Showing papers in "Journal of Family Issues in 1997"
TL;DR: In this paper, the association between time spent on housework tasks on one hand and psychological distress on the other was estimated with data collected from a random sample of 265 employed dual-earner couples.
Abstract: In this analysis, with data collected from a random sample of 265 employed dual-earner couples, we estimated the association between time spent on housework tasks on one hand and psychological distress on the other. Based on the literature relating job control to mental health outcomes, we hypothesized that hours spent in low-schedule-control tasks, but not total hours spent in housework tasks or hours spent in high-schedule-control tasks, would be associated with psychological distress. Further, we hypothesized that absolute but not proportional time in low-schedule-control tasks would be related to distress. After controlling for age, gender, education, occupational prestige, number of children, preschool children, gender role ideology, marital role quality, and total number of hours in paid employment, all hypotheses were supported. Finally, as hypothesized these relationships were not moderated by gender.
176 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the situation of young adults in terms of residential independence (living with parents vs. living outside the parental home) and the relationship with the labor market, the two factors that create the most difficulty in the transition to adulthood.
Abstract: This article illustrates the situation of young people in terms of residential independence (living with parents vs. living outside the parental home) and the relationship with the labor market, the two factors that create the most difficulty in the transition to adulthood. Using data from the Labour Force Surveys (from 1983 to 1994), conducted in all European Union countries, some descriptive comparisons concerning residential trends and work status among three southern European countries (Spain, Greece, and Italy) and three central European countries (France, Germany, and the United Kingdom) are presented. Main aspects of recent trends are an increase in the nonactive population, with a majority living with their parents; stability in the proportion unemployed and their residential status; and a significant increase of young people with a job still living with their parents in the southern countries, especially those ages 25 to 29. In particular, the situation of young adults in the southern countries a...
168 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reviewed research from the 1990s on trends in leaving home in the United States and presented new research on trends on returning home, placing these trends within the context of two key theoretical considerations: changes in family roles and changes in the economic opportunities of young adults.
Abstract: This article reviews research from the 1990s on trends in leaving home in the United States and presents new research on trends in returning home. These trends are placed within the context of two key theoretical considerations: changes in family roles and changes in the economic opportunities of young adults. The leaving home process in early adulthood is tied to changes in the core nuclear family relationships because those between parents and children shape the launch and those between men and women help to shape the destinations. The economic considerations include variation in income sources, particularly wages and transfers, and the costs of independent residence. These considerations underline the importance of taking a comparative perspective to the process of leaving home in the transition to adulthood.
106 citations
TL;DR: Results indicate that, for women, the appropriate model of remarriage varies with age of separation from the first husband, and the implications for patterns of poverty among divorced women are considered.
Abstract: This analysis of remarriage among the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study's cohort of high school graduates investigates the relationship between socioeconomic prospects and remarriage after divorce. This article expands on previous efforts by including multiple measures of socioeconomic prospects and considering their importance over an extended time frame. In addition, a comparative approach is taken in this analysis, with the importance of socioeconomic prospects considered for the remarriage of both women and men. Several competing hypotheses are tested, with results indicating that, for women, the appropriate model of remarriage varies with age of separation from the first husband. With few exceptions, socioeconomic prospects are not found to be related to the remarriage of men. The implications of these findings for patterns of poverty among divorced women are considered.
100 citations
98 citations
TL;DR: This article examined Black young adult parents' reliance on grandmothers for parenting support and found that mothers were more likely than fathers to rely on mothers for both child care assistance and parenting advice.
Abstract: This article examines Black young adult parents' reliance on grandmothers for parenting support. The sample of 487 parents, 18 to 34 years old, was drawn from the National Survey of Black Americans. Parents most often nominated grandmothers as the person they could count on for child care assistance and parental guidance. Mothers and fathers did not differ in their overall nominations of grandmothers. However, mothers were more likely than fathers to rely on grandmothers for both child care assistance and parenting advice. Fathers were more likely than mothers to rely on grandmothers for child care assistance only. Factors affecting parents' reliance on grandmothers for parenting support varied by gender. For mothers, family closeness, the number of generations in multigeneration family lineages, residence in the rural South, and family proximity were related to increased reliance on grandmothers for parenting support. Among fathers, being employed and family proximity increased their reliance on grandmot...
92 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined four theoretical approaches identified by Strube (1988) as relevant to abused women's stay/leave decision-making processes and argued that these four approaches have overlapping components that may be combined into a single framework for understanding abused women' stay and leave decisions.
