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McErlean K. Cohabiting couple's economic organization and marriage patterns across social classes. JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY 2024; 86:762-786. [PMID: 38682082 PMCID: PMC11052548 DOI: 10.1111/jomf.12947] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2023] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 05/01/2024]
Abstract
Objective Empirically examine whether different economic theories of marriage formation predict the transition from cohabitation to marriage differently across social classes. Background Less-educated individuals marry their cohabiting partners at lower rates than their college-educated peers, but the reasons for this are unknown. Few studies have examined the intersection of social class and couple-level economic resources to understand if the potentially gendered economic determinants of marriage vary according to a couple's social location. Method Couple-month data come from the 2014 Survey of Income and Program Participation, including 1,879 cohabiting couples, 478 of whom transition to marriage. Logistic regression is used to test whether the marriage bar, gender specialization, gendered institutions, or gender revolution framework best predicts the likelihood of marrying. Results Joint indicators of the marriage bar and the gendered economic organization of couples both predict marriage, but the specific gendered organization varies by the couple's level of education. Among couples where neither partner has a college degree, male-breadwinning couples are most likely to marry; dual-earning couples are most likely to marry among more-educated couples. Conclusion Although college-educated couples seem to have shifted to a more egalitarian model of marriage, as predicted by the gender revolution framework, the marriages of the less-educated are still characterized by traditional arrangements, in line with the idea that marriage is a gendered institution. By showing that different theories predict marriage depending on the couple's social position, these findings provide groundwork to explore why the less educated are increasingly less likely to marry their cohabiting partners.
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Weber DM, Bryant CM, Williamson HC, Mussa K, Lavner JA. Predictors of change in relationship satisfaction among Black postpartum mothers. FAMILY PROCESS 2024; 63:768-787. [PMID: 38548477 DOI: 10.1111/famp.12990] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2023] [Revised: 02/28/2024] [Accepted: 03/04/2024] [Indexed: 07/13/2024]
Abstract
The transition to parenthood can be a challenging time for the relationships of new parents and result in declines in relationship satisfaction. Although a robust literature has identified characteristics that predict changes in relationship satisfaction during this period, the relationships of Black mothers postpartum remain understudied. To address this gap, we examined a set of relational, individual, and external characteristics as predictors of relationship satisfaction trajectories over the first four months postpartum. First-time Black mothers (N = 93, 22.6% married, 52.7% cohabiting, 24.7% not cohabiting) reported on relational, individual, and external characteristics at 1 week postpartum and their relationship satisfaction at 1, 8, and 16 weeks postpartum. Mothers who reported more commitment and partner support were higher in initial satisfaction, as were mothers who were married or cohabiting with a partner (relative to mothers who were not cohabiting with their partner). Mothers with clinically significant depressive symptoms at 1 week postpartum had lower initial relationship satisfaction than mothers without clinically significant depressive symptoms. Mothers' sleep difficulties and experiences of racial discrimination were associated with changes in relationship satisfaction over time; mothers experiencing more sleep difficulties and racial discrimination experienced larger declines in satisfaction. These findings offer new insights into risk and protective factors associated with relationship satisfaction among Black mothers during the early postpartum period and can inform multicomponent interventions to enhance their relationship functioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danielle M Weber
- Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA
| | - Chalandra M Bryant
- Department of Family Social Science, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
| | - Hannah C Williamson
- Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA
| | - Kadija Mussa
- Department of Family Social Science, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
| | - Justin A Lavner
- Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA
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Matysiak A, Vignoli D. Family Life Courses, Uncertain Futures, and the Changing World of Work: State-of-the-Art and Prospects. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF POPULATION = REVUE EUROPEENNE DE DEMOGRAPHIE 2024; 40:19. [PMID: 38814354 PMCID: PMC11139821 DOI: 10.1007/s10680-024-09701-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/31/2024]
Abstract
Labour markets in post-industrial countries have been undergoing tremendous transformations in the last two decades, substantially changing the conditions in which young adults take family decisions and raise children. Whilst these changes create new opportunities, they also generate risks which potentially foster uncertain futures and affect individuals' opportunities to earn income, provide care for family members, and make long-term commitments. This Special Issue aims to stimulate the debate on the effects of rapid labour market transformations and growing uncertainty on families in contemporary wealthiest countries. Its articles suggest that economic uncertainty, the threat of unemployment or precarious employment, and financial difficulties lead to fertility postponement and increase the risk of union disruption. These effects intensify when labour market deregulation goes in tandem with labour market dualization and become more pronounced during periods of economic hardship, such as economic recessions or the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the effects of economic activity on family-related behaviours have become less gendered as women increasingly gain economic independence. Finally, it appears that highly educated workers and members of the upper social classes face increasingly better conditions for realising their fertility intentions than their lower-educated counterparts and those of the lower social classes. In this introductory article, we review the theoretical premises and the empirical evidence to provide a comprehensive background on what labour force participation and its conditions imply for family life courses. We then introduce the articles collected in this Special Issue and conclude with a discussion on prospects for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Matysiak
- Interdisciplinary Center for Labour Market and Family Dynamics (LabFam), Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw, Ul. Długa 44/50, 00-241, Warsaw, Poland.
| | - Daniele Vignoli
- Department of Statistics, Computer Science, Applications, University of Florence, Viale G.B. Morgagni 59, 50134, Florence, Italy
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Cruz PW. The changing social gradient of marriage and cohabitation in seven Latin American countries. SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH 2023; 113:102898. [PMID: 37230707 DOI: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2023.102898] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2022] [Revised: 01/26/2023] [Accepted: 04/19/2023] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
While research shows that cohabitation has increased significantly among highly educated individuals in Latin America, much less is known about how the relationship between educational attainment and first union formation has changed over time and across the region's countries. Accordingly, this paper describes the changes across cohorts in the type of first union (marriage or cohabitation) entered by women from seven Latin American countries. It also analyzes trends in the relationship between women's education and the type of first union within and between these countries. Using Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data, life tables, discrete-time event history models, and predicted probabilities were estimated to analyze the changing determinants of first-union formation. The results pointed to an overall increase in first-union cohabitation over time, with some important differences across countries. The multivariate analysis suggested that women's education influences the type and sequencing of the first union, with socioeconomically disadvantaged women increasingly likely to transition to early unions and enter cohabitation rather than marriage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pilar Wiegand Cruz
- Department of Sociology, University of Cambridge 16 Mill Lane, CB2 1SB, Cambridge, UK.
