Showing papers in "Journal of Family Issues in 1995"
TL;DR: The authors analyzed data from the National Survey of Families and Households to compare marriages and cohabiting relationships, and revealed several broad differences in the nature of the two types of relationships.
Abstract: This research analyzes data from the National Survey of Families and Households to compare marriages and cohabiting relationships. It reveals several broad differences in the nature of the two types of relationships. Specifically, cohabitors were found to express lower levels of commitment to their relationships, to report lower levels of happiness with their relationships, and to have poorer relationships with parents than comparable married individuals. The poorer quality of cohabiting relationships is argued to stem largely from the lack of institutionalization of the practice.
515 citations
TL;DR: This paper found that demographic shortages of suitable marital partners not only lower the probability of marriage, but also increase the likelihood that never-married women will either marry men with characteristics dissimilar to their own or marrying men with low socioeconomic status.
Abstract: This article presents a search model of marital choice. We tested the hypothesis that demographic shortages of suitable marital partners not only lower the probability of marriage, but increase the likelihood that never-married women will either: (a) marry men with characteristics dissimilar to their own or (b) marry men with low socioeconomic status. This analysis was accomplished using data from the 1979-1986 waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, merged with various local-area sex ratios from the 1980 decennial U.S. Census. We found that a favorable marriage market, measured in terms of the relative number of men to women, increases the odds of marrying a high-status man compared with a low-status man (as measured in terms of education and occupation). It also increases the chance of forgoing marriage rather than marrying low-status men. At the same time, we found little evidence that mate surpluses or deficits in the local marriage market affect patterns of homogamy or assortative mating....
189 citations
TL;DR: The authors used a panel study of children and mothers to examine how parents and children conceptualize, perceive, and report on their relationships with each other during the children's transition to adulthood years.
Abstract: This article uses a panel study of children and mothers to examine how parents and children conceptualize, perceive, and report on their relationships with each other during the children's transition to adulthood years. The article provides strong support for the reliability and validity of reports of parent-child relationships. The article documents generally positive and supportive relationships between parents and children, more positive relationships with mothers than with fathers, and an improvement in relationships as children mature from age 18 to 23. Further, parent-child relationships are perceived differently by parents and children in that there is not just one perception of the relationship between child and parent, but a relationship as perceived by the child and a relationship as perceived by the parent.
151 citations
TL;DR: This article examined how the assumption of multigenerational caregiving responsibilities affects caregivers' well-being and found that this change in family responsibilities has little to no effect on caregivers' wellbeing, even after considering factors including caregivers' gender and weekly hours of labor force employment.
Abstract: It has been suggested that middle-aged adults are becoming burdened with the responsibilities of caring for both parents and children as a result of changing social and demographic trends. Consequently, there is concern that this burden of multiple family responsibilities may adversely affect caregivers' well-being. Using a national sample of married persons, this study examines how the assumption of multigenerational caregiving responsibilities affects caregivers' well-being. It is found that this change in family responsibilities has little to no effect on caregivers' well-being, even after considering factors including caregivers' gender and weekly hours of labor force employment.
109 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors define social capital as perceived access to time and money help from friends and family, and examine the stock of social capital to which families have access, the trade-off between access to money and time help, and the association between perceived access and money helps and conventional measures of family economic well-being.
Abstract: Defining social capital as perceived access to time and money help from friends and family, this article examines (a) the stock of social capital to which families have access, (b) the trade-off between access to money and time help, and (c) the association between perceived access to time and money help and conventional measures of family economic well-being. Data come from the 1980 wave of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, an ongoing longitudinal survey of U.S. households. More than 9 out of 10 families reported access to social capital. Some evidence for isolation from social capital among families with a less-educated or older head was found. Surprisingly, families in very poor neighborhoods reported more access to social capital, primarily in friend-based networks. Finally, geographic mobility leads to increased social isolation, because it reduces family ties.
109 citations
TL;DR: Using the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH), the authors investigated the support received by employed African American and Anglo mothers of young children, finding that mothers below the poverty line are no more likely to receive support than more affluent mothers.
