Where do you live? How old are you? Did you finish college? Are you married? Do you have any children? Have you recently moved? What type of job do you have? These may seem like mundane questions, but to demographers the answers yield data that are critical to understanding today’s society and predicting the future.

For 95 years, the Population Reference Bureau (PRB) has used demographic data to help people make informed decisions that affect communities around the world. PRB works in partnership with the Population Association of America and the Association of Population Centers to make population research accessible to a broad audience.

Just as roads and bridges are fundamental to our physical infrastructure, demographic information is vital to our data and policy infrastructure. Demography provides a lens that community leaders, policymakers, business leaders, advocates, and residents can use to allocate resources effectively and plan for a thriving future.

Every year on the third Thursday of February, we celebrate Anthropology Day—a chance to further our understanding of what it means to be human. Established by the American Anthropological Association, this day brings students, teachers, and professionals together to share how anthropology helps us explore cultures, societies, and human behavior. Anthropology isn’t just about studying ancient artifacts or faraway tribes; it’s about connecting the dots between the past and present, helping us make sense of how we live and interact today. In short, anthropology guides us towards a better understanding of ourselves and the world around us.

As the 2024 presidential election approaches, we are reminded that Americans are deeply polarized. But while the term “polarization” is widely used, with apologies to The Princess Bride, that word does not always mean what you think it means. The American public is not polarized in the sense that they are divided into two ideological camps with little middle ground (although that is the case for our politicians). Rather, they experience affective polarization, which refers not to their views on public policy—as Americans are generally centrists—but instead a personal dislike of people who support the “other” party. This is a relatively recent development, for as recently as the 1980s, partisan differences did not usually translate to personal antipathy. Nor is it limited to one party; Republicans and Democrats express nearly identical dislike of each another.