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5
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Cuesta L, Reynolds S. Testing the Economic Independence Hypothesis: Union Formation Among Single Mothers in Chile. JOURNAL OF FAMILY ISSUES 2022; 43:96-123. [PMID: 35001997 PMCID: PMC8740958 DOI: 10.1177/0192513x21993201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
Despite the increasing proportion of single-mother families, the literature on union formation among unpartnered parents in Latin America is scant. Using a sample from a Chilean longitudinal survey ( N = 3,318), we estimated regression models to test associations between single mothers’ economic resources in 2010 and coresidence with the biological father of their children in 2012. We also examined whether these associations differed in subgroups with higher rates of labor market participation. We found that mothers’ paid work was not associated with union formation. Receiving government benefits and living with a parent were associated with lower probability of coresidence with the biological father, even among the most advantaged subgroups. We conclude that in contexts in which most mothers of young children are not doing paid work, economic resources coming from government and extended family may be more consequential than earnings’ potential in influencing single mothers’ union formation behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Cuesta
- School of Social Work, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 536 George St., Room 205A, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
| | - Sarah Reynolds
- School of Public Health, University of California—Berkeley, 429 University Hall, 2199 Addison St, Berkeley, CA 94720
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James S, McLanahan S, Brooks-Gunn J. Contributions of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to Child Development. ANNUAL REVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY 2021; 3:187-206. [PMID: 35721627 PMCID: PMC9205571 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-devpsych-050620-113832] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
We describe the promise of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) for developmental researchers. FFCWS is a birth cohort study of 4,898 children born in 1998-2000 in large US cities. This prospective national study collected data on children and parents at birth and during infancy (age 1), toddlerhood (age 3), early childhood (age 5), middle childhood (age 9), adolescence (age 15), and, in progress, young adulthood (age 22). Though FFCWS was created to understand the lives of unmarried parent families, its comprehensive data on parents, children, and contexts can be used to explore many other developmental questions. We identify six opportunities for developmentalists: (a) analyzing developmental trajectories, identifying the importance of the timing of exposures for later development, (c) documenting bidirectional influences on development, (d) understanding development in context, (e) identifying biological moderators and mechanisms, and ( f ) using an urban-born cohort that is large, diverse, and prospective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah James
- Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA
| | - Sara McLanahan
- Bendheim-Thoman Center for Research on Child Wellbeing, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
| | - Jeanne Brooks-Gunn
- Teachers College and College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
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Dilmaghani M, Tabvuma V. Fragile Families in Quebec and the Rest of Canada: A Comparison of Parental Work-Life Balance Satisfaction. POPULATION RESEARCH AND POLICY REVIEW 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s11113-021-09649-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Fomby P, Ophir A, Carlson MJ. Family Complexity and Children's Behavior Problems over Two U.S. Cohorts. JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY 2021; 83:340-357. [PMID: 33692595 PMCID: PMC7939073 DOI: 10.1111/jomf.12706] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2019] [Accepted: 06/20/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paula Fomby
- Survey Research Center and Population Studies Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 426 Thompson St., Ann Arbor, MI 48104
| | - Ariane Ophir
- Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin, 1180 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI 53706
| | - Marcia J Carlson
- Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin, 1180 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI 53706
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Zito RC. Relative Employment, Gender Beliefs, and Intimate Partner Coercion and Violence Against New Mothers Across Marital and Residential Contexts. JOURNAL OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE 2020; 35:4492-4516. [PMID: 29294804 DOI: 10.1177/0886260517715603] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
This research builds on prior studies of intimate partner victimization by examining the impact of women's and men's relative employment, gender traditionalism, and gender distrust on coercive control and physical victimization among married, cohabiting, and noncohabiting couples with infants. It merges feminist approaches that emphasize the gendered meaning of work, power, and violence with prior insights regarding differences in levels of intimate violence across family forms. Specifically, this research recognizes that there is variation across married, cohabiting, and dating contexts in the symbolic meaning of work, the salience of traditionalism, and the tenuous status of relationships that may activate gender distrust in the production of compensatory violence and control. Logistic regression models using baseline and Year 1 Fragile Families and Child Well-Being data (n = 2,337) indicate that the predictors of coercive control differ across couple types, with the relative odds of coercion higher among couples in which only the woman is employed, but only when cohabiting. Consistent with expectations, men's gender traditionalism increases coercive control, but only in the context of marriage. Relative employment and gender beliefs did not predict physical victimization among any couple types, but a moderating effect of men's gender distrust on women's sole employment was identified, such that status inconsistency in employment increases the relative odds of physical victimization only when the male partner is distrustful of women.
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Bae D, Kogan SM. Romantic relationship trajectories among young African American men: The influence of adverse life contexts. JOURNAL OF FAMILY PSYCHOLOGY : JFP : JOURNAL OF THE DIVISION OF FAMILY PSYCHOLOGY OF THE AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION (DIVISION 43) 2020; 34:687-697. [PMID: 32052987 PMCID: PMC7423756 DOI: 10.1037/fam0000645] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The development of supportive and committed romantic relationships during emerging adulthood forecasts relationship quality later in adulthood. Many emerging adult African American men are exposed to challenging socioeconomic environments that are known to undermine romantic relationships. Studies of African American men's romantic relationship quality and its antecedents during this developmental period are scarce. The present study investigates longitudinal trajectories of romantic relationship quality among African American emerging adult men and then tests a model linking them to adverse childhood experiences, socioeconomic instability, community disadvantage, and defensive relational schemas. The analytic sample included 331 African American men who reported having a romantic partner, observed during three waves of data collection from ages 19 to age 26. Using men's reports of romantic relationship support, conflict, and dyadic trust, parallel growth mixture modeling was conducted to identify romantic relationship trajectory profiles. We identified three romantic relationship trajectory profiles: Normative, Uncertain, and Conflictual. Structural equation analyses revealed that adverse childhood experiences were associated positively with contemporaneous contextual risk factors (i.e., socioeconomic instability and community disadvantage), which in turn, were associated significantly with membership in Uncertain and Conflictual trajectories through defensive relational schemas. The present study reveals heterogeneous romantic relationships among African American emerging adult men. Findings support the conjoint influences of early adversity and contemporaneous stressors as robust antecedents of African American men's romantic relationship behaviors over time. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
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Affiliation(s)
- Dayoung Bae
- Department of Home Economics Education, College of Education, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Steven M. Kogan
- Department of Human Development and Family Science, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
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11
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Lavner JA, Williamson HC, Karney BR, Bradbury TN. Premarital parenthood and newlyweds' marital trajectories. JOURNAL OF FAMILY PSYCHOLOGY : JFP : JOURNAL OF THE DIVISION OF FAMILY PSYCHOLOGY OF THE AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION (DIVISION 43) 2020; 34:279-290. [PMID: 31613117 PMCID: PMC7102923 DOI: 10.1037/fam0000596] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
An increasing number of couples in the United States are entering their first marriage having already had a child together, raising important questions about whether and how these couples' marriages differ from newlywed couples who enter marriage without children. The current study used 5 waves of data collected over the first 4.5 years of marriage from a sample of ethnically diverse, first-married newlywed couples living with low incomes to examine the effects of premarital parenthood on couples' self-reported satisfaction, observed communication, and marital dissolution over time. Among couples who entered marriage with a shared biological child (premarital parents), satisfaction levels were lower and communication was less effective, less positive, and more negative than couples entering marriage without children. Rates of change in marital functioning did not differ between groups, but the rate of marital dissolution was twice as high among premarital parents (19.1%) relative to couples who were not parents at the start of marriage (9.5%). These between-groups differences remained robust after controlling for several demographic differences (race, age, education, household income, work status, relationship length, premarital cohabitation), and initial differences in communication did not account for between-groups differences in marital satisfaction or dissolution. Together, these findings indicate that newlywed marriage unfolds in similar ways for low-income couples with and without children at the start of marriage, but couples raising children at the time of marriage have greater vulnerability to marital distress and dissolution. Further research is needed to characterize this risk and how interventions can offset it. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Hannah C. Williamson
- Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Texas at Austin
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12
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Schneider D, Harknett K, Stimpson M. Job Quality and the Educational Gradient in Entry Into Marriage and Cohabitation. Demography 2020; 56:451-476. [PMID: 30617947 DOI: 10.1007/s13524-018-0749-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Men's and women's economic resources are important determinants of marriage timing. Prior demographic and sociological literature has often measured resources in narrow terms, considering employment and earnings and not more fine-grained measures of job quality. Yet, scholarship on work and inequality focuses squarely on declining job quality and rising precarity in employment and suggests that this transformation may matter for the life course. Addressing the disconnect between these two important areas of research, this study analyzes data on the 1980-1984 U.S. birth cohort from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 to examine the relationships between men's and women's job quality and their entry into marital or cohabiting unions. We advance existing literature by moving beyond basic measures of employment and earnings and investigating how detailed measures of job quality matter for union formation. We find that men and women in less precarious jobs-both jobs with standard work schedules and those that provide fringe benefits-are more likely to marry. Further, differences in job quality explain a significant portion of the educational gradient in entry into first marriage. However, these dimensions of job quality are not predictive of cohabitation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Schneider
- Department of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley, Barrows Hall, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
| | - Kristen Harknett
- Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, 3333 California Street, San Francisco, CA, 94118, USA
| | - Matthew Stimpson
- Department of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley, Barrows Hall, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
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Abstract
Young adults raised outside of two-parent families receive less financial support from their families for education compared with peers who always lived with both parents. We consider how parents' union status over time shapes contributions for young adult children's education. Our approach emphasizes the dynamic relationship between family structure and family economic resources. Marginal structural models with inverse probability weights estimate the association of parents' union status history with eventual financial transfers while not overcontrolling for the effects of union status operating indirectly through time-varying characteristics, such as coresident family composition and economic circumstances. The analytic sample includes parents of a recent cohort of young adults (Panel Study of Income Dynamics, 1983-2013, N = 2,754). Compared with parents who lived continuously with a child's other parent, unpartnered parents' transfers to children were 44 % to 90 % smaller, and repartnered parents' transfers were one- to two-thirds smaller, depending on how long the parent was unpartnered or repartnered. Through its influence on subsequent coresident family composition and family economic resources, parents' union status has indirect as well as direct associations with financial transfers to adult children for education.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paula Fomby
- Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 426 Thompson Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, USA.
