Writing
My books take a data-driven look at pregnancy and parenting. And if you want to go deeper, my articles often do that.
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The Family Firm
A Data-Driven Guide To Better Decision Making In The Early School Years
In The Family Firm, Brown professor of economics and mom of two Emily Oster offers a classic business school framework for data-driven parents to think more deliberately about the key issues of the elementary years: school, health, extracurricular activities, and more.
More at Penguin Random House -
Expecting Better
Why The Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom Is Wrong–And What You Really Need To Know
What to Expect When You’re Expecting meets Freakonomics: an award-winning economist disproves standard recommendations about pregnancy to empower women while they’re expecting.
More at Penguin Random House -
Cribsheet
A Data-Driven Guide To Better, More Relaxed Parenting, From Birth To Preschool
Armed with the data, Oster finds that the conventional wisdom doesn’t always hold up. She debunks myths around breastfeeding (not a panacea), sleep training (not so bad!), potty training (wait until they’re ready or possibly bribe with M&Ms), language acquisition (early talkers aren’t necessarily geniuses), and many other topics.
More at Penguin Random House
- The Atlantic
Why the C-Section Rate Is So High
- Medium
How Much Does Diet Matter When You’re Breastfeeding?
- New York Times
Do Men and Women Have Different Brains?
- Medium
What to Expect When You Have a Miscarriage
- The Atlantic
New Evidence on Pot During Pregnancy
- The Atlantic
When Parents Try to Do It All, They Do It Poorly
- New York Times
There’s Evidence on How to Raise Children, but Are Parents Listening?
- The Atlantic
End the Plague of Secret Parenting
- Slate
Is Your Toddler Straight-Up Refusing to Poop in the Toilet? Join the Club.
- Slate
Why Parents Panic Way Too Much Over Kids Who Learn to Walk Late
- Medium
An Economist’s Data-Backed Case for Vaccines
- Slate
Nearly All Infants Lose Weight After They’re Born
- Slate
When You Give Birth, Your Body … Rips
- New York Times
The Data All Guilt-Ridden Parents Need
- Medium
The Complicated Truth About C-sections
- Five Thirty Eight
Men, Those Tightie Whities Really Are Killing Your Sperm Count
- Five Thirty Eight
‘Screen Time’ For Kids Is Probably Fine
- Five Thirty Eight
Cellphones Do Not Give You Brain Cancer
- Five Thirty Eight
New Prenatal Tests Aren’t Perfect — But They’re Close
- Five Thirty Eight
Do Concussions Lead To Suicide?
- Five Thirty Eight
Calorie Counts On Menus Won’t Change What Americans Eat
- Five Thirty Eight
Don’t Take Your Vitamins
- Five Thirty Eight
Why States Should Aim For 100 Percent Vaccination
- Five Thirty Eight
What Do We Really Know About the Safety of E-Cigarettes?
- Five Thirty Eight
How a Woman’s Weight Before Pregnancy Affects Childbirth
- Five Thirty Eight
Eat More Nuts (And Vegetables, And Don’t Forget to Exercise And Quit Smoking)
- Five Thirty Eight
Are Older Men’s Sperm Really Any Worse?
- Five Thirty Eight
Are Mammograms Worth It?
- Five Thirty Eight
Reports of a Drop in Childhood Obesity Are Overblown
- The Atlantic
Thinking About Pregnancy Like an Economist
- The Wall Street Journal
Take Back Your Pregnancy