Abstract: Using the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH), we investigate the support received by employed African American and Anglo mothers of young children. Supports investigated include care of sick and out-of-school children, general baby-sitting assistance, and help with transportation. Supports received from family and friends were analyzed separately. Care for sick and out-of-school children is deemed to be a particularly important source of support, and African Americans are more likely than Anglos to receive this support from relatives. A discouraging finding is that for every type of support, mothers below the poverty line are no more likely to receive support than more affluent mothers.
101 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined the impact of gender, marital status, and parent status on emotional closeness, confiding, and contact among siblings in middle and later life using data from a multistage quota sample that includes 528 respondents aged 55 and older who have one or more siblings.
Abstract: The authors examine the impact of gender, marital status, and parent status on emotional closeness, confiding, and contact among siblings in middle and later life. Using data from a multistage quota sample that includes 528 respondents aged 55 and older who have one or more siblings, characteristics of both the respondent and the sibling or sibling network are studied. Separate analyses are conducted for the entire sibling network and for the sibling of greatest closeness, confiding, and contact. Women and respondents with sisters, the single (never married), and the childless tend to have more active sibling ties than their counterparts. Several control variables (number of siblings, geographic proximity, age, and education) are also significant. Emotional closeness to siblings is an important factor related to confiding and contact. Findings are discussed in the context of socially proscribed familial obligation and emotional attachment as bases for involvement with siblings.
100 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a study was designed to test empirically the value of the distributive justice framework in terms of understanding wives' sense of fairness about the division of family work, as recommended by Thompson.
Abstract: This study was designed to test empirically the value of the distributive justice framework in terms of understanding wives' sense of fairness about the division of family work, as recommended by Thompson. Operationalizations of many of the social-psychological cognitions suggested by the framework are presented. In a sample of 234 dual-earner wives randomly selected from metropolitan areas of the western United States, there was qualified support for the framework. Feelings of appreciation were the strongest predictor of fairness. Deciding together how things would be divided was also a strong predictor. Other effects on fairness were indirect, however; they affected the division of family work, which, in turn, influenced wives' sense of fairness. More psychometric work will be needed, and replication with different samples is necessary, but the distributive justice framework appears to have significant merit for understanding wives' perceptions of fairness about family work.
95 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a summary of the most widely supported findings concerning grandparents' transactions with their children and grandchildren is presented, including demographic information, political behavior, and asset transfer from well-off elders to their descendants.
Abstract: This article contains a summary of the most widely supported findings concerning grandparents' transactions with their children and grandchildren. In addition, based on the research summary, areas for which there is little information are spotlighted. These include general demographic information, political behavior, and asset transfer from well-off elders to their descendants. Theoretical suggestions are included for the latter area. Most present studies focus on the interactional dynamics of intergenerational relations. An assessment of the theoretical and methodological shortcomings of the research also appears.
94 citations
TL;DR: Analysis of marital history data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth with 1980 census data describing the quantity of spousal alternatives available to husbands and wives in the local geographic area suggests that persons who marry young will be more likely than those who marry later in life to dissolve their marriage when they encounter abundant alternatives to their current spouse.
Abstract: "This article attempts to shed light on the oft-observed relationship between age at marriage and marital dissolution by first deriving a hypothesis from marital search theory that relates both variables to the supply of spousal alternatives in the local marriage market. This hypothesis states that, relative to people who marry later in life, persons who marry at comparatively young ages will be especially susceptible to divorce when confronted with abundant alternatives to their current spouse. Marital history data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth were then merged with aggregated data from the Public Use Microdata Samples of the 1980 U.S. census to test this hypothesis." The author finds that "discrete-time event history analyses offer no support for this hypothesis. Although the risk of marital dissolution is highest where either husbands or wives chance numerous spousal alternatives, the impact of age at marriage on divorce is significantly weaker in marriage markets containing abundant remarriage opportunities. Some of the effect of age at marriage on marital dissolution is attributable to the detrimental impact of early marriage on educational attainment."
85 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined differences across three racial/ethnic groups in the psychometric properties of the Early Childhood HOME Inventory and the HOME-Short Form and the prediction of the two versions of the HOME Inventory to cognitive and behavioral outcomes among preschool children.