| | - Nicole Kravitz-Wirtz
- Violence Prevention Research Program, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California Davis Medical Center, 2315 Stockton Boulevard, Sacramento, CA, 95817, USA
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Cavanagh S, Fomby P. Family Instability in the Lives of American Children. ANNUAL REVIEW OF SOCIOLOGY 2019; 45:493-513. [PMID: 32728311 PMCID: PMC7388657 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-soc-073018-022633] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
Scholars have long looked to family composition to understand child well-being. Family instability, or the experience of repeated changes in parents' union status during childhood, represents a recent advance in this field that takes into account the dynamic nature of contemporary family organization and considers its implications for children's adjustment and development. We review some of the structural and cultural factors that have contributed to rising levels of family instability and highlight the emergence of national data to measure it. We then review the perspective that guides much of the scholarship on family instability and critically assess the contributions of this work to the understanding of child well-being. We close by suggesting new directions for research, with a call for work that broadens the conceptualization and measurement of contemporary children's family systems and home environments as well as the mechanisms that explain why-or whether-instability matters.
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An W, Western B. Social capital in the creation of cultural capital: Family structure, neighborhood cohesion, and extracurricular participation. SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH 2019; 81:192-208. [PMID: 31130196 DOI: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2019.03.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2018] [Revised: 03/22/2019] [Accepted: 03/27/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Past research has found that participation in extracurricular activities helps develop children's cultural capital that is crucial to both education and career successes. Previous studies have examined various determinants of extracurricular participation, but mostly focused on social class, demographics, and school characteristics. In this paper we renew the Coleman tradition by putting social capital (as measured by family structure and neighborhood cohesion) in the spotlight and studying the effect of social capital on youth participation in organized extracurricular activities. By using longitudinal data from the 2004 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation of representative households in the U.S. and conducting various robust statistical analyses, we provide updated results on the subject. We find that a two-parent household (especially in relative to households with cohabiting parents) and neighborhood cohesion (i.e., a set of cohesive relationships among parents in the neighborhood) both have a positive and significant association with extracurricular participation. We also find such associations vary somewhat by child's sex, age, race, and the type of extracurricular activity. We conclude that to equalize children's participation in extracurricular activities future social policies should consider interventions that target low-income families and families with single-parent or cohabiting parents, that can improve neighborhood cohesion, and that are tailored by the type of extracurricular activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weihua An
- Department of Sociology and Institute for Quantitative Theory and Methods, Emory University, 1555 Dickey Drive, Room 102, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
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Lamidi EO, Manning WD, Brown SL. Change in the Stability of First Premarital Cohabitation Among Women in the United States, 1983-2013. Demography 2019; 56:427-450. [PMID: 30834488 DOI: 10.1007/s13524-019-00765-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
The rapid growth in cohabitation over the past quarter-century necessitates studies of changes in the stability and outcomes of cohabitation. We utilized data from the 1988 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) and the most recent NSFG data from 2011-2013 to examine the outcomes of two comparable cohorts of first premarital cohabiting women (1983-1988 and 2006-2013). Our results showed that cohabitations formed between 2006 and 2013 lasted longer-18 months, on average-than those formed in the mid-1980s, which lasted for an average of 12 months. We found that the lengthening of cohabitation over time cuts across sociodemographic characteristics-race/ethnicity, education, and motherhood status-and resulted mostly from the declining rate of transitioning to marriage. We found some support for the diverging destinies perspective in that disparities in the outcomes of cohabitation by education and by cohabiting birth have widened over time. Our analyses showed that changes in the outcomes of first premarital cohabiting unions over the past three decades were not due to compositional shifts in cohabitors. These results demonstrate the evolving dynamics of cohabitation over a 30-year window.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esther O Lamidi
- Department of Sociology, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, 1420 Austin Bluffs Parkway, Colorado Springs, CO, 80918, USA.
| | - Wendy D Manning
- Department of Sociology & Center for Family and Demographic Research, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH, 43403, USA
| | - Susan L Brown
- Department of Sociology & Center for Family and Demographic Research, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH, 43403, USA
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Thorsen ML. Shifting Influences of Pregnancy on Union Formation across Age and Union Stability across Cohabitation Duration. JOURNAL OF FAMILY ISSUES 2019; 40:190-214. [PMID: 31235989 PMCID: PMC6590915 DOI: 10.1177/0192513x18806554] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Nonmarital pregnancy increases the likelihood of entering a marital or cohabiting union. The timing of a pregnancy within the life course of an individual or relationship duration may also impact the likelihood of forming coresidential unions and their stability. This study examines the association between non-marital pregnancy and first union formation and how this varies across age. It also considers whether the influence of pregnancy on the stability of cohabitations shifts across their duration. Using data on young adults in the U.S. (Add Health), competing-risk event-history models examine the time-varying influence of pregnancy on union formation and stability. Findings suggest that pregnancy is more strongly associated with union formation during adolescence, becoming less influential as women age. Within cohabitations, pregnancy had a bigger impact on increasing the likelihood of marriage early within unions, but the longer a couple cohabited the less likely they were to transition to marriage when pregnant.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maggie L Thorsen
- Department of Sociology & Anthropology, Montana State University, 2-128 Wilson Hall, P.O. Box 172380, Bozeman, MT 59718, , (406)994-5248
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Abstract
In recent decades, cohabitation has become an increasingly important relationship context for U.S. adults and their children, a union status characterized by high levels of instability. To understand why some cohabiting couples marry but others separate, researchers have drawn on theories emphasizing the benefits of specialization, the persistence of the male breadwinner norm, low income as a source of stress and conflict, and rising economic standards associated with marriage (the marriage bar). Because of conflicting evidence and data constraints, however, important theoretical questions remain. This study uses survival analysis with prospective monthly data from nationally representative panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation from 1996-2013 to test alternative theories of how money and work affect whether cohabiting couples marry or separate. Analyses indicate that the economic foundations of cohabiting couples' union transitions do not lie in economic specialization or only men's ability to be good providers. Instead, results for marriage support marriage bar theory: adjusting for couples' absolute earnings, increases in wealth and couples' earnings relative to a standard associated with marriage strongly predict marriage. For dissolution, couples with higher and more equal earnings are significantly less likely to separate. Findings demonstrate that within-couple earnings equality promotes stability, and between-couple inequalities in economic resources are critical in producing inequalities in couples' relationship outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Ishizuka
- Cornell Population Center, Cornell University, 293 Martha Van Rensselaer Hall, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA.