Abstract: This article critically examines four theoretical approaches identified by Strube (1988) as relevant to abused women's stay/leave decision-making processes. It is argued that these four approaches have overlapping components that may be combined into a single framework for understanding abused women's stay/leave decisions. The essential aspects of abused women's stay/leave decisions appear to revolve around two central questions: “Will I be better off?” and “Can I do it?” This model proposes that abused women's stay/leave decisions occur in a stepwise fashion. A woman may wish to leave her relationship but be inhibited from doing so because she does not feel she has control over her circumstances. Conversely, a woman may have the necessary resources for leaving but may wish to remain in the relationship. Empirical work in the fields of marital and dating violence is reviewed and provides preliminary support for the components of this two-step model of abused women's stay/leave decisions.
90 citations
TL;DR: The authors analyzed data from a qualitative study of 95 dual-earner couples to understand the critical factors that explain couples' choice of day care arrangements and raised issues about attempts (and nonattempts) to alter work arrangements for parents to care for children.
Abstract: Analyzing data from a qualitative study of 95 dual-earner couples, this article seeks to understand the critical factors that explain couples' choice of day care arrangements. The different approaches couples implement to care for their children while they earn income are (a) the “mothering” approach, (b) the parenting approach, and (c) the market approach. Changing sentiments about mothering and its centrality to decisions about how couples organize and integrate family and work lives are discussed within each approach. Finally, the article raises issues about attempts (and nonattempts) to alter work arrangements for parents to care for children.
74 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on differences between couples where one or more partner is remarried or recohabiting and those where both partners are in their first married or cohabiting relationships, using nationally representative survey data from Britain.
Abstract: There are only a limited number of studies comparing housework among couples and individuals in different marital statuses, and the focus of attention has tended to be on married compared to cohabiting couples. This article focuses on differences between couples where one or more partner is remarried or recohabiting and those where both partners are in their first married or cohabiting relationships, using nationally representative survey data from Britain. It is shown in multivariate analysis that women in their second-plus partnerships contribute less in terms of their proportion of total housework time than women in their first partnerships. However, there is no effect for the man's number of previous partnerships or for current marital/cohabiting status. It is argued that the significant issue is interaction and negotiation with a subsequent partner in the light of experience gained from the breakdown of one or more previous married/cohabiting relationships.
57 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored contributions from various system levels to the work/family stress dynamic and found that all system levels examined (individual, family microsystem, and workplace microsystem) contributed to experienced stress, with the greatest contribution coming from the family micro system.
Abstract: Fathers in dual-earner families (N = 447) participated in three studies. The first two studies were designed to devise a brief measure of stress experienced by employed men in dual-earner families. The resulting Workplace/Family Stress Scale was found to be a reliable and valid measure of this construct. An ecological systems framework was utilized for study design and analyses in the third study. This study explored contributions from various system levels to the work/family stress dynamic. Results indicated that all system levels examined (the individual, the family microsystem, and the workplace microsystem) contributed to experienced stress, with the greatest contribution coming from the family microsystem. Implications of these findings for fathers involved in multiple roles and for their families are discussed.
54 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors studied the differences between the habits of young people in Italy and those outside of Italy and found that young adults in Italy tend to prolong their stay with their family of origin.
Abstract: The available data concerning the prolongation of youth suggest that there are big differences between the habits of young people in Italy and those abroad. Generally speaking, young people outside of Italy, before forming their own family, leave their nuclear family of origin and go to live alone or experiment with ways of living with others that only later may lead to marriage. But in Italy, the past decade has been characterized by a very low percentage of types of households other than those of the family of origin. As a result, the quota of young people who live with their families is the highest in the West. The peculiarity of Italian young adults is that of leaving home only to marry; the elongation of youth in Italy essentially means young people tending to prolong their stay with their family of origin.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue for the importance of guilt and shame for the process of socialization via the role of these reflexive emotions in individuals' conformity to moral and social norms.
Abstract: In this study, we argue for the importance of guilt and shame for the process of socialization via the role of these reflexive emotions in individuals' conformity to moral and social norms. Working from the assumption that the self-concept is the basis for feelings of guilt and shame, we test a number of hypotheses connecting the experience of these emotions to 3 styles of parental control (inductive, affective, and coercive). Undergraduate students (N = 270) completed questionnaires designed to assess their proneness to feelings of guilt and shame in situations of norm violations, and through retrospective reports the disciplinary practices of each of their parents. Results supported hypothesized connections between inductive control and guilt, and between affective control and shame. The associations between parental control, guilt, and shame in situations of intentional and unintentional norm violations differed depending on the gender of the parent relative to the gender of the child and on the intera...
