Maria is a social demographer who is interested in the transition to adulthood, including determinants and consequences of different life course trajectories. Her past work looked at the transition to economic independence of young adults in the United States and in Europe. She has also investigated how parental social class influence the transition to adulthood in different contexts. She has worked on a range of other topics which include the relationship between fertility and subjective well-being, the changing meaning of cohabitation over time in different countries, and gender inequality.