Multiple-Partner Fertility in the United States: A Demographic Portrait

Educational Gradient of Multi-partner Fertility: First Estimates for the UK

Recent demographic changes in Western countries have resulted in higher rates of partnership dissolution and serial partnering, and an increase in childbearing across multiple partnerships. This has given rise to more complex family dynamics including multi-partner fertility (MPF), defined as having biological children with two or more partners. Yet estimates of MPF in the UK have not previously been available. This paper describes an 'indirect approach' to estimate the prevalence of MPF in the UK, for men and women, given different assumptions. The paper additionally explores differences in MPF according to own and parental educational attainment. Amongst those born in Britain in 1970, 12-14% of men and 15-18% of women experienced MPF by age 42, depending on the assumptions made. For most of the cohort, MPF occurred with two different coresidential partners. We have established that MPF is a common family formation in the UK, but there are large educational disparities in MPF prevalence.

Childbearing across partnerships in Italy: Prevalence, demographic correlates, and social gradient

Studies of childbearing across partnerships-having children with more than one partner-have generally focused on countries with relatively high separation rates. We complement this previous research with analyses for Italy using nationally representative, retrospective data and event-history techniques. This study offers three key findings. First, we detected a non-negligible share of childbearing across partnerships, although at substantially lower levels relative to other wealthy countries (5 per cent of parents aged 25-54 with at least two children). Second, multivariate analyses revealed an impressive similarity to the demographic correlates found elsewhere. Finally, we showed that childbearing across partnerships was initiated by the 'social vanguard' of new family behaviours but then diffused among the least well-off. Overall, this paper adds to the growing literature on childbearing across partnerships by showing the phenomenon to be demographically and sociologically relevant, even in countries with strong family ties and a limited diffusion of union dissolution.

Union Instability and Fertility: An International Perspective

In this article, we analyse the relationship between union instability and cumulated fertility among ever-partnered women in several regions across Europe and the Americas with different patterns of demographic behaviour in terms of fertility levels, union instability and fertility across partnerships. We hypothesise that the relationship between union dissolution and fertility might be less negative in contexts where repartnering is more prevalent. The analysis is performed on a large dataset of 25 countries, combining information from the Harmonised Histories of the Generation and Gender Programme with our own harmonisation of survey data from three Latin American countries. This allows for the inclusion of countries with differing prevalence of union instability as measured by (a) the proportion of women who separated by age 40, and (b) the proportion who repartnered by age 40. We first examine the prevalence of separation and repartnering during reproductive ages across regions, and we estimate the proportion of cumulated fertility attributable to unions of different ranks using a decomposition method. We then analyse the links between union instability and the number of children born by age 40 among ever-partnered and ever-repartnered women, using Poisson regression. Despite observing a high degree of heterogeneity in the proportions of births occurring in the context of repartnering both within and between regions, we find a pattern where a greater prevalence of repartnering by age 40 is accompanied by higher cumulated fertility in second or subsequent unions. Our multivariate findings reveal a negative statistical relationship between separation and cumulated fertility that is partially offset by repartnering in some contexts, and that the time spent in a union during the reproductive lifespan is a key determinant of cumulated fertility, regardless of national context and independently from age at union formation and union rank.

'Baby mamas' in Urban Ghana: an exploratory qualitative study on the factors influencing serial fathering among men in Accra, Ghana

BACKGROUND

Biological fathering, especially in patrilineal societies, was traditionally acceptable only in the context of marriage to the mother of the child. Many men were polygynous, often staying in one household with all their wives and children. However, this phenomenon has been on the decline in recent times, mainly due to Christianity, which encourages monogamy while frowning on polygyny. The Ghanaian family has for the past few years been undergoing changes due to migration, urbanization, and industrialization. With an increase in non-marital births and the dissolution of marital unions, multi-partner fertility is likely to increase. Contemporary Ghanaian perspectives on the circumstances that lead men to engage in paternal multi-partner fertility, otherwise referred to in this study as serial fathering, are scanty, hence this study examines the factors that lead to serial fathering among Ghanaian men.

METHODS

The study employed the qualitative method, using in-depth interviews with twenty (20) serial fathers and a focus group discussion with seven (7) women.

RESULTS

It was found that factors such as the attitude of women in relationships, the duolocal post-marital residential pattern, and the age at first birth are some of the reasons why some men father children with multiple partners.

CONCLUSION

The study concludes that both situational and personal factors account for the phenomenon of serial fathering amongst men in Prampram, Ghana, and these factors bring about distinctions in serial fathering as occurring either within or outside of marriage.

Family Complexity and Children's Behavior Problems over Two U.S. Cohorts

OBJECTIVE

We consider the prevalence of family complexity and its association with children's externalizing behavior problems over children's life course and over historical time.

BACKGROUND

A growing literature has demonstrated the prevalence and multidimensional nature of family complexity and its association with child behavior. The nature/strength of this association may have changed in recent cohorts as family complexity has become more common.

METHOD

Data are from the 1997 and 2014 cohorts of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics Child Development Supplement. Samples represent U.S. children ages 0-12 years born since 1985 (N=5,030). Ordinary least squares regression estimated change in the association between family complexity and behavior between cohorts. Difference-in-difference models estimated baseline and longitudinal differences in children's behavior as linked to family complexity.

RESULTS

The prevalence of family complexity has stabilized over the last two decades, and the antecedents to parental repartnering and complex sibship organization remain similar. The expectation that increasing family complexity contributes to elevated behavior problem scores was not supported. Instead, children who eventually acquired a step- or half-sibling or who experienced parents' union dissolution had elevated behavior problems prior to those changes.