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Abstract
Scholars have suggested that low-income parents avoid marriage because they have not met the so-called economic bar to marriage. The economic bar is multidimensional, referring to a bundle of financial achievements that determine whether couples feel ready to wed. Using the Building Strong Families data set of low-income parents (n = 4,444), we operationalized this qualitative concept into a seven-item index and examined whether couples who met the economic bar by achieving the majority of the items were more likely to marry than couples who did not. Meeting the bar was associated with a two-thirds increase in marriage likelihood. The bar was not positively associated with cohabitation, suggesting that it applies specifically to marriage. When we examined different definitions of the bar based on whether the mother, father, or both parents contributed items, all variants were associated with marriage, even if the bar was based on the mother's economic accomplishments alone. When mothers contributed to the economic bar, they reported significantly higher relationship quality. Our results reinforce the importance of the multidimensional economic bar for marriage entry, highlighting the role of maternal economic contributions in low-income relationships.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Anna Gassman-Pines
- Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University, PO Box 90312, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
| | - Rebecca Lehrman
- Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University, PO Box 90312, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
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Lee SJ, Pace GT, Lee JY, Knauer H. The Association of Fathers' Parental Warmth and Parenting Stress to Child Behavior Problems. CHILDREN AND YOUTH SERVICES REVIEW 2018; 91:1-10. [PMID: 31662592 PMCID: PMC6818750 DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.05.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
This study examines whether fathers' parental warmth and parenting stress were associated with behavior problems when children were approximately 36-months of age, beyond the influence of maternal behaviors. Study participants were 3,342 low-income fathers and mothers who participated in the Building Strong Families (BSF) study. Cross-sectional regression analyses indicated that for unmarried nonresidential families, fathers' parental warmth and parenting stress were associated with child internalizing behavior problems; and fathers' parenting stress only was marginally associated with child externalizing behavior problems. For consistently cohabiting residential fathers, only fathers' parenting stress was marginally associated with child internalizing behavior problems. No associations of fathers' parental warmth and parenting stress on either internalizing or externalizing behavior problems were observed in married families. Overall, study results suggest that fathers' parental warmth and parenting stress may have a modest positive association on the development of child internalizing behavior problems particularly in vulnerable families (e.g., families in which fathers were nonresidential).
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Musick K, Michelmore K. Cross-National Comparisons of Union Stability in Cohabiting and Married Families With Children. Demography 2018; 55:1389-1421. [PMID: 29881981 PMCID: PMC6286255 DOI: 10.1007/s13524-018-0683-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
Abstract
Increases in cohabitation, nonmarital childbearing, and partnership dissolution have reshaped the family landscape in most Western countries. The United States shares many features of family change common elsewhere, although it is exceptional in its high degree of union instability. In this study, we use the Harmonized Histories to provide a rich, descriptive account of union instability among couples who have had a child together in the United States and several European countries. First, we compare within-country differences between cohabiting and married parents in education, prior family experiences, and age at first birth. Second, we estimate differences in the stability of cohabiting and married parents, paying attention to transitions into marriage among those cohabiting at birth. Finally, we explore the implications of differences in parents' characteristics for union instability and the magnitude of social class differences in union instability across countries. Although similar factors are associated with union instability across countries, some (prior childbearing, early childbearing) are by far more common in the United States, accounting in part for higher shares separating. The factors associated with union instability-lower education, prior childbearing, early childbearing-also tend to be more tightly packaged in the United States than elsewhere, suggesting greater inequality in resources for children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelly Musick
- Department of Policy Analysis and Management and Cornell Population Center, Cornell University, MVR 254, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA.
| | - Katherine Michelmore
- Public Administration and International Affairs, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA
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Guzzo KB. A Research Note on the Stability of Coresidential Unions Formed Postconception. JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY 2018; 80:841-852. [PMID: 30319144 PMCID: PMC6181453 DOI: 10.1111/jomf.12498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2017] [Accepted: 04/11/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
There is a large literature examining the stability of mid-pregnancy unions, and parallel work on unions formed after a nonmarital birth, but research has yet to compare pre- and post-birth unions and simultaneously consider whether the union is with the father or a new partner. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 Cohort, the author compares the stability of coresidential unions (cohabitations and marriages) among three groups of mothers with non-union first conceptions: those with a mid-pregnancy union with the father (N = 203), those with a post-birth union with the father (N = 333), and those with a union with a new partner (N = 342). Compared to mid-pregnancy unions with the father, post-birth father unions are 35% more likely to dissolve. New-partner unions are more likely to dissolve than both types of father unions. These associations persist when accounting for union type and socioeconomic and demographic characteristics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen Benjamin Guzzo
- Department of Sociology, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403-0222, 419-372-3312
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Abstract
Much research on cohabitation has focused on transitions from cohabitation to marriage or dissolution, but less is known about how rapidly women progress into cohabitation, what factors are associated with the tempo to shared living, and whether the timing into cohabitation is associated with subsequent marital transitions. We use data from the 2006-2013 National Survey of Family Growth to answer these questions among women whose most recent sexual relationship began within 10 years of the interview. Life table results indicate that transitions into cohabitation are most common early in sexual relationships; nearly one-quarter of women had begun cohabiting within six months of becoming sexually involved. Multivariate analyses reveal important social class disparities in the timing to cohabitation. Not only are women from more-advantaged backgrounds significantly less likely to cohabit, but those who do cohabit enter shared living at significantly slower tempos than women whose mothers lacked a college degree. In addition, among sexual relationships that transitioned into cohabiting unions, college-educated women were significantly more likely to transition into marriage than less-educated women. Finally, although the tempo effect is only weakly significant, women who moved in within the first year of their sexual relationship demonstrated lower odds of marrying than did women who deferred cohabiting for over a year. Relationship processes are diverging by social class, contributing to inequality between more- and less-advantaged young adults.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sharon Sassler
- Department of Policy Analysis & Management, Cornell University, 297 Martha Van Rensselaer Hall, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA.
| | - Katherine Michelmore
- The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, 426 Eggers Hall, Syracuse, New York, 13244, USA
| | - Zhenchao Qian
- Department of Sociology, Population Studies and Training Center, Brown University, 68 Waterman Street, Providence, RI, 02912, USA
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Derlan CL, Umaña-Taylor AJ, Updegraff KA, Jahromi LB. Mother-Grandmother and Mother-Father Coparenting Across Time among Mexican-Origin Adolescent Mothers and Their Families. JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY 2018; 80:349-366. [PMID: 29551837 PMCID: PMC5851480 DOI: 10.1111/jomf.12462] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
The current study examined mothers' reports of coparenting relationship dynamics (i.e., conflict, communication) within and between mother-father and mother-grandmother subsystems from 10 months post-partum to 5 years post-partum among 178 Mexican-origin teen mothers (M age = 16.78 years; SD = 1.00). Specifically, within subsystems, more frequent mother-father coparenting conflict was associated with less frequent mother-father coparenting communication from 10 months to 5 years post-partum, and more frequent mother-father coparenting communication was associated with less frequent mother-father conflict from 3 to 4 years post-partum. Further, more frequent mother-grandmother coparenting communication was associated with less frequent mother-grandmother conflict from 10 months to 2 years post-partum. Regarding relations across subsystems, more frequent mother-father coparenting conflict was associated with more frequent mother-grandmother conflict from 10 to 24 months post-partum, as well as from 3 to 4 years post-partum. Findings have implications for future interventions focused on coparenting relationships within the context of adolescent parenthood.
