Family Breakdown
Family Formation and Men's and Women's Attainment of Workplace Authority
Magnus Bygren & Michael Gähler
Social Forces, forthcoming
Abstract:
Using Swedish panel data, we assess whether the gender gap in supervisory authority has changed during the period 1968-2000, and investigate to what extent the gap can be attributed to gender-specific consequences of family formation. The results indicate that the gap has narrowed modestly during the period, and that the life-event of parenthood is a major cause. As long as women and men are childless and single, the gender gap in supervisory authority is marginal, even reversed. When men become fathers, however, they strongly increase their chances for supervisory authority whereas women's chances remain unaffected when they become mothers. We also find a male "marriage premium" on workplace authority, but this premium is generated by selection.
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Dominic Fischer & Thomas Hills
Evolution and Human Behavior, forthcoming
Abstract:
Parental investment theory predicts differences in risk-taking for females and males as a consequence of reproductive context, with females attempting to reduce risks in relation to their own offspring (here called the baby effect) and males taking more risks in competition with one another (young male syndrome). The experiment we report tests these predictions in a cooperative context by introducing the Social Balloon Analogue Risk Task - the Balloon Analogue Risk Task modified to include a social partner (adult male, adult female, or baby) - along with a commitment device in which participants choose among several possible social partners, with whom they will share their earnings. Results were consistent with the predictions of parental investment theory. Females did not change their levels of risk-taking when paired with adult males or females, but showed a strong reduction in risk when paired with babies. Consistent with previous research, males were strongly inclined to take more risks when paired with another male of the same age, but males showed no change in risk-taking when paired with a female of the same age or a child. The current work provides the first experimental evidence of gender differences in cooperative social risk-taking, as well as the first experimental evidence of a mediator of female risk-taking, i.e., babies.
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Marital, Reproductive, and Educational Behaviors Covary with Life Expectancy
Daniel Brian Krupp
Archives of Sexual Behavior, forthcoming
Abstract:
Theories of "life history evolution" suggest that individuals might adjust the timing of marriage and reproduction, as well as their propensity to terminate a marriage or pregnancy and invest in skill development, in response to indicators of the locally prevailing level of life expectancy. In particular, such theories generate the hypothesis that foreshortened time horizons lead to hastened reproduction and marriage whereas lengthier time horizons increase the likelihood of reproductive and marital termination and lead to greater investment in education. Here, I show that the scheduling and occurrence of marital and reproductive behavior (including both initiation and termination), as well as levels of educational attainment and investment, covary with life expectancy, even after controlling for the effects of affluence. In analyses of variation in marital, reproductive, and educational behaviors at two jurisdictional levels in Canada, life expectancy was positively correlated with patterns of age-specific fertility, age at first marriage, divorce, abortion, conferral of high school and higher education degrees (with the exception of the trades) and mean number of years of schooling. The large and highly consistent relationships observed between life expectancy and the behaviors under investigation suggest that these associations may be mediated by individual "perceptions" of life expectancy, though more research is needed before conclusions can be firmly reached.
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Hau Chyi & Orgul Demet Ozturk
Economic Inquiry, forthcoming
Abstract:
We examine the effects of single mothers' welfare use and employment decisions on children's short-run cognitive development, as measured by their preschool standardized math test scores. We control for three mechanisms through which these decisions might affect children's outcomes: direct monetary benefits, parental time invested in the child, and nonpecuniary benefits from in-kind transfer programs such as Medicaid. We employ a correction function approach and control for state-fixed effects to address the endogenous nature of welfare participation and employment decisions. Our estimates suggest that although each additional quarter of either mother's employment or welfare use results in only a small increase in a child's standardized math test score, the total effects after several quarters are sizable. We allow mothers' decisions to have varying effects on attainment by children's observed innate ability and by the intensity of welfare use and employment. A child who has the mean level of observed innate ability with a mother who simultaneously worked and used welfare in all 20 quarters after childbirth experiences an 8.25 standardized-point increase in standardized scores. The positive impact is more pronounced for the more disadvantaged children, who tend to be born to mothers with low Armed Forces Qualification Test scores, or have lower birth weights. We also examine the effects using timing of employment and welfare use, as well as children's maturity and gender.