Abstract: In this article, we examine differences across three racial/ethnic groups in (a) the psychometric properties of the Early Childhood HOME Inventory and the HOME-Short Form and (b) the prediction of the two versions of the HOME Inventory to cognitive and behavioral outcomes among preschool children. Data are taken from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-Child Supplement (NLSY-CS) and the Infant Health and Development Program (IHDP) sample. Findings suggest few racial/ethnic differences in the psychometric properties of either version of the HOME scale. Both show better prediction of cognitive child outcomes for all three racial/ethnic groups. Both show better prediction of child outcomes generally for European American than for Hispanic and African American families. Findings suggest that although certain aspects of parenting are common, these dimensions of parenting are not equally important in explaining child outcomes for different racial/ethnic subgroups.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined how selected family resources (flexibility, bonding, regularity in household time and routines, regularities in the observance of celebrations, parent-adolescent communication, stepparent-adolescence communication) and demographic variables (age, stepfather vs. stepmother family, time in the remarried family, gender, steppa-al educational level, parental educational level and parental occupational level) related to adolescent family life satisfaction in remar married family households.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine how selected family resources (flexibility, bonding, regularity in household time and routines, regularity in the observance of celebrations, parent-adolescent communication, stepparent-adolescent communication) and demographic variables (age, stepfather vs. stepmother family, time in the remarried family, gender, stepparental educational level, parental educational level, parental occupational level, and stepparental occupational level) related to adolescent family life satisfaction in remarried family households. Self-report questionnaire data were collected from 95 high school students who lived in remarried families. Results of multiple regression analysis showed that flexibility, regularity in household time and routines, and effectiveness in parent-communication were significantly related to overall adolescent satisfaction in remarried family households. Flexibility and effectiveness in stepparent-adolescent communication were significantly related to adolesc...
TL;DR: This paper examined two sets of observational measures of parenting behavior: home observation for measurement of the environment (HOME) warmth subscale and a Supportive Presence scale, and between the HOME Learning subscale, and a Quality of Assistance scale.
Abstract: In this study we drew on the Infant Health and Development Program to examine two sets of observational measures of parenting behavior. First, correlations between the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) Warmth subscale and a Supportive Presence scale, and between the HOME Learning subscale and a Quality of Assistance scale were examined. There were moderate correlations between the two emotional support scales and between the two cognitive stimulation scales. Second, the individual and collective predictive strengths of each parenting behavior measure were examined vis-a-vis two child outcomes: children's behavior problems and children's receptive language abilities. White and Black children were examined separately in all analyses. Analyses indicated some degree of association between the parenting behavior measures and the childhood outcomes. Some unanticipated racial differences in the regression models also emerged.
TL;DR: The authors examined the effects of early maternal employment on the cognitive ability of 2,040 4- to 6-year-old children drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY).
Abstract: This research examines the effects of early maternal employment on the cognitive ability of 2,040 4- to 6-year-old children drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Some scholars have hypothesized that it is the “most advantaged” of society's children who are disadvantaged or negatively affected by early maternal employment. If this hypothesis is true, the findings should be that advantages such as high levels of cognitive stimulation in the home or household income do not affect cognitive ability as strongly for children of mothers who were employed during early childhood as they do for children whose mothers were not employed. Of 24 possible interaction effects that would confirm this hypothesis, only one is statistically significant (and the nature of that interaction is not completely consistent with the hypothesis). In terms of effects on cognitive outcomes, the most advantaged children are not disproportionately disadvantaged by early maternal employment.
TL;DR: This paper examined the determinants of Black, Hispanic, and Anglo women's and men's views of the fairness of the division of housework, and found that men's proportional share of time spent on female-typed tasks affects both women and men' views of how fairly housework is divided, although the effect is stronger for women.