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Karney BR, Bradbury TN, Lavner JA. Supporting Healthy Relationships in Low-Income Couples: Lessons Learned and Policy Implications. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2018. [DOI: 10.1177/2372732217747890] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
For the past two decades, policymakers have invested heavily in promoting the quality and stability of intimate relationships in low-income communities. To date, these efforts have emphasized relationship-skills education, but large-scale evaluations of these programs indicate that they have produced negligible benefits. Current policies are limited by their unfounded assumption that low-income couples have needs similar to more affluent couples. In contrast, recent research finds that financially disadvantaged environments confront low-income couples with unique challenges in maintaining intimacy. Rather than skills training, these couples need policies that address the real circumstances that affect their day-to-day well-being. Preliminary evidence from military families and antipoverty programs suggests that providing couples with financial security may have indirect positive effects on their relationships. New policies that promote financial well-being may be more effective at supporting low-income couples than interventions targeting relationships directly.
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Chan KH, Fung KWT. The effect of social fathers on the cognitive skills of out-of-wedlock children in the U.S. ECONOMICS AND HUMAN BIOLOGY 2018; 28:146-159. [PMID: 29150387 DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2017.09.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2016] [Revised: 09/27/2017] [Accepted: 09/29/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
There are two competing views regarding the presence of social fathers on childrens' cognitive ability: (1) either the social father provides more financial resources which benefit the children or (2) the mother with new partners may shift the focus away from the children. Previous research focused on older children or adolescents and ignored the self-selection problem. We use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), and a sample of younger children. Using propensity score matching method (nonparametric methods), we find that children with social fathers scored around three points less in a cognitive ability test than children living only with biological mothers (assuming that self-selection is based on observables). The result remains robust when using a control-function analysis (parametric method).
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Affiliation(s)
- Kwok Ho Chan
- Division of Business and Management, Beijing Normal University - Hong Kong Baptist University, United International College, Zhuhai, China.
| | - Ka Wai Terence Fung
- Department of Economics, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, United States.
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Charles P, Gorman-Smith D, Schoeny M, Sudec L, Tolan P, Henry D. Fathers' Criminal Behavior and Involvement With Children: The Moderating Role of Family Relationships. JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR SOCIAL WORK AND RESEARCH 2018; 9:131-157. [PMID: 30338029 PMCID: PMC6188635 DOI: 10.1086/695386] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Research indicates that fathers' criminal behavior can be problematic for children through multiple pathways, yet few studies have examined the effect of fathers' kinship networks in this process. This study examines the association between fathers' criminal behavior and involvement with their children and the extent to which a father's relationships with individuals in his extended family network moderate this association. METHOD Hierarchical linear modeling was used to predict fathers' involvement using data from a longitudinal intergenerational study of 335 children and 149 low-income, minority fathers. Measures included 8 father-involvement outcomes, a measure of fathers' criminal behavior, and 2 moderator variables. RESULTS High-quality relationships between fathers and their male relatives moderated the negative effect of criminal behavior on measures of fathers' involvement. Criminal behavior was only associated with decreasing levels of father involvement when fathers had low-quality relationships with male relatives. CONCLUSIONS Strong and affirmative relationships-with male relatives specifically-may attenuate the adverse effects of antisocial and criminal behavior on fathers' involvement in at-risk families. Implications for tailoring practice to improve relationships between fathers and male relatives and to enhance fathers' prosocial involvement are noted.
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Jones A. Parental Socioeconomic Instability and Child Obesity. BIODEMOGRAPHY AND SOCIAL BIOLOGY 2018; 64:15-29. [PMID: 29741412 DOI: 10.1080/19485565.2018.1449630] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Using data from the 1986 to 2010 National Longitudinal Study of Youth (NLSY) and the NLSY Child and Young Adult Supplement, this research explores how changes in parental socioeconomic status relate to child obesity over time. Results from linear mixed-effects models indicate that maternal educational gains and maternal employment transitions significantly increased their child's body mass index (BMI). This finding suggests that mothers who work may have less time to devote to monitoring their child's food intake and physical activity, which places their children at higher risks of becoming overweight or obese over time. Conversely, father's work transitions and educational gains contribute to decreases in child's BMI. Thus, work instability and increasing educational attainment for the traditional breadwinner of the household corresponds to better child weight outcomes. Results also suggest that there are racial differences in child BMI that remain after adjusting for changes in socioeconomic status, which indicate that the same structural disadvantages that operate to keep minorities in lower social class standings in society also work to hinder minorities from advancing among and out of their social class. Policy implications related to curbing child obesity are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antwan Jones
- a Department of Sociology , The George Washington University , Washington , DC , USA
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Reynolds SA, Fernald LCH, Deardorff J, Behrman JR. Family structure and child development in Chile: A longitudinal analysis of household transitions involving fathers and grandparents. DEMOGRAPHIC RESEARCH 2018; 38:1777-1814. [PMID: 30906204 PMCID: PMC6430138 DOI: 10.4054/demres.2018.38.58] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Adults support child development economically, socially, and emotionally. Household transitions may disrupt these support structures, impacting child development. OBJECTIVE We document the large portion of children in Chile that experience biological-father and grandparent household transitions, and test if these transitions are associated with child vocabulary and behavior and if income could be a mechanism behind our findings. METHODS We apply first-differences and lagged-dependent-variable analyses to a large, nationally representative, longitudinal survey of over 5,000 Chilean children. RESULTS We find that children whose mothers separated from their parents' homes within the two years between two survey rounds have worse age-normalized Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test scores than children in households without such transitions. Changes in income per capita do not explain these associations. When fathers enter households between the two survey rounds there is a gain in income per capita but no association between father entrance and child's vocabulary score. Similarly, there is no significant association between fathers separating from the household and child vocabulary, though father departure is associated with lower income per capita. We find no association between household transitions and Child Behavioral Checklist (CBCL) scores. CONCLUSIONS These findings provide evidence that Chilean grandparents promote language development when coresiding with their grandchildren and that Chilean fathers are an important source of household income. CONTRIBUTION Our study examines fathers and grandparents simultaneously. We are able to take the directionality (i.e., movement in or out of the home) of biological father transitions into account.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah A Reynolds
- School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, USA
| | - Lia C H Fernald
- School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, USA
| | | | - Jere R Behrman
- Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
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Hall SS, Willoughby BJ. Opposite-Sex Siblings and Marital Beliefs Among Emerging Adults. JOURNAL OF ADULT DEVELOPMENT 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/s10804-017-9275-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Allendorf K, Thornton A, Mitchell C, Young-DeMarco L, Ghimire DJ. Early Women, Late Men: Timing Attitudes and Gender Differences in Marriage. JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY 2017; 79:1478-1496. [PMID: 29129940 PMCID: PMC5679473 DOI: 10.1111/jomf.12426] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2016] [Accepted: 05/18/2017] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
Around the world, women marry earlier than men, but it is not well understood why this gender gap exists. Using panel data collected in Nepal, the authors investigate whether attitudes about marital timing held by unmarried youth and their parents account for women marrying earlier than men. They also examine whether the influence of timing attitudes differs by gender. On average, unmarried youth and their parents viewed 20 to 25 as acceptable ages for women to marry, while ages 23 to 30 were appropriate for men. In turn, women entering the acceptable marriage age range earlier than men accounted for a third of the gender gap in marital timing. The influence of youth and parents' timing attitudes did differ by gender, but only at the extreme. When they were much too young for marriage, both genders were less likely to marry, but this dampening effect was substantially larger for women.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keera Allendorf
- Indiana University, 1020 E. Kirkwood Ave., Bloomington, IN 47405
| | - Arland Thornton
- University of Michigan, 426 Thompson St., Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248, Tel: (734)-763-1543
| | - Colter Mitchell
- University of Michigan, 426 Thompson St., Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248, Tel: (734)-936-2267
| | - Linda Young-DeMarco
- University of Michigan, 426 Thompson St., Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248, Tel: (734)-615-3540
| | - Dirgha J Ghimire
- University of Michigan, 426 Thompson St., Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248, Tel: (734)-936-3125
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Copp JE, Giordano PC, Manning WD, Longmore MA. Gender Mistrust and Intimate Partner Violence During Adolescence and Young Adulthood. JOURNAL OF FAMILY ISSUES 2017; 38:2047-2079. [PMID: 30581245 PMCID: PMC6300061 DOI: 10.1177/0192513x16686133] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Recent research has demonstrated that gender mistrust influences the formation and stability of intimate relationships. However, several scholars have noted that individuals form unions despite high levels of mistrust. Yet limited work has examined the implications of gender mistrust for relationship quality, including the experience of intimate partner violence. Furthermore, few quantitative studies have examined correlates of gender mistrust, particularly with regard to identifying factors associated with changes in feelings of mistrust over time. Using the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study, we examined longitudinal predictors of gender mistrust among a sample of adolescents and young adults (n = 4,466 observations) and found that although parents' gender mistrust and sociodemographic characteristics were associated with initial levels of mistrust, individuals' own relationship experiences further shaped trajectories of gender mistrust over time. Additionally, feelings of mistrust corresponded to heightened odds of intimate partner violence perpetration, and this association appeared especially salient for women.