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When Do Fathers Care? Mothers' Economic Contribution and Fathers' Involvement in Child Care
Sara Raley, Suzanne Bianchi & Wendy Wang
American Journal of Sociology, March 2012, Pages 1422-1459
Abstract:
Previous literature suggests a tenuous link between fathers' care of children and maternal employment and earnings. This study shows that the link is stronger when measures of caregiving capture fathers' increased responsibility for children. The analysis of time diary data from 6,572 married fathers and 7,376 married mothers with children under age 13 indicates that fathers (1) engage in more "solo" care of children when their wives are employed, (2) are more likely to do the kind of child care associated with responsibility for their children when their wives spend more time in the labor market, and (3) participate more in routine care when their wives contribute a greater share of the couple's earnings. In addition, the "father care" to "mother care" ratio rises when mothers contribute a greater share of household earnings.
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Bisakha Sen, Martha Slay Wingate & Russell Kirby
Social Science & Medicine, July 2012, Pages 156-164
Abstract:
The purpose of this study is to explore whether, in the U.S., there are associations between state-level variations in mortality among young children and state abortion restriction policies - such as parental-consent requirements, parental-notification requirements, mandatory delay laws, and restrictions on Medicaid funding for abortion. To investigate this, we used NCHS Multiple Cause of Deaths public-use data files for the period 1983-2002, and compiled data on children ages 0-4 identified as having died as a result of assault/homicide in each state and year. Medicaid funding of abortion, mandatory delay laws, and parental involvement laws for minors seeking abortions were included as the main predictor variables of interest. Multivariate count data models using pooled state-year-age cohort data, with state and time fixed effects and other state-level controls, were estimated. Results indicated that, between 1983 and 2002, the average increase in the number of homicide deaths for children under 5 years of age was 5.70 per state among states that implemented stricter abortion policies over that time, and 2.00 per state for states that did not. In the count data models, parental-consent laws were associated with a 13 percent increase in child homicide deaths; parental-notification laws were associated with an 8 percent increase in child homicide deaths though the results were less robust to alternate model specifications; mandatory delay requirements were associated with a 13 percent increase in child homicide deaths. While these data do not allow us to discern precise pathways via which state abortion-restrictions can lead to more child homicide deaths, we speculate that state restrictions on abortion may result in a disproportionate increase in children born into relatively high-risk environments. Additional research is called for to explore the association of state abortion-restrictions with other measures of infant/child health and well-being.
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Clash of Career and Family: Fertility Decisions after Job Displacement
Emilia Del Bono, Andrea Weber & Rudolf Winter-Ebmer
Journal of the European Economic Association, forthcoming
Abstract:
In this paper we investigate how career considerations may affect fertility decisions in the presence of a temporary employment shock. We compare the birth rates of women displaced by a plant closure with those of women unaffected by job loss after establishing the pre-displacement comparability of these groups. Our results reveal that job displacement reduces average fertility by 5%-10%, and that these effects are largely explained by the response of women in more skilled occupations. We offer an explanation of our results based on career interruptions of women.
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Elisabeth Gugl & Linda Welling
Review of Economics of the Household, June 2012, Pages 277-298
Abstract:
We present a model of parental investment in child quality in which the effectiveness - objectively or as perceived by the parents - of parental childcare depends on the sex of the child. In particular, the time of the same-sex parent is more productive than that of the opposite-sex parent. When parents have equal wages, efficiency considerations dictate that a parent spends more time with a same-sex child than with an opposite-sex child, but parents allocate the same total time to boys and girls, and costs of raising a boy are the same as raising a girl. When wage rates differ, and the mother is the lower-waged parent, it is cheaper to produce child quality of girls than of boys. We show that many of the empirical results in terms of a different time allocation pattern, total amount of time invested in a child, expenditures on child consumption goods, and family size and composition can be explained by this technological difference and the gender wage gap, without relying on parental preferences for girls versus boys. Our analysis is largely diagrammatic.
