About

What is ParentData?

ParentData is a guide for parents, people who want to be parents, or anyone who likes to do their research before making a decision. With new articles and Q&As every week—along with over three years’ worth of writing—ParentData aims to give you the numbers and decision-making tools you need to feel more empowered as you make your own pregnancy, parenting, and health choices. 

It’s written by me — Emily Oster. I’m a professor of economics at Brown University and the author of three books on pregnancy and parenting: Expecting Better, Cribsheet, and The Family Firm. I was named to the 2022 TIME 100 list of the most influential people in the world. I’m also a mom of two kids who likes to run and doesn’t sleep enough. 

At the end of the day, I hope everything that I write helps future generations of parents feel more empowered and relaxed throughout their journey. 

Sign Up!

Why sign up?

When you sign up for a free subscription to our newsletter, you will start receiving emails on Mondays and Thursdays with the latest articles from ParentData.org. You’ll also get a special community newsletter featuring reader Wins & Woes on Tuesdays. 

Why consider a paid subscription?

With a paid subscription, you’ll get an extra newsletter on Fridays and full access to everything on ParentData.org, which you can think of as your personal pregnancy and parenting library. When you have a question, like “Is white noise dangerous for babies?” or “When should I treat a fever?” search the website and chances are good that you’ll find it here. For those of you who are expecting, you’ll also have the option of signing up for PregnantData, a semimonthly email to guide you through your pregnancy.

Please let me know if you want to be a part of the paid subscription but payment is prohibitive for you. You can send an email to ask@parentdata.org and we’ll be happy to comp your subscription.

FAQs

What’s new?

In 2020, I launched ParentData as a free newsletter. Over the next few years, the newsletter grew to include Q&As, reader stories, panic headlines, and more. Now, ParentData.org makes it easier than ever to search or explore all of my writing on pregnancy and parenting. You can browse by stage of life, topic, or ask a question. I hope it’s your go-to destination when you need to make sense of all the data and decisions in front of you. As a subscriber, you’ll also still receive the newsletter in your inbox so you see my latest articles and Q&As first.

How do I subscribe? Have your subscriptions changed?

ParentData is powered by subscribers — you can sign up as a free or paid subscriber at parentdata.org/subscribe. As a free subscriber, you’ll receive newsletters on Mondays and Thursdays with the latest articles from ParentData.org, plus a newsletter with reader stories on Tuesdays. Paid subscribers get an extra newsletter with Q&A on Fridays as well as full access to everything on ParentData.org, which you can think of as your personal pregnancy and parenting library. We have also introduced a new benefit for paid subscribers called PregnantData, a semimonthly email to guide you through your pregnancy (more below.)

How do I ask a question?

Luckily, many of your questions already have answers on ParentData.org. If you have a question, please ask Dewey, my AI librarian. It will direct you to my most relevant writing on the topic. And if I haven’t written anything yet, it will send me the question for consideration for an upcoming post. Unfortunately, I’m not able to answer all of your questions, but I get to as many as I can. 

What is Dewey and how does it work?

Dewey is my personal AI librarian. I’ve written hundreds of articles on every topic imaginable related to pregnancy and parenting — sometimes, you just want to ask someone your question and be pointed in the right direction. That’s where Dewey comes in! It has been programmed with writing from all of my books and articles. When you ask a question, it will summarize the main takeaways for you with links to relevant resources in my books and on ParentData.org. If it doesn’t know the answer (possibly because I haven’t written about it yet), it will send your question to me for consideration. I hope it will save you time in finding the answers you’re looking for.

What is PregnantData?

PregnantData is a special newsletter series for paid subscribers going through pregnancy. When you sign up for a paid subscription, you can also opt into PregnantData and share how many weeks pregnant you are. Then you’ll receive an email from me every two weeks until your due date with data-driven insights that are most relevant at each stage, including prenatal testing, sleeping positions, parental leave, and so much more. It’s the perfect companion to Expecting Better! 

Where do I send feedback on the website?

Please send your feedback to parentdata@parentdata.org. Thank you!