Abstract: In this article we examine the determinants of Black, Hispanic, and Anglo women's and men's views of the fairness of the division of housework. Using the 1987-1988 National Survey of Families and Households, we find that men's proportional share of time spent on female-typed tasks affects both women's and men's views of how fairly housework is divided, although the effect is stronger for women. The frequency of arguments about housework also is positively associated with perceptions of fairness for both women and men, again with a stronger effect for women. Moreover, Black men are less likely to report that housework is divided unfairly than are Anglo men, suggesting that reference group comparisons among men by race and ethnicity may affect perceptions of family entitlement.
TL;DR: In this article, a review of existing research about the scope and consequences of child abuse and neglect is presented, including methodological considerations that are especially pertinent to research about child maltreatment, including the definition of the problem, study design, and issues of causality and bias.
Abstract: Research about child abuse and neglect is very complex methodologically and ethically. There are not yet uniform research definitions of the problem and the lack of prospective population-based research limits the ability to make progress. To date researchers have been reluctant to ask children directly about their maltreatment experiences because of perceptions of ethical and legal responsibilities. This article begins with a brief review of existing research about the scope and consequences of child abuse and neglect. We address methodological considerations that are especially pertinent to research about child maltreatment, including the definition of the problem, study design, and issues of causality and bias. We conclude with a discussion of ethical and legal issues that arise in the course of carrying out such research, including issues related to subject recruitment, informed consent, confidentiality, and reporting.
TL;DR: The authors used the National Survey of Families and Households to explore Black-White differences in kin contact and exchange among unmarried young adults, and found significant differences between Blacks and Whites are found in both the descriptive statistics and in regression models that control for education, employment, and area of residence.
Abstract: This research uses the National Survey of Families and Households to explore Black-White differences in kin contact and exchange among unmarried young adults. Many significant differences between Blacks and Whites are found in both the descriptive statistics and in regression models that control for education, employment, and area of residence. This article also investigates the role of premarital fertility in race differences for women. Unmarried Black men and women are more likely than Whites to be living with relatives, especially nonnuclear relatives. In addition, Black women contact mothers and siblings and socialize with relatives more often than White women. However, Blacks are less likely to exchange aid with any relative, although they are more likely to exchange aid with relatives other than their parents.
TL;DR: Weinraub and Wolf as mentioned in this paper investigated maternal and preschool child functioning in households headed by solo mothers and found that preadolescent children of solo mothers had more behavior problems, lower social competence, and poorer school performance than children of married mothers.
Abstract: Weinraub and Wolf investigated maternal and preschool child functioning in households headed by solo mothers. Solo mothers—nonadolescent women raising children from birth without a male partner—differed from demographically matched, married counterparts with regard to stress and social supports, yet no differences in child outcomes were observed. Twenty-eight families (70%) from that original sample were reassessed as children entered preadolescence. Child measures included maternal and teacher report of behavior problems, social competence, and academic performance. Maternal measures included parenting, social supports, and stress. According to teachers, preadolescent children of solo mothers had more behavior problems, lower social competence, and poorer school performance than children of married mothers. Solo mothers continued to be less satisfied with emotional supports and reported higher stress. Maternal stress moderated family status effects on child outcome. Longitudinal analyses revealed stabili...
TL;DR: It is demonstrated, using a large national data set, that the Mexican American family is available for affective support of its elders but does not adequately provide for their instrumental needs.
Abstract: A continuing debate exists in the family literature about the needs of the Mexican American elderly, a rapidly growing population. Supporters of one side of the argument indicate that the Mexican American family is available to care for the needs of the aging Mexican American population whereas the other argues that this is simply a romanticized and stereotypical view. Using a large national data set, this article demonstrates, that the Mexican American family is available for affective support of its elders but does not adequately provide for their instrumental needs. Consequently, it is recommended that policymakers and service providers quickly identify the needs of the older Mexican American population in an effort to provide assistance to them as they have done for other older populations in the United States.
TL;DR: The authors examined marital status differences in attitudes about parental obligation, social support relationships with adult children, and psychological well-being using data from 3,002 midlife parents (age 35-64) of nonresident adult children interviewed by the National Survey of Families and Households 1987-1988.
