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SZABÓ, Laura
Senior Research Fellow

Research fields

My main research focuses on fertility, childlessness, minority fertility, and ethnically mixed partnerships using census and register data. Drawing on the Hungarian Longitudinal Birth Cohort Survey, initiated in 2017, my research also examines fertility behaviour among young pregnant women and Roma women, maternal age and time to pregnancy, inequalities in pregnancy and childbirth, and the relationship between childhood family complexity and early childhood development.

Contact

e-mail: szabo@demografia.hu

 

Publications

Szabó, Laura – Makay, Zsuzsanna (2026): Female education and fertility under state socialism and after the transition to market economy: A decompositional analysis in Hungary. Working Papers on Population, Family and Welfare, No. 43. HCSO Institute for Quantitative Population and Economic Research, Budapest.

Monostori, Judit – Szabó, Laura (2026): Family Structure, Divorce and Parental Conflict as Predictors of Social-Emotional Difficulties in Early Childhood. Family Transitions, 1–28. 

Szabó, Laura – Makay Zsuzsanna (2026): Between two worlds: Cohort fertility dynamics before, during, and after the transition to a market economy in Hungary – A decomposition analysis. Demographic Research, 54, Article 19, 577–590.

Nisén, J. – Klüsener, S. – Dahlberg, J. – Dommermuth, L.– Jasilioniene, A. – Kreyenfeld, M. – Lappegård, T. – Li, P. – Martikainen, P. – Neels, K. – Riederer, B. – te Riele, S. – Sulak, H. – Szabó, L. – Trimarchi, A. – Viciana, F. – Myrskylä, M. (2025): Economic Conditions, Education and Parity-Specific Fertility: A Sub-National Regional Study Across 15 Countries in Europe. Population, Space and Place, 31, e70074. 

Szabó, Laura – Veroszta, Zsuzsanna (2024): Discrimination against Roma women during childbirth? Unraveling the underlying effects of ethnic and socio-economic factors. Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare, 24, e101013.

Veroszta, Zsuzsanna – Boros, Julianna – Fábián, Ildikó – Kapitány, Balázs – Kis, Réka – Kopcsó, Krisztina – Ökrös, Fruzsina – Spéder, Zsolt – Szabó, Laura (2023): Growing up in Hungary - Cohort ’18 Hungarian Birth Cohort Study. Technical report 3. 6-month wave. Working Papers on Population, Family and Welfare, No. 41. Hungarian Demographic Research Institute..

Szabó, Laura – Boros, Julianna (2023): Socio-economic differences among low-birthweight infants in Hungary. Results of the Cohort ‘18 – Growing Up in Hungary birth cohort study. PLoS ONE, 18(9), e0291117.

Monostori, Judit – Szabó, Laura – Kopcsó, Krisztina (2023): The Impact of Family Complexity on the Risk of Developmental Delay and Socio-Emotional Difficulties in Early Childhood. Societies, 3(8), 192.

Nitsche, N., Jasilioniene, A., Nisén, J., Li, P.; Kniffka, M. S., Schöley, J., Andersson, G., Bagavos, C., Berrington, A., Čipin, I., Clemente, S., Dommermuth, L., Fallesen, P., Galdauskaite, D., Jemna, D., Lerch, M., Mcdonnell, C., Muller, A., Neels, K., Pötzsch, O., Ramiro, D., Riederer, B., Te Riele, S., Szabó, L., Toulemon, L., Vignoli, D., Zeman, K., Žnidaršič, T. (2022): Pandemic babies? Fertility in the aftermath of the first COVID-19 wave across European regions, MPIDR Working Paper WP-2022-027.

Veroszta, Zsuzsanna – Boros, Julianna – Kapitány, Balázs – Kopcsó, Krisztina – Leitheiser, Fruzsina – Sándor, Nikolett Gabriella – Szabó Laura, Spéder Zsolt (2022): Infancy in Hungary – Report on the Second Wave of the Cohort ’18 – Growing Up In Hungary. Working Papers on Population, Family and Welfare, No. 40. Hungarian Demographic Research Institute, Budapest.

Veroszta, Zsuzsanna - Boros, Julianna - Kapitány, Balázs - Kopcsó, Krisztina - Leitheiser, Fruzsina - Szabó, Laura - Spéder, Zsolt (2021). Pregnancy in Hungary. Report on the First Wave of the Cohort ’18 - Growing Up In Hungary. Working Papers on Population, Family and Welfare, No. 39. Hungarian Demographic Research Institute, Budapest.

Szabó, Laura – Boros, Julianna – Fábián, Ildikó – Gresits, Gabriella – Hortobágyi, Anna – Balázs Kapitány, Balázs – Kis, Réka – Kopcsó, Krisztina – Leitheiser, Fruzsina –  Rohr, Adél – Spéder, Zsolt – Veroszta, Zsuzsanna (2021): Growing up in Hungary - Cohort ’18 Hungarian Birth Cohort Study. Technical report 2. Prenatal wave. Working Papers on Population, Family and Welfare, No. 38. Hungarian Demographic Research Institute, Budapest.