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Teenage Childbearing Among Youth Born to Teenage Mothers
Elizabeth Wildsmith et al.
Youth & Society, June 2012, Pages 258-283
Abstract:
Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, this article examined how early maternal characteristics, an adolescent's family environment, and the adolescent's own attitudes and behaviors were associated with the odds of a nonmarital teenage birth among youth born to teenage mothers. Multivariate analyses indicated that these domains were closely linked. Early maternal characteristics shaped the later family environment of adolescents (parenting quality and home environment), which, in turn, was associated with the attitudes and behaviors of teens that put them at risk of a nonmarital birth. Notably, there was variation in some of the associations by gender. Increased mother's cognitive ability lowered the risk of a nonmarital birth for boys, but not for girls, whereas fertility expectations were significant for girls, but not for boys. There were no race-ethnic differences in the risk of a teenage birth among girls, although Black boys had a higher risk than White boys.
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Matthijs Kalmijn & Christiaan Monden
Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, May 2012, Pages 358-374
Abstract:
This paper studies the effect of the division of labor within households on husbands' and wives' depressive symptoms. Economic theory argues that specialization enhances mental health and wellbeing, whereas other, more psychological theories argue that equity matters most. We analyze data on husbands and wives from two waves of the National Survey of Families and Households. By combining information on the time spent on household and paid labor, we are able to construct separate and partly independent measures of equity and specialization. We find clear evidence for the equity hypothesis. When hours spent on paid and household labor are more equally distributed between husband and wife, both report fewer depressive symptoms. Only weak and inconsistent support was found for a positive effect of specialization.
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What determines change in the division of housework over the course of marriage?
Daniela Grunow, Florian Schulz & Hans-Peter Blossfeld
International Sociology, May 2012, Pages 289-307
Abstract:
This article analyses the changing division of housework between husbands and wives in western Germany. Using representative longitudinal data from the Bamberg Panel Study of Married Couples, the authors analyse how the division of household labour changes over the first 14 years of marriage. In particular, they assess when and under what conditions the husband's share of traditionally ‘female' housework increases or decreases. They consider shifts in spouses' employment hours, relative earnings and family transitions as time-varying predictor variables in event-history models. It is found that almost half of all newlyweds begin by sharing household tasks equally. But over the course of marriage, the husband's contribution to housework declines significantly, mostly independent of spouses' income or working hours. The husband increasing his share of housework is uncommon, even when the wife works longer hours or realizes higher earnings. Traditional gender norms seem to trump earnings. This is particularly true when children are born.
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Willy Eriksen, Jon Sundet & Kristian Tambs
British Journal of Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
We examined the relationship between the parents' education levels and the adult intelligence of their children in a population-based, nationwide sample of Norwegian half-brothers with different fathers (2,016 pairs of half-brothers). In a family where the mother has two children with different men, the firstborn child usually lives with the younger child's father during a period of their childhood. This makes it possible to study the non-genetic effects of paternal education on children's development. Results showed that the education level of the younger half-brother's father was positively associated with the intelligence score of the older half-brother. The education level of the older half-brother's father was not associated with the intelligence score of the younger half-brother. Firstborn men whose half-brothers' fathers had high levels of education had intelligence scores that were 33% (95% confidence interval: 18-47%) of a standard deviation higher than those of firstborn men whose half-brothers' fathers had low levels of education, after adjustment for the biological fathers' education levels, mothers' education levels, and other background factors. These findings are compatible with the hypothesis that a child's family environment exerts an effect on the cognitive abilities of the child that lasts into adulthood.
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Dopamine receptors D1 and D2 are related to observed maternal behavior
Viara Mileva-Seitz et al.