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Maxson PJ, Edwards SE, Valentiner EM, Miranda ML. A Multidimensional Approach to Characterizing Psychosocial Health During Pregnancy. Matern Child Health J 2017; 20:1103-13. [PMID: 27107859 DOI: 10.1007/s10995-015-1872-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Objectives Domains of psychosocial health have been separately connected to pregnancy outcomes. This study explores the relationship between five domains of psychosocial health and their joint association with prenatal health and pregnancy outcomes. Methods Women from a prospective cohort study in Durham, North Carolina were clustered based on measures of paternal support, perceived stress, social support, depression, and self-efficacy. Clusters were constructed using the K-means algorithm. We examined associations between psychosocial health and maternal health correlates, pregnancy intention, and pregnancy outcomes using Chi square tests and multivariable models. Results Three psychosocial health profiles were identified, with the first (Resilient; n = 509) characterized by low depression and perceived stress and high interpersonal support, paternal support, and self-efficacy. The second profile (Vulnerable; n = 278) was marked by high depression and perceived stress, and low interpersonal support, paternal support, and self-efficacy. The third profile (Moderate, n = 526) fell between the other profiles on all domains. Health correlates, pregnancy intention, and pregnancy outcomes varied significantly across profiles. Women with the vulnerable profile were more likely to have risky health correlates, have an unintended pregnancy, and deliver preterm. Women with the resilient profile had better birth outcomes and fewer deleterious health correlates, preconception and prenatally. Conclusions We posit that vulnerable psychosocial health, deleterious health correlates, and the stress which often accompanies pregnancy may interact to magnify risk during pregnancy. Identifying and intervening with women experiencing vulnerable psychosocial health may improve outcomes for women and their children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pamela J Maxson
- Children's Environmental Health Initiative, School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, 440 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
| | - Sharon E Edwards
- Children's Environmental Health Initiative, School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, 440 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Ellis M Valentiner
- Children's Environmental Health Initiative, School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, 440 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Marie Lynn Miranda
- Children's Environmental Health Initiative, School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, 440 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.,Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.,Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
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Daniels GE, Kakar V, Chaudhuri A. Racial differences in Transitions to Marriage for Unmarried Mothers. JOURNAL OF FAMILY AND ECONOMIC ISSUES 2017; 38:370-389. [PMID: 29651224 PMCID: PMC5891166 DOI: 10.1007/s10834-017-9538-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Unlike prior studies that have explained racial differences in the transitions to marriage among unmarried women, our study used the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine racial differences in the transitions to marriage among unmarried women following a non-marital birth. We found that Black mothers were 60-65% more likely to delay marriage after a non-marital birth compared to White mothers and these racial gaps were only partially explained by economic, demographic and attitudinal factors. Our paper further contributes to this literature by examining changes in cohabitation patterns, educational attainment, poverty status and attitudes of gender distrust that are able to partially explain and reduce these racial gaps in transitions to marriage. With the general decline in marriage and rise in cohabitation, our paper tried to assess whether cohabitation is a leading factor for marriage or a substitute for marriage for unmarried mothers. Racial disparities have important implications for child wellbeing and intergenerational transmission of inequalities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gerald Eric Daniels
- Department of Economics, Howard University, 2400 4th St., N.W. Academic Support Building B, Washington, DC 20059, USA
| | - Venoo Kakar
- Department of Economics, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Ave. HSS 142, San Francisco, CA 94132, USA
| | - Anoshua Chaudhuri
- Department of Economics, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Ave. HSS 142, San Francisco, CA 94132, USA
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Waldron M, Bucholz KK, Lian M, Lessov-Schlaggar CN, Miller RH, Lynskey MT, Knopik VS, Madden PAF, Heath AC. Single Motherhood, Alcohol Dependence, and Smoking During Pregnancy: A Propensity Score Analysis. J Stud Alcohol Drugs 2017; 78:745-753. [PMID: 28930062 PMCID: PMC5675425 DOI: 10.15288/jsad.2017.78.745] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Few studies linking single motherhood and maternal smoking during pregnancy consider correlated risk from problem substance use beyond history of smoking and concurrent use of alcohol. In the present study, we used propensity score methods to examine whether the risk of smoking during pregnancy associated with single motherhood is the result of potential confounders, including alcohol dependence. METHOD Data were drawn from mothers participating in a birth cohort study of their female like-sex twin offspring (n = 257 African ancestry; n = 1,711 European or other ancestry). We conducted standard logistic regression models predicting smoking during pregnancy from single motherhood at twins' birth, followed by propensity score analyses comparing single-mother and two-parent families stratified by predicted probability of single motherhood. RESULTS In standard models, single motherhood predicted increased risk of smoking during pregnancy in European ancestry but not African ancestry families. In propensity score analyses, rates of smoking during pregnancy were elevated in single-mother relative to two-parent European ancestry families across much of the spectrum a priori risk of single motherhood. Among African ancestry families, within-strata comparisons of smoking during pregnancy by single-mother status were nonsignificant. CONCLUSIONS These findings highlight single motherhood as a unique risk factor for smoking during pregnancy in European ancestry mothers, over and above alcohol dependence. Additional research is needed to identify risks, beyond single motherhood, associated with smoking during pregnancy in African ancestry mothers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mary Waldron
- Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology, School of Education, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana,Midwest Alcoholism Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri,Correspondence may be sent to Mary Waldron at the Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology, School of Education, Indiana University, 201 N. Rose Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47405, or via email at:
| | - Kathleen K. Bucholz
- Midwest Alcoholism Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Min Lian
- Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Christina N. Lessov-Schlaggar
- Midwest Alcoholism Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Ruth Huang Miller
- Midwest Alcoholism Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Michael T. Lynskey
- Addictions Department, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College, London, England
| | - Valerie S. Knopik
- Division of Behavioral Genetics, Department of Psychiatry, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, Rhode Island,Department of Psychiatry & Human Behavior, Warren Alpert School of Medicine, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
| | - Pamela A. F. Madden
- Midwest Alcoholism Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Andrew C. Heath
- Midwest Alcoholism Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
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Carlson MJ, VanOrman AG. Trajectories of relationship supportiveness after childbirth: Does marriage matter? SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH 2017; 66:102-117. [PMID: 28705350 PMCID: PMC5512449 DOI: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2017.01.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2014] [Revised: 11/28/2016] [Accepted: 01/27/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Relationship quality for married couples typically declines after the birth of a (first) child, as parenthood brings new identities, stresses, and responsibilities for mothers and fathers. Yet, it is less clear whether nonmarital relationship quality follows a similar trajectory, particularly given the greater selectivity of nonmarital relationships that persist over time. This paper uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 3,459) with latent growth curve models to examine relationship quality (measured by mothers' perceived supportiveness about fathers) for married and unmarried couples over nine years after a child's birth. Findings suggest that marriage at birth is protective for relationship supportiveness over time, net of various individual characteristics associated with marriage, compared to all unmarried couples at birth; however, marriage does not differentiate supportiveness compared to the subset of unmarried couples who remain stably together. Also, unmarried couples who get married after the birth have more supportive relationships compared to all unmarried couples who do not marry-though less so when compared to couples who remain stably together.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcia J Carlson
- Department of Sociology, Center for Demography and Ecology, and Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States.