Szabó, Laura; Kiss, Igor; Šprocha,  Branislav ; Spéder, Zsolt (2021):  Fertility of Roma Minorities in Central and Eastern Europe. In: Comparative Population Studies.Vol. 46 (2021): 387-424.

Szabó, L. (2020): The relationships between childlessness and aducational attainment among women born between 1920 and 1979 in Hungary. Demográfia English Edition, 63(5), 5-39.

Szabó, L.; Kocsis, K.; Gábriel, D.; Kulcsár, L.; Obádovics, Cs. (2021): Population structures: sex and age composition. In: Kocsis, K.; Kovács, Z.; Nemerkényi, Zs.; Gercsák, G.; Kincses, Á.; Tóth, G. (szerk.) National atlas of Hungary: volume 3. Society Budapest, Magyarország: Geographical Institute, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences (2021) 191 p. pp. 58-63.

Szabó, L.; Kocsis, K.; Branyiczkiné, Géczy G.; Makay, Zs.; Monostori, J. (2021): Population structures: marital status and households. In: Kocsis, K.; Kovács, Z.; Nemerkényi, Zs.; Gercsák, G.; Kincses, Á.; Tóth, G . (szerk.) National atlas of Hungary: volume 3. Society Budapest, Magyarország: Geographical Institute, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences (2021) 191 p. pp. 64-69.

Péti, M., Szabó, L., Obádovics, C., Szabó, B., & Csécsi, D. (2021). Analyzing Ethnocentric Immigration through the Case of Hungary–Demographic Effects of Immigration from Neighboring Countries to Hungary. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies, 8(4), 128-153.

Laura, Szabó (2021): Mixed-ethnic partnerships and ethnic reproduction among Roma women in Hungary. Working Papers on Population, Family and Welfare. 37. (Aug. 2021).

Laura Szabó, Igor Kiss, Branislav Sprocha and Zsolt Spéder (2020). Fertility of Roma minorities in Central and Eastern Europe. Working Papers on Population, Family and Welfare. 34 (Sep. 2020). DOI:https://doi.org/10.21543/WP.2020.34.

Veroszta, Zs.- Kopcsó, K. - Boros, J. - Kapitány, B. - Szabó, L. - Spéder, Zs. (2020). Tracking the development of children from foetal age: an introduction to Cohort ’18 Growing Up in Hungary. Longitudinal and Life Course Studies

Nisén, J., Klüsener, S., Dahlberg, J., Dommermuth, L., Jasilioniene, A., Kreyenfeld, M., Lappegård, T., Li, P., Martikainen, P., Neels, K., Riederer, B.,  Te Riele, S., Laura Szabó, Trimarchi, A., Viciana, F., Wilson, B. and Myrskylä, M. (2020). Educational Differences in Cohort Fertility Across Sub-national Regions in Europe. European Journal of Population 1-33. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10680-020-09562-0

Makay, Z., & Szabó, L. (2019). Divorce. In Monostori, Judit – Őri, Péter – Spéder, Zsolt (eds.): Demographic Portrait of Hungary, 2018. Report on the conditions of the Hungarian population. Hungarian Demographic Research Institute, Budapest: 31–47.

Lengyel, G., & Szabó, L. (2019). The Political Elite and Trust in EU Institutions after the Crisis. A Comparative Analysis of the Hungarian Case. Elites and People: Challenges to Democracy (Comparative Social Research, Vol. 34), Emerald Publishing Limited, 91-111.

Boros, Julianna, Krisztina Kopcsó,  Zsuzsanna Makay and Laura Szabó (2018).  Child health and development in Cohort '18.  In Veroszta Zsuzsanna (ed.): Technical report. Growing Up in Hungary – Cohort ’18. Hungarian birth cohort study. Prenatal research, preparational phase. Working Papers on Population, Family and Welfare, No. 30, Hungarian Demographic Research Institute, Budapest, 26–34.

Szabó, Laura (2018): Testing the questionnaires: the pilot survey. In: Veroszta, Zsuzsanna (eds.)(2018): Technical report. Growing Up in Hungary - Cohort ’18 Hungarian birth cohort study. Prenatal research, preparational phase.  Working Papers on Population, Family and Welfare no.30. HDRI, Budapest. pp.30-37.

Blaskó, Zsuzsa - Szabó, Laura (2016). Migrants with left-behind children in Hungary. In: Zsuzsa Blaskó - Károly Fazekas (Eds.): The Hungarian Labour Market 2016. Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Budapest, 2016.

 

Other

Monostori, Judit – Szabó, Laura (2025): Forms of Parenthood and Social Inequality in Hungary between 2001-2022. Presentation at Plurality of Families: Forms, Relationships, Experiences. ESA RN13 Sociology of Families and Intimate Lives, 10-12 September, Ankara, Turkey conference.

