Gerontology Department at the University of Massachusetts Boston, and Associate Director for Social and Demographic Research in the UMass Boston Gerontology Institute. Dr. Mutchler is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America (Behavioral and Social Sciences Section) and serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Aging & Social Policy and the Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences. Courses taught include Sociology of Aging; Ethnic and Racial Diversity in Aging Societies and Demographic Methods in Aging.

Professor Mutchler's research interests include race and ethnicity in aging populations, intergenerational support in later life, health and well-being in later life, and the social demography of aging populations. Recent publications include "Independent Living Arrangements among Older Persons: Individual and Contextual Factors" (forthcoming in Population Research and Policy Review, with Jeff Burr); "Caregiving and Volunteering: Are Private and Public Helping Behaviors Linked?" (in Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, with Jeff Burr, Namkee Choi, and Frank Caro); "State Commitment to Home and Community-Based Services: Effects on Independent Living for Older Unmarried Women" (in Journal of Aging and Social Policy, with Jeff Burr and Jennifer Warren); "A Demographic Examination of Grandparent Caregivers in the Census 2000 Supplementary Survey" (in Population Research and Policy Review, with Lindsey Baker); "Living Arrangements among Older Persons: A Multilevel Analysis of Housing Market Effects" (in Research on Aging, with Jeff Burr); "English Language Skills, Ethnic Concentration, and Household Composition: Older Mexican Immigrants" (in Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, with Jeff Burr); and "From Paid Worker to Volunteer: Leaving the Paid Workforce and Volunteering in Later Life" (in Social Forces, with Jeff Burr and Frank Caro).

Professor Mutchler currently holds two research grants from the National Institute on Child Health and Human Development. These studies consider the economic and noneconomic contributions of grandparents to the well-being of the grandchildren with whom they live. Data from the 2000 Census and the 2001 Survey of Income and Program Participation are used in this research. She is also co-investigator on a research grant from the National Institute on Aging, which examines the living arrangements of older Asian and Hispanic immigrants in the United States using 1990 and 2000 Census data (Jeff Burr, principal investigator).