Genes, Brain and Behavior, forthcoming
Abstract:
The dopamine pathway and especially the dopamine receptors 1 and 2 (DRD1 and DRD2) are implicated in the regulation of mothering in rats. Evidence for this in humans is lacking. Here we show that genetic variation in both DRD1 and DRD2 genes in a sample of 187 Caucasian mothers predicts variation in distinct maternal behaviours during a 30-minute mother-infant interaction at 6 months postpartum. Two DRD1 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs rs265981 and rs686) significantly associated with maternal orienting away from the infant (p=0.002 and p=0.003, respectively), as did DRD1 haplotypes (p=0.03). Two DRD2 SNPs (rs1799732 and rs6277) significantly associated with maternal infant-directed vocalizing (p=0.001 and p=0.04, respectively), as did DRD2 haplotypes (p=0.01). We present evidence for heterosis in DRD1 where heterozygote mothers orient away from their infants significantly less than either homozygote group. Our findings provide important evidence that genetic variation in receptors critical for mothering in non-human species also affect human maternal behaviours. The findings also highlight the importance of exploring multiple dimensions of the complex human mothering phenotype.
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The Intergenerational Transmission of Risk and Trust Attitudes
Thomas Dohmen et ak,
Review of Economic Studies, April 2012, Pages 645-677
Abstract:
Recent theories endogenize the attitude endowments of individuals, assuming that they are shaped by the attitudes of parents and other role models. This paper tests empirically for the relevance of three aspects of the attitude transmission process highlighted in this theoretical literature: (1) transmission of attitudes from parents to children; (2) an impact of prevailing attitudes in the local environment on child attitudes; and (3) positive assortative mating of parents, which enhances the ability of a parent to pass on his or her attitudes to the child. We focus on two fundamentally important attitudes, willingness to take risks and willingness to trust others. We find empirical support for all three aspects, providing an empirical underpinning for the literature. An investigation of underlying mechanisms shows that socialization is important in the transmission process. Various parental characteristics and aspects of family structure are found to strengthen the socialization process, with implications for modeling the socialization production function and for policies focused on affecting children's non-cognitive skills. The paper also provides evidence that the transmission of risk and trust attitudes affects a wide variety of child outcomes, implying a potentially large total effect on children's economic situation.
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Are affluent youth truly "at risk"? Vulnerability and resilience across three diverse samples
Suniya Luthar & Samuel Barkin
Development and Psychopathology, May 2012, Pages 429-449
Abstract:
Building upon prior findings of elevated problems among East Coast suburban youth through the 11th grade, this study establishes disproportionately high incidence of maladjustment across three disparate samples: East Coast Suburban youth at the end of their senior year in high school, and 11th and 12th graders in (a) a Northwest suburb and (b) an East Coast city. Both East Coast samples showed pronounced elevations in substance use, whereas the Northwest suburban sample showed marked vulnerability in serious internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Across all samples, parents' low perceived containment for substance use (lax repercussions on discovering use) was a major vulnerability factor, followed by parents' knowledge of their teens' activities. Overall, adolescents' symptom levels were more strongly related to their relationships with mothers than with fathers. An exception was boys' apparent vulnerability to fathers', but not mothers', perceived depressive symptoms. As with affluent eighth graders, we found that "overscheduling" in extracurriculars is not a critical vulnerability factor among these high school students. Finally, youth reports suggested that most affluent parents do not indiscriminately bail their children out of all problem situations (although a small subset, apparently, do). Results are discussed along with the implications for practice and for future research.
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Unsafe at Any Age: Linking Childhood and Adolescent Maltreatment to Delinquency and Crime
Joshua Mersky, James Topitzes & Arthur Reynolds
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, May 2012, Pages 295-318
Objectives: This study compares the effects of childhood maltreatment and adolescent maltreatment on delinquency and crime, including violent and nonviolent offending.
Methods: Data were derived from the Chicago Longitudinal Study, a prospective investigation of 1,539 underprivileged, minority subjects.