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Martin A, Ryan RM, Riina EM, Brooks-Gunn J. Coresidential Father Transitions and Biological Parents' Coparenting Quality in Early and Middle Childhood. JOURNAL OF FAMILY ISSUES 2017; 38:677-699. [PMID: 28479648 PMCID: PMC5414583 DOI: 10.1177/0192513x15616850] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
This study examined how the entrances and exits of biological and social fathers into and out of children's households were associated with biological parents' coparenting quality. Piecewise growth curve models tested for variation in these associations between child ages 1 and 3, 3 and 5, and 5 and 9. Data came from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (n = 2,394). Results indicated that in all three age intervals, a biological father's entrance was associated with a contemporaneous increase in coparenting quality, whereas his exit was associated with a contemporaneous decrease. A biological father's exit between child ages 1 and 3, or 3 and 5, was associated with declining coparenting quality in subsequent intervals. A social father's entrance was consistently associated with a contemporaneous decrease in the biological parents' coparenting quality, whereas his exit was associated with a contemporaneous increase between ages 3 and 5, and 5 and 9.
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Gibson-Davis CM, Vernot C, Butler M, Hall N, Taylor L, Eastwood K, Zhang X. They Should Say "I Don't": Norms About Midpregnancy Marriage and Job Loss. JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY 2017; 79:405-418. [PMID: 31327875 PMCID: PMC6640869 DOI: 10.1111/jomf.12379] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2015] [Accepted: 08/08/2016] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
This study examined effects of local economic conditions on individuals' attitudes toward midpregnancy marriages using an experimental vignette method. Adults (N = 460) were each shown two vignettes about a hypothetical couple expecting a baby; within each vignette pair, vignettes randomly varied as to whether the couple lived in a community that had recently experienced job losses or had stable employment. Respondents indicated if the couple should and will get married before the baby's birth. Results showed that worse local economic conditions led people to believe that marriage would be less common. Among more socio-economically disadvantaged respondents, if the hypothetical couple lived in a community with job loss, fewer respondents also thought that the couple should marry. In contrast, among more socioeconomically advantaged respondents, slightly more respondents thought that the couple should marry. When economic conditions worsen, low-socioeconomic-status individuals may believe that financial prerequisites for marriage become harder to meet.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Corey Vernot
- Duke University, Box 99457, Durham, NC 27708. This article was edited by Kelly Raley
| | - Maggie Butler
- Duke University, Box 99457, Durham, NC 27708. This article was edited by Kelly Raley
| | - Natalie Hall
- Duke University, Box 99457, Durham, NC 27708. This article was edited by Kelly Raley
| | - Lauren Taylor
- Duke University, Box 99457, Durham, NC 27708. This article was edited by Kelly Raley
| | - Katherine Eastwood
- Duke University, Box 99457, Durham, NC 27708. This article was edited by Kelly Raley
| | - Xinri Zhang
- Duke University, Box 99457, Durham, NC 27708. This article was edited by Kelly Raley
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole K. Watkins
- Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
| | - Mary Waldron
- Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
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Abstract
We consider the intersection between two striking U.S. trends: dramatic increases in the imprisonment of fathers and increases in the proportion of mothers who have children with more than one partner (multiple-partner fertility, or MPF). Using matched longitudinal administrative data that provide unusually comprehensive and accurate information about the occurrence and timing of imprisonment, fertility, and MPF for the population of the state of Wisconsin, we consider the relationship between paternal imprisonment and MPF among unwed mothers. Employing discrete-time event history analysis with multinomial logistic regression, we model the occurrence and timing of the mother's second birth, distinguishing between a birth with the same father and a birth with a different father, and distinguishing between current imprisonment and a history of imprisonment. We find that current imprisonment is associated with an increased likelihood of MPF and a decreased likelihood of fertility with the same father (compared with no additional birth) and that a history of imprisonment is associated with increased MPF in some models but not in our preferred model. To control for unobserved heterogeneity among mothers and assess the evidence of a causal effect of fathers' imprisonment, we also employ the case-time-control method, a fixed-effects method for the analysis of nonrepeated events. Results suggest that fathers' current imprisonment may increase mothers' MPF. Policy implications are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Cancian
- Institute for Research on Poverty, La Follette School of Public Affairs, and School of Social Work, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 1180 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI 53706 USA
| | - Yiyoon Chung
- Department of Public Administration and Management, Konkuk University, 120 Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, 05029 South Korea
| | - Daniel R. Meyer
- Institute for Research on Poverty and School of Social Work, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 1180 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI 53706 USA
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Gibson-Davis CM, Ananat EO, Gassman-Pines A. Midpregnancy Marriage and Divorce: Why the Death of Shotgun Marriage Has Been Greatly Exaggerated. Demography 2016; 53:1693-1715. [PMID: 27804061 PMCID: PMC5954830 DOI: 10.1007/s13524-016-0510-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Conventional wisdom holds that births following the colloquially termed "shotgun marriage"-that is, births to parents who married between conception and the birth-are nearing obsolescence. To investigate trends in shotgun marriage, we matched North Carolina administrative data on nearly 800,000 first births among white and black mothers to marriage and divorce records. We found that among married births, midpregnancy-married births (our preferred term for shotgun-married births) have been relatively stable at about 10 % over the past quarter-century while increasing substantially for vulnerable population subgroups. In 2012, among black and white less-educated and younger women, midpregnancy-married births accounted for approximately 20 % to 25 % of married first births. The increasing representation of midpregnancy-married births among married births raises concerns about well-being among at-risk families because midpregnancy marriages may be quite fragile. Our analysis revealed, however, that midpregnancy marriages were more likely to dissolve only among more advantaged groups. Of those groups considered to be most at risk of divorce-namely, black women with lower levels of education and who were younger-midpregnancy marriages had the same or lower likelihood of divorce as preconception marriages. Our results suggest an overlooked resiliency in a type of marriage that has only increased in salience.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Elizabeth O Ananat
- Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University, PO Box 90245, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
| | - Anna Gassman-Pines
- Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University, PO Box 90245, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
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Musick K, Michelmore K. Change in the Stability of Marital and Cohabiting Unions Following the Birth of a Child. Demography 2016; 52:1463-85. [PMID: 26385110 DOI: 10.1007/s13524-015-0425-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
The share of births to cohabiting couples has increased dramatically in recent decades. How we evaluate the implications of these increases depends critically on change in the stability of cohabiting families. This study examines change over time in the stability of U.S. couples who have a child together, drawing on data from the 1995 and 2006-2010 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). We parse out the extent to which change in the stability of cohabiting and married families reflects change in couples' behavior versus shifts in the characteristics of those who cohabit, carefully accounting for trajectories of cohabitation and marriage around the couple's first birth. Multivariate event history models provide evidence of a weakening association between cohabitation and instability given that marriage occurs at some point before or after the couple's first birth. The more recent data show statistically indistinguishable separation risks for couples who have a birth in marriage without ever cohabiting, those who cohabit and then have a birth in marriage, and those who have a birth in cohabitation and then marry. Cohabiting unions with children are significantly less stable when de-coupled from marriage, although the parents in this group also differ most from others on observed (and likely, unobserved) characteristics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelly Musick
- Department of Policy Analysis and Management, Cornell University, 254 MVR, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA. .,Cornell Population Center, Cornell University, New York, NY, USA.