Abstract: This research examined marital status differences in attitudes about parental obligation, social support relationships with adult children, and psychological well-being using data from 3,002 midlife parents (age 35-64) of nonresident adult children interviewed by the National Survey of Families and Households 1987-1988. Remarried and single parents generally professed less belief in parental financial obligation to adult children than first marriage parents. Overall, parents in first marriages were the most likely to be giving support. Separated/divorced and widowed mothers were more likely to only receive support; remarried and single fathers were more likely to be uninvolved in support. Single and remarried mothers reported less happiness and more distress than first marriage mothers. Single fathers generally reported poorer psychological well-being than first marriage fathers, but there was a trend for remarried fathers to report somewhat more happiness. Support relationships affected the well-being of...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors determine what family-oriented benefits and policy options are being offered by businesses in one state, as well as the circumstances or conditions under which such benefits are offered.
Abstract: The stress of balancing work and family demands has increased as more wives and mothers have entered the workforce. One way to alleviate that stress is through employer-supported, family-related benefits and policies. The purpose of this research is to determine what family-oriented benefits and policy options are being offered by businesses in one state, as well as the circumstances or conditions under which such benefits are offered. The human resources directors of a stratified random sample of businesses were mailed a questionnaire and asked to report the types of benefits they offered. Demographic data on the companies and employees also were collected. Generally, companies offered few benefits, but the number of benefits offered is found to be related significantly to company size and the percentage of women in the company workforce. These findings are consistent with the rational-choice interpretation underlying the authors' model.
TL;DR: Findings from a national telephone survey of married adults suggest that men and women who gained weight were happier with their marriages and men who lost more weight reported marital problems less often.
Abstract: Obesity is a stigmatized condition that clinical studies have suggested is associated with low marital quality. Body weight, marital unhappiness, and marital problems were examined in a national telephone survey of 1,980 married adults. Few relationships between the 5 measures of weight and 2 measures of marital quality (unhappiness and problems) were significant. Obese men had more marital problems. Men who lost more weight reported marital problems less often. Obese women reported less marital unhappiness. Men and women who gained weight were happier with their marriages. These population-based findings differ from popular beliefs and clinical studies and may be interpreted using family functioning, social norms, and marital exchange models.
TL;DR: The composite picture that emerged from the single mothers was one of ambivalence toward marriage—a combination of an idealized image of what marriage should be with an unwillingness to accept compromise as an essential relationship strategy.
Abstract: Between 1982 and 1992, the birthrate doubled among never married college-educated women and almost tripled among never married women who work in a professional or managerial capacity. This research examines why older, single women want to become mothers and how their premotherhood motivation and experience compare to those of married mothers. A snowball sampling technique was used to recruit 51 women who were single when they became mothers and 51 demographically similar married mothers. The two groups were alike regarding their motivation for becoming a mother, although the single mothers were more likely to have considered their marital status and other related factors (e.g., finances) prior to becoming a mother. The single and married mothers differed in how they viewed relationships with men. The composite picture that emerged from the single mothers was one of ambivalence toward marriage—a combination of an idealized image of what marriage should be with an unwillingness to accept compromise as an es...
TL;DR: Event history analysis of the postmarital union experiences of women and men from the Canadian 1990 Family and Friends Survey supports the proposed position that people who cohabited with their first spouse prior to marriage have a greater propensity to cohabit after marital disruption.
Abstract: Previous research has indicated that premarital cohabitation decreases marital stability. This study examined the role of premarital cohabitation as a determinant of cohabitation after marital disruption. The author proposed that people who cohabited with their first spouse prior to marriage have a greater propensity to cohabit after marital disruption than people who did not cohabit before their first marriage. Event history analysis of the postmarital union experiences of women and men from the Canadian 1990 Family and Friends Survey (FFS) supports this proposition. It was found that the hazard rate of postmarital cohabitation was over 50% higher for premarital cohabitants than for noncohabitants. This was the case for both women and men. The implications of these results are discussed.
TL;DR: The authors examined the relationship between three aspects of intergenerational relations (a problem in the life of an adult child, conflict with a child, and social support from an adult adult child) and depression in aging parents in a sample of three-generation California families.