Results: Results confirmed that rates of overall delinquency, along with violent, drug, and property offending specifically, were elevated among childhood and adolescent maltreatment victims compared to their nonmaltreated peers. Childhood maltreatment was associated with delinquency independent of adolescent maltreatment, and strong connections between adolescent maltreatment and delinquency were present independent of prior victimization. Childhood maltreatment was also significantly related to a panel of adult crime measures, while the effects of adolescent maltreatment on adult crime were less robust.
Conclusions: The study findings suggest that maltreatment at any age increases the risk of future offending, implying that investments in prevention and intervention strategies throughout childhood and adolescence may reduce delinquency and crime.
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Primate Evidence on the Late Health Effects of Early Life Adversity
Gabriella Conti et al.
NBER Working Paper, April 2012
Abstract:
This paper exploits a unique ongoing experiment to analyze the effects of early rearing conditions on physical and mental health in a sample of rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). We analyze the health records of 231 monkeys which were randomly allocated at birth across three rearing conditions: Mother Rearing, Peer Rearing, and Surrogate Peer Rearing. We show that the lack of a secure attachment relationship in the early years engendered by adverse rearing conditions has detrimental long-term effects on health which are not compensated by a normal social environment later in life.
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Subsidized Housing, Public Housing, and Adolescent Violence and Substance Use
Tamara Leech
Youth & Society, June 2012, Pages 217-235
Abstract:
This study examines the separate relationships of public housing residence and subsidized housing residence to adolescent health risk behavior. Data include 2,530 adolescents aged 14 to 19 who were children of the National the Longitudinal Study of Youth. The author use stratified propensity methods to compare the behaviors of each group - subsidized housing residents and public housing residents - to a matched control group of teens receiving no housing assistance. The results reveal no significant relationship between public housing residence and violence, heavy alcohol/marijuana use, or other drug use. However, subsidized housing residents have significantly lower rates of violence and hard drug use, and marginally lower rates of heavy marijuana/alcohol use. The results indicate that the consistent, positive effect of vouchers in the current literature is not due to a lower standard among the typical comparison group: public housing. Future studies should focus on conceptualizing and analyzing the protective effect of vouchers beyond comparisons to public housing environments.
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Union Transitions Following the Birth of a Child to Cohabiting Parents
Jennifer Manlove et al.
Population Research and Policy Review, June 2012, Pages 361-386
Abstract:
Despite a growing interest in the family trajectories of unmarried women, there has been limited research on union transitions among cohabiting parents. Using data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth, we examined how family complexity (including relationship and fertility histories), as well as characteristics of the union and birth, were associated with transitions to marriage or to separation among 1,105 women who had a birth in a cohabiting relationship. Cohabiting parents had complex relationship and fertility histories, which were tied to union transitions. Having a previous nonmarital birth was associated with a lower relative risk of marriage and a greater risk of separation. In contrast, a prior marriage or marital birth was linked to union stability (getting married or remaining cohabiting). Characteristics of the union and birth were also important. Important racial/ethnic differences emerged in the analyses. Black parents had the most complex family histories and the lowest relative risk of transitioning to marriage. Stable cohabitations were more common among Hispanic mothers, and measures of family complexity were particularly important to their relative risk of marriage. White mothers who began cohabiting after conception were the most likely to marry, suggesting that "shot-gun cohabitations" serve as a stepping-stone to marriage.