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of and precursors to complex family organization were stable across recent child cohorts. The observed association between family complexity and child behavior problems may be attributable to selection mechanisms linked to both parents' family formation trajectories and to children's behavior, rather than to family change itself.

The risk to future pregnancies of transfusing Rh(D)-negative females of childbearing potential with Rh(D)-positive red blood cells during trauma resuscitation is dependent on their age at transfusion

BACKGROUND

A risk assessment model for predicting the risk of haemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn (HDFN) in future pregnancies following the transfusion of Rh(D)-positive red blood cell (RBC)-containing products to females of childbearing potential (FCP) was developed, accounting for the age that the FCP is transfused in various countries.

METHODS

The HDFN risk prediction model included the following inputs: risk of FCP death in trauma, Rh(D) alloimmunization rate following Rh(D)-positive RBC transfusion, expected number of live births following resuscitation, probability of carrying an Rh(D)-positive fetus, the probability of HDFN in an Rh(D)-positive fetus carried by an alloimmunized mother. The model was implemented in Microsoft R Open, and one million FCPs of each age between 18 and 49 years old were simulated. Published data from eight countries, including the United States, were utilized to generate country-specific HDFN risk estimates.

RESULTS

The risk predictions showed similar characteristics for each country in that the overall risk of having a pregnancy affected by HDFN was higher if the FCP was younger when she received her Rh(D)-positive transfusion than if she was older. In the United States, the overall risk of HDFN if the FCP was transfused at age 18 was 3·4% (mild: 1·20%, moderate: 0·45%; severe: 1·15%; IUFD: 0·57%); the risk was approximately 0% if the FCP was 43 years or older at the time of transfusion.

CONCLUSION

This model can be used to predict HDFN outcomes when establishing transfusion policies as it relates to the administration of Rh(D)-positive products for massively bleeding FCPs.

Kinship Practices Among Alternative Family Forms in Western Industrialized Societies

OBJECTIVE

This paper discusses how kinship is construed and enacted in diverse forms of the family that are now part of the culturally pluralistic family system of Western societies.

BACKGROUND

The study is the second in a pair documenting changes over the past century in the meaning and practice of kinship in the family system of Western societies with industrialized economies. While the first paper reviewed the history of kinship studies, this companion piece shifts the focus to research explorations of kinship in alternative family forms, those that depart from the standard nuclear family structure.

METHOD

The review was conducted running multiple searches on Google Scholar and Web of Science directly targeting non-standard family forms, using search terms as "cohabitation and kinship," "same-sex family and kinship," and "Artificial Reproductive Technology and kinship," among others. About 70 percent of studies focused on the United States, while the remaining 30 percent focused on other industrialized Western societies.

RESULTS

We identified three general processes by which alternative family forms are created and discussed how kinship practices work in each of them. The first cluster of alternative family forms comes about through variations of formal marriage or its absence, including sequential marriages, plural marriages, consensual unions, single parenthood, and same-sex marriages and partnerships. The second cluster is formed as a result of alterations in the reproduction process, when a child is not the product of sexual intercourse between two people. The third cluster results from the formation of voluntary bonds that are deemed to be kinship-like, in which affiliation rests on neither biological nor legal bases.

CONCLUSION

Findings from this study point to a broad cultural acceptance of an inclusive approach to incorporating potential kin in "family relationships." It is largely left to individuals to decide whether they recognize or experience the diffuse sense of emotional connectedness and perceived obligation that characterizes the bond of kinship. Also, family scripts and kinship terms often borrow from the vocabulary and parenting practices observed in the standard family form in the West. Concurrently, the cultural importance of biology remains strong.

IMPLICATIONS

The study concludes by identifying important gaps in the kinship literature and laying out a research agenda for the future, including building a demography of kinship.

Pathways to Parenthood in Social and Family Context: Decade in Review, 2020

OBJECTIVE

This article reviews research from the past decade on patterns, trends, and differentials in the pathway to parenthood.

BACKGROUND

Whether, and under what circumstances, people become parents has implications for individual identity, family relationships, the well-being of adults and children, and population growth and age structure. Understanding the factors that influence pathways to parenthood is central to the study of families and can inform policies aimed at changing childbearing behaviors.

METHOD

This review summarizes recent trends in fertility as well as research on the predictors and correlates of childbearing, with a focus on the United States and on research most relevant to family scholars. We document fertility differentials and prevailing explanations for variation across sub-groups and discuss alternative pathways to parenthood, such as adoption. The article suggests avenues for future research, outlines emerging theoretical developments, and concludes with a discussion of fertility policy.

RESULTS

U.S. fertility has declined in recent years; whether fertility rates will increase is unclear. Elements of the broader social context such as the Great Recession and increasing economic inequality have impacted pathways to parenthood, and there is growing divergence in behaviors across social class. Scholars of childbearing have developed theories to better understand how childbearing is shaped by life course processes and social context.

CONCLUSION

Future research on the pathways to parenthood should continue to study group differentials, refine measurement and theories, and better integrate men and couples. Childbearing research is relevant for social policy, but ideological factors impact the application of research to policy.

The Demography of Families: A Review of Patterns and Change

The authors review demographic trends and research on families in the United States, with a special focus on the past decade. They consider the following several topics: (a) marriage and remarriage, (b) divorce, (c) cohabitation, (d) fertility, (e) same-gender unions, (f) immigrant families, and (g) children's living arrangements. Throughout, the authors review both overall trends and patterns as well as those by social class and race-ethnicity. The authors discuss major strands of recent research, emphasizing emerging themes and promising directions. They close with a summary of central patterns and trends and conclude that recent trends are not as uniform as they tended to be in earlier decades, making the description of family change increasingly complex.