Social demography, family relations, life course research

Thomas Leopold is Professor of Methods of Empirical Social Research at the Institute of Sociology and Social Psychology at the University of Cologne. Before coming to Cologne he was an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Amsterdam. He completed a PhD at the University of Bamberg and a Max Weber Postdoctoral Fellowship at the European University Institute. His research interests are social demography, family relations and life course research.

Published papers

• Kinship in Black and White Families: The Strength of Horizontal Ties

  Leopold, T. & Kalmijn, M. (2026). Kinship in Black and White Families: The Strength of Horizontal Ties. American Journal of Sociology, 10.1086/742837.

• Click, Collect, Compare: Evaluating a Nonprobability Web Survey for Family Demography

  Diffené, L., Leopold, T., Buyukkececi, Z. & Raab, M. (2026). Click, Collect, Compare: Evaluating a Nonprobability Web Survey for Family Demography. Demographic Research, 10.4054/DemRes.2026.54.42.

• A Typology of Younger Adults’ Nuclear and Extended Family Relations in the United States

  Hünteler, B., Hank, K., Alburez-Gutierrez, D. & Leopold, T. (2025). A Typology of Younger Adults' Nuclear and Extended Family Relations in the United States. Journal of Marriage and Family, 10.1111/jomf.70014.

• How Many Children Do Couples Have When They Breakup? Educational Stratification in Parity at Separation

  Zilincikova, Z., Yastrebov, G. & Leopold, T. (2025). How Many Children Do Couples Have When They Breakup? Educational Stratification in Parity at Separation. Population Studies, 10.1080/00324728.2025.2462288.

• Mapping Modern Kinship Networks: First Results from the KINMATRIX Survey

  Leopold, T., Raab, M., Becker, C. C., Buyukkececi, Z., & Çineli, B. (2024). Mapping Modern Kinship Networks: First Results from the KINMATRIX Survey. Journal of Marriage and Family.

• Reassessing Chronic Strain: A Research Note on Women’s Income Dynamics After Divorce and Separation

  Leopold, T., & Kalmijn, M. (2024). Reassessing Chronic Strain: A Research Note on Women's Income Dynamics After Divorce and Separation. Demography, 61(3), 597-613.

• Children of Separation: An International Profile

  Zilincikova, Z., Skopek, J., & Leopold, T. (2023). Children of Separation: An International Profile. Population and Development Review, 49(4), 859-878.