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Gender Role Ideology and Life Course Transitions of Baby-boom Women
Jessica Penn Lendon & Merril Silverstein
Advances in Life Course Research, forthcoming
Abstract:
This study investigated the interrelationship between attitudes toward gender role egalitarianism and family and human capital decisions among a group of baby-boom women from 1971-2005. Using latent growth curve and latent difference modeling of 294 women, we found that early egalitarian values decreased the risk of becoming a mother and marrying and increased the risk of graduating college and working in the labor force. A sharp increase in egalitarianism was found between 1971 and 1985 that was more characteristic of women who graduated college and worked in the labor force. The stall of the post-1985 period was predicted (inversely) by earlier attitudes toward egalitarianism, but not by life decisions. Results suggest that early values were consequential for life pathways taken by these women and that more advantaged women were at the vanguard of the surge in egalitarian gender values during the 1970s and 1980s that subsequently moderated from the mid-1980s onward. There appears to be a convergence among women in their attitudes over time, characteristic of an institutionalization of gender role equality that blends liberal and traditional orientations. This study offers a long-historical view into how women's gender role attitudes change over historical time and the role that family and human capital factors play in that change.
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Tammy Barry et al.
Journal of Community Psychology, April 2012, Pages 372-379
Abstract:
The current study utilized a longitudinal design to examine the effects of neighborhood and parenting on 120 at-risk children's academic and aggressive outcomes, concurrently and at two later timepoints during the transition to middle school. Random effects regression models were estimated to examine whether neighborhood characteristics and harsh parenting predicted change in these problems from 4th to 6th grade. Results indicated that academic problems decreased then increased after the middle school transition, whereas aggression decreased then leveled off. Both neighborhood problems and harsh parenting were associated with academic problems; neighborhood problems and poor support were related to aggression. A significant interaction in predicting aggression was found, indicating that children in more problematic neighborhoods and experiencing harsher parenting exhibited the highest levels of aggression. Findings highlight the relation of neighborhood problems to both academic problems outcomes and aggression in youth and underscore the importance of early prevention efforts.
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Effects of Media Messages on Parent-Child Sexual Communication
Douglas Evans et al.
Journal of Health Communication, May 2012, Pages 498-514
Abstract:
Parent-child communication about sex is an important reproductive health outcome. Consistent, positive perceptions of communication by parents and children can promote behavioral outcomes such as delaying sexual debut and increasing contraceptive use. The authors investigated whether exposure to messages from the Parents Speak Up National Campaign (PSUNC), a social marketing campaign to promote increased parent-child sexual communication, led to increased children's self-reports of communication. Also, the authors examined whether PSUNC message exposure increased agreement about communication between parents and their children. In a randomized experimental design, the authors surveyed children of parents exposed and not exposed to PSUNC messages. Parents and children completed online instruments asking matched questions about sexual attitudes, beliefs, and communication. The authors matched 394 parents and children for analysis. They used ordinal logistic regression modeling and kappa statistics. Children of parents exposed to PSUNC messages were more likely to (a) report sexual communication than were those not exposed and (b) agree with their parents about extent and content. Parent-child pairs of the same gender, younger pairs, and non-White pairs were more likely to agree. Overall, PSUNC message exposure appears to have promoted more extensive sexual communication. Future research should examine behavioral mechanisms and message receptivity among subgroups of parents and children.
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Norweeta Milburn et al.
Journal of Adolescent Health, April 2012, Pages 358-364
Purpose: We evaluate the efficacy of a short family intervention in reducing sexual risk behavior, drug use, and delinquent behaviors among homeless youth.
Methods: A randomized controlled trial of 151 families with a homeless adolescent aged 12 to 17 years. Between March 2006 and June 2009, adolescents were recruited from diverse sites in Southern California and were assessed at recruitment (baseline), and at 3, 6, and 12 months later. Families were randomly assigned to an intervention condition with five weekly home-based intervention sessions or a control condition (standard care). Main outcome measures reflect self-reported sexual risk behavior, substance use, and delinquent behaviors over the past 90 days.
Results: Sexual risk behavior (e.g., mean number of partners; p < .001), alcohol use (p = .003), hard drug use (p < .001), and delinquent behaviors (p = .001) decreased significantly more during 12 months in the intervention condition compared with the control condition. Marijuana use, however, significantly increased in the intervention condition compared with the control condition (p < .001).
Conclusions: An intervention to reengage families of homeless youth has significant benefits in reducing risk over 12 months.