Makay, Zsuzsanna – Szabó, Laura (2024): "The relationship between fertility and educational attainment in Hungary in the 2000s". Presentation at the round table event "Women in science - scientific careers and childbearing", Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Budapest, 7 November 2024.

Monostori, Judit – Szabó, Laura (2024): Forms of parenthood and social inequalities. Presentation in the TÁRKI Work in progress series, 15 May 2024, Budapest.
 
Makay, Zsuzsanna – Szabó, Laura (2024). "When is the baby coming?" Age and other factors influencing pregnancy and their measurement possibilities.  Workshop presentation.  Presentation in the 'Túlóra' - Population studies lectures and discussions series, 9 April 2024, Budapest.

Monostori, Judit – Szabó, Laura (2024): The impact of family complexity on social and emotional difficulties in early childhood.  Workshop presentation.  Presentation in the 'Túlóra' - Population studies lectures and discussions series, 3 June 2024, Budapest.

Makay, Zsuzsanna – Szabó, Laura (2024): Time to Pregnancy: Methodological Insights and New Results. Conference presentation. European Population Conference 2024, June 12-15., Edinbourgh, Scotland.

Monostori, Judit – Szabó, Laura – Kopcsó, Krisztina (2024): The impact of family complexity on social and emotional difficulties in early childhood. Conference prsentation. European Population Conference 2024, June 12-15., Edinbourgh, Scotland.

Monostori, Judit – Szabó, Laura & Kopcsó, Krisztina (2024). The impact of family complexity on social and emotional difficulties in early childhood. Conference presentation. 16th European Sociological Conference 2024, August 27-30, Porto, Portugal. 

Monostori, Judit – Szabó, Laura – Kopcsó, Krisztina (2023). The Impact of Family Complexity on Development and Psychological Adjustment in Early Childhood. Presentation at 2023 SLLS AnnualConference Life Courses in Times of Uncertainty, 9 – 11 October 2023, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. ABSTRACT BOOK, 63-64.

Szabó, Laura–Boros, Julianna (2022): Prevalence and Multi-Component Factors Associated with Early Childhood Obesity in Hungary: A Longitudinal Examination of Socioeconomic Differences in Obesity Risk Among 0-3 Years Old Children. SLLS International Annual Conference Case Western Reserve University, Ohio, USA, 23–25 October 2023.

Szabó, Laura (2022): Mixed-ethnic Roma Partnerships and Ethnic Reproduction Among Roma Women in The Last 20 Years in Hungary. EPC2022 Groningen, 29 June–1 July 2022.

Szabó, Laura–Boros, Julianna (2022): Health Inequalities at Birth: Socioeconomic Differences of Low Birth Weight Infants, Hungary 2018-2019. EPC2022 Groningen, 29 June–1 July 2022.

Nisén, J., Klüsener, S., Dahlberg, J. …, Szabó, Laura, et al. (2022): Economic Development, Women’s Education, and Their Fertility – a Study Across and Within European Countries. EPC2022 Groningen, 29 June–1 July 2022.

Nitsche, N., Jasilioniene, A., Nisen, J. …, Szabó, Laura, et al. (2022): Pandemic Babies? The Fertility Response to the First Covid-19 Wave Across European Regions. EPC2022 Groningen, 29 June–1 July 2022.

Boros, Julianna–Szabó, Laura (2021): Health inequalities at birth: socio-economic differences of low birth weight infants in Hungary. Hungarian birth cohort study. 2021 SLLS International Online Conference 'Identity and Transformation: Studying Lives in Times of Social Change', 20–22 September 2021.

Kopcsó, Krisztina–Szabó, Laura (2019). Influence of maternal education on prenatal parenting: initial findings of Cohort '18. Poster presentation at 19th European Conference on Developmental Psychology.

Szabó, Laura–Kiss, Igor–Spéder, Zsolt–Sprocha, Branislav (2018). Fertility of minorities in Eastern and Central European countries. Paper presentation at the European Population Conference, June 6-9, 2018, Vrije Universiteti Brussel.

Szabó Laura and Lengyel György (2017). Trust in institutions: the Hungarian political elites compared. Konferencia előadás Kornai János 90. születésnapjára rendezett konferencián, Corvinus Egyetem. Budapest, Február 21-22.

Szabó, Laura–Kiss, Igor–Spéder, Zsolt–Sprocha, Branislav (2017). Fertility of minorities in Eastern and Central European countries: similarities or dissimilarities?  Paper presentation at the The Fertility of Migrants and Minorities Workshop, February 6-8, 2017, Leibniz University Hannover.

Szabó, Laura–Kapitány, Balázs–Rohr, Adél (2016). U–shape link between education and childlessness in Hungary - a new Central European phenomenon. EAPS Poster at European Population Conference 2016, Mainz. EAPS Poster Award.

Szabó, Laura (2004). Relationship of personal social support network and subjective well-being among non-disabled and disabled people. Poster presentation at International Positive Psychology Summit Conference, Washington, USA, 2004, September.

 

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