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Abstract
Demographic and social trends lead to a variety of micro-level and internal structural contexts that influence caregiving in families with older members. The results of macro-level changes have received little focused attention in the aging literature, where much of the caregiving research has addressed issues within the context of traditional family structure. Yet the conventional nuclear family model is increasingly uncommon as new, pluralistic models of family life are emerging in contemporary society. The majority of elder care is provided by relatives, albeit with varying patterns of involvement and responsibility across family structures. Both conventional and pluralistic families face challenges in meeting the care needs of their oldest members, leaving some older adults at risk of having unmet needs. Additional research on family risk and resilience related to the care of older relatives is warranted, particularly with respect to pluralistic models of family life.
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Maddow-Zimet I, Lindberg L, Kost K, Lincoln A. Are Pregnancy Intentions Associated with Transitions Into and Out of Marriage? PERSPECTIVES ON SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH 2016; 48:35-43. [PMID: 26929138 PMCID: PMC4801697 DOI: 10.1363/48e8116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2015] [Revised: 11/23/2015] [Accepted: 11/25/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
CONTEXT In addition to having associations with health outcomes, pregnancy intentions may be associated with social outcomes, including marital transitions. METHODS Linked data from the 2004-2008 Oklahoma Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System and The Oklahoma Toddler Survey for 2006-2010 on 3,617 women who were married and 2,123 who were unmarried at conception were used to examine the relationship between pregnancy intention status (intended, mistimed by less than two years, mistimed by two or more years, or unwanted) and marital formation or dissolution by the time of the birth and two years later. Logistic regression analyses were conducted, and propensity score methods were used to adjust for confounding characteristics. RESULTS Intention status was associated with marital transition two years after the birth, but not between conception and birth. In adjusted models, among women married at conception, those with a birth resulting from an unwanted pregnancy were more likely than those with a birth resulting from an intended pregnancy to transition out of marriage by the time their child was two years old (odds ratio, 2.2). Among women unmarried at conception, those with a birth following an unwanted pregnancy were less likely than those with a birth following an intended pregnancy to marry by the time their child was two (0.5). Births following mistimed pregnancies were not associated with marital transition. CONCLUSIONS The findings should motivate researchers to broaden the scope of research on the consequences of unintended childbearing. Future research should distinguish between mistimed and unwanted births.
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Abstract
While the labor market woes of low-skilled male workers in the United States over the past several decades have been well documented, the academic literature identifying causal factors leading to declines in labor force participation (LFP) by young, low-skilled males remains scant. To address this gap, I use the timing and characteristics of welfare-reform policies implemented during the 1990s and fixed-effects, instrumental variable regression modeling to show that policies seeking to increase LFP rates for low-skilled single mothers inadvertently led to labor force exit by young, low-skilled single males. Using data from the Current Population Survey and a bundle of work inducements enacted by states throughout the 1990s as exogenous variation in a quasi-experimental design, I find that the roughly 10 percentage point increase in LFP for low-skilled single mothers facilitated by welfare reform resulted in a statistically significant 2.8 percentage point decline in LFP for young, low-skilled single males. After conducting a series of robustness checks, I conclude that this result is driven entirely by white males, who responded to welfare-reform policies with a 3.7 percentage point decline in labor supply. Young black males, as well as other groups of potentially affected workers, appear to be uninfluenced by the labor supply response of less-educated single mothers to welfare reform. Impacts on young, single white males are large and economically significant, suggesting that nearly 150,000 males departed the formal labor market in response to directed welfare-reform policies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lincoln H Groves
- Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1180 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI, 53706, USA. .,Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, 200 Independence Ave, SW, Office #410B.1, Washington, DC, 20201, USA.
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46
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Claridge AM. Pregnancy Plans of First-time Mothers and Their Children's Outcomes: An Examination of Mechanisms. INFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT 2016. [DOI: 10.1002/icd.1962] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Amy M. Claridge
- Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, College of Education and Professional Studies; Central Washington University; Ellensburg WA USA
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47
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Högnäs RS, Thomas JR. Birds of a Feather Have Babies Together?: Family Structure Homogamy and Union Stability among Cohabiting Parents. JOURNAL OF FAMILY ISSUES 2016; 37:29-52. [PMID: 26640313 PMCID: PMC4666318 DOI: 10.1177/0192513x13518211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
The association between childhood family structure and offspring wellbeing is well-documented. Recent research shows that adult children of divorced parents will likely marry someone whose parents' divorced (i.e., family structure homogamy) and are subsequently likely to divorce themselves. This literature has focused primarily on marital unions, despite the rise in cohabitation and nonmarital childbearing. Research suggests that marriage and cohabitation are different types of unions and have different implications for the wellbeing of children. Therefore, we extend the literature by examining the role of family structure homogamy in matching patterns and union stability among unmarried, cohabiting couples. Data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study suggest that unmarried, cohabiting mothers and fathers are both more likely to be from nonintact childhood family structures and are significantly more likely to dissolve their unions compared to married parents who both tend to be from intact childhood family structures.
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48
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Manning WD. Family Formation Processes: Assessing the Need for a New Nationally Representative Household Panel Survey in the United States. JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL MEASUREMENT 2015; 40:197-219. [PMID: 26612969 PMCID: PMC4655322 DOI: 10.3233/jem-150419] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/18/2023]
Abstract
The American family has undergone rapid transformation. Careful measurement attention to family formation is important because families are at the heart of numerous decisions, roles, and responsibilities with implications for understanding the well-being of families, adults and children. This paper considers whether there is a need for a new household panel study that addresses family formation. This paper consists of a review of the recent body of population-based, American surveys and finds a considerable gap in the ability to study the implications of families for the health and well-being of Americans. Earlier panel surveys used to assess family life anchored questions around marital events, but changes in family patterns require attention to a more diverse set of family forms. The paper concludes with recommendations for a multi-purpose panel study. The key challenge is to keep to pace with complexity and changes in American family life while at the same time maintaining a parsimonious set of survey questions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wendy D Manning
- Department of Sociology, Center for Family and Demographic Research, National Center for Family and Marriage Research
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49
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Changes in Cohabitation After the Birth of the First Child in Chile. POPULATION RESEARCH AND POLICY REVIEW 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s11113-015-9378-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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50
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Musick K, Michelmore K. Change in the Stability of Marital and Cohabiting Unions Following the Birth of a Child. Demography 2015. [PMID: 26385110 DOI: 10.1007/s13524-0150425-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/19/2023]
Abstract
The share of births to cohabiting couples has increased dramatically in recent decades. How we evaluate the implications of these increases depends critically on change in the stability of cohabiting families. This study examines change over time in the stability of U.S. couples who have a child together, drawing on data from the 1995 and 2006-2010 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). We parse out the extent to which change in the stability of cohabiting and married families reflects change in couples' behavior versus shifts in the characteristics of those who cohabit, carefully accounting for trajectories of cohabitation and marriage around the couple's first birth. Multivariate event history models provide evidence of a weakening association between cohabitation and instability given that marriage occurs at some point before or after the couple's first birth. The more recent data show statistically indistinguishable separation risks for couples who have a birth in marriage without ever cohabiting, those who cohabit and then have a birth in marriage, and those who have a birth in cohabitation and then marry. Cohabiting unions with children are significantly less stable when de-coupled from marriage, although the parents in this group also differ most from others on observed (and likely, unobserved) characteristics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelly Musick
- Department of Policy Analysis and Management, Cornell University, 254 MVR, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA.
- Cornell Population Center, Cornell University, New York, NY, USA.
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