Abstract: This research examined the relationship between three aspects of intergenerational relations—a problem in the life of an adult child, conflict with an adult child, and social support from an adult child—and depression in aging parents in a sample of three-generation California families. Of the three issues, only support from an adult child was consistently related to depression in parents. Using a nonevaluative measure of support, it was found that those parents who receive support from a child are more depressed than those who do not, and those who have less conflict between the generations are more depressed when they receive support from an adult child.
TL;DR: Results from the logistic regression analysis reveal that for rural Blacks, family structure is less important than community type and race relative to poverty status, suggesting a need for a refinement of the underclass debate.
Abstract: The nature and structure of the African American family continues to be a topic of importance in sociology. Since the much-maligned Moynihan report of the 1960s, sociologists have linked Black family structure to persisting disadvantage. However, the overwhelming majority of past studies have focused on the urban Black family. Accordingly, this article employs data from the 1990 Public Use Microdata Samples to compare the rural African American family to its urban counterpart. Results from the logistic regression analysis reveal that for rural Blacks, family structure is less important than community type and race relative to poverty status. These findings suggest a need for a refinement of the underclass debate.
TL;DR: Results show that White women have the shortest duration until marriage, with a smaller percentage remaining never married, while Chinese American and Japanese American women delay first marriage longer and have higher percentages of never married women.
Abstract: Using U.S. census data, this study examines the differences in marriage rates and timing among White, Chinese American, and Japanese American women. An accelerated time model estimates the duration until marriage for each racial-ethic group while controlling for nativity, education, birth cohort, ancestry, and English proficiency. Results show that White women have the shortest duration until marriage, with a smaller percentage remaining never married. Chinese American and Japanese American women delay first marriage longer and have higher percentages of never married women.
TL;DR: Although residential differences existed in both the way Latino families access health insurance and in the impact of family characteristics and the employment context on the odds of having family coverage, it was not found to explain the difference in health insurance.
Abstract: This article examines the impact of the employment context and family structure on the health insurance status of Mexican families. Data from the 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey were used to (a) examine the differences in the extent of family coverage among Latino families in the U.S., (b) determine whether differences in the residential distribution of these families is responsible for these differences, and (c) assess the impact of family characteristics and the employment context on the health insurance status of Mexican and non-Latino White families within and across residential groups. Although residential differences existed in both the way Latino families access health insurance and in the impact of family characteristics and the employment context on the odds of having family coverage, it was not found to explain the difference in health insurance. The extended family had a significant impact on the odds of having no one insured in the family versus having everyone insured.
TL;DR: This article explored the roles of various contextual and developmental variables in attitudes toward interfaith dating among Jewish adolescents living in minority and majority community contexts and identified attitudes and issues indicative of varying degrees of willingness to interfaith date.
Abstract: Attitudes toward interfaith dating are a pertinent topic to investigate among groups characterized by endogamous marital patterns. In the present investigation, this topic is examined among Jewish adolescents living in minority and majority community contexts. This study offers an extension of previous research by drawing on theory from the social psychology of attitudes to explore the roles of various contextual and developmental variables in attitudes toward interfaith dating. Qualitative analysis was employed to identify attitudes and issues indicative of varying degrees of willingness to interfaith date. Quantitative analysis (using discriminant function analysis) was employed to explore the roles of various contextual and developmental variables in the attitudes and issues expressed. More restrictive attitudes toward interfaith dating were associated with majority adolescents, greater Orthodoxy, and more frequent religious participation.
TL;DR: This paper examined three critical weaknesses of the assimilation model as they appear in assimilation programs based on the model and then returned to the debate over assisting minority single mothers and show how the Assimilation model has shaped that debate from the turn of the century to the present day.
Abstract: In this article we assert that it is necessary to better understand the assimilation model of racial and ethnic relations in order to comprehend more fully the contemporary debate over minority welfare mothers. We analyze the origins of the assimilation model in the debate over Indian policy in the 19th-century United States and its role in 20th-century social thought and policy toward other racial and ethnic minorities. We then examine three critical weaknesses of the model as they appear in assimilation programs based on the model. Finally, we return to the debate over assisting minority single mothers and show how the assimilation model has shaped that debate from the turn of the century to the present day.