TL;DR: This paper showed that over two fifths of children in single-mother families live in households with other adults, such as relatives, non-family members, or mothers' cohabiting partners.
Abstract: Children in the United States are more likely than ever before to spend part of their lives in single-mother families. However, researchers usually ignore the complexity of household living arrangements, focusing solely on the marital status of mothers. Drawing on 1990 census data, we show that over two fifths of children in single-mother families live in households with other adults—relatives, nonfamily members, or mothers' cohabiting partners. We demonstrate the importance of employing this measure of household living arrangements by examining the race-ethnic gap in child poverty. The actual extent of race-ethnic gap in child poverty is masked when children's household living arrangements are ignored. We expect that answers to other research questions related to family structure will also depend on detailed knowledge about children's household living arrangements.
TL;DR: In this paper, a theoretical model was developed to test the simultaneous effects of variables suggested by previous research and theory, and the model was tested with analysis of covariance structures in LISREL.
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to add to our understanding of the multiple factors related to young adults' perceptions of their readiness for marriage. A theoretical model was developed to test the simultaneous effects of variables suggested by previous research and theory. A preexisting data set with premarital data from 2,508 young adults contained items measuring 8 indices of the theoretical predictor variables. The 8 latent variables were satisfaction with family relationships in the family of origin, amount of support of significant others for the relationship, impulsivity, attitude toward privacy, sociodemographic characteristics, perceived physical attractiveness, quality of couple communication, and level of couple agreement. The model was tested with analysis of covariance structures in LISREL. The results support the contention of multiple levels of causation. Perceptions of personal readiness for marriage depend largely on contextual issues (sociodemographic characteristics and significant oth...
TL;DR: The authors found that young unemployed women living in the family household have a more intense relationship with their parents than young women on average, and that the intensification of family relations was found on the mother's side rather than on the father's.
Abstract: Youngsters in France tend to leave the parental home increasingly later. Unemployment is one main reason for this new behavior. Unemployment, taken alone, does not have a uniform effect on the intensity of generational relations. The impact of unemployment varies according to the young person's sex and residential situation. Although the influence of unemployment on rates of discussion with parents is uniformly weak among young men, rates of discussion vary among young women according to whether they live in the parental home: Young unemployed women living in the family household have a more intense relationship with their parents than young women on average. The intensification of family relations is found on the mother's side rather than on the father's.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors test how resources and demands in the primary roles of parent, worker, and partner account for variation in the mental health of employed women and find that when partner support and job control are high or average, employed mothers are significantly less depressed than employed nonmothers.
Abstract: Previous research regarding the effect of children on mental health is mixed, with some studies suggesting that mothers are more depressed than their childless counterparts, and others finding no difference. Using a sample of 500 Canadian women, I test how resources and demands in the primary roles of parent, worker, and partner account for variation in the mental health of employed women. Demands are measured as job demands and as chronic strains in home roles. Resources are measured as job control and as partner support. Results indicate that when partner support and job control are high or average, employed mothers are significantly less distressed than employed nonmothers. Conversely, when role demands are high and resources are low, mothers are significantly more distressed than nonmothers. These results are discussed with respect to the interrelationships between social roles, resources, and mental health, and in terms of directions for future research.
TL;DR: Cox proportional hazard regression models indicate stabilizing effects of the duration of themarriage, the age at first marriage, the presence of young children, as well as of remarriage for middle-aged and older persons.
Abstract: Divorce in later life has been shown to produce dramatic declines in the economic, psychological, and physical well-being of marital partners. This study examines the prevalence and determinants of marital disruption after midlife using Becker's theory of marital instability. Using recent Canadian national data, the marital outcomes of women and men who were married as of age 40 are tracked across the remaining years of the marriage. Cox proportional hazard regression models indicate stabilizing effects of the duration of the marriage, the age at first marriage, the presence of young children, as well as of remarriage for middle-aged and older persons. Other significant risk factors include education, heterogamous marital status, premarital cohabitation, number of siblings, and region.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the relationship between illicit drug use and marital status using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Labor Market Experiences (NLSE) and found that drug use has no effect on marital choices of Black young adults.
Abstract: This article examines the relationship between illicit drug use and marital status. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Labor Market Experiences, the article presents both cross-sectional and longitudinal estimates of the effect of marijuana and cocaine use on marital status, the length of time until first marriage, and the duration of first marriage. The results indicate that among non-Black young adults, drug users are more likely to be unmarried due to a delay in the age at first marriage, and shorter marriage durations. In contrast, drug use has no effect on marital choices of Black young adults.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored both direct and indirect (via work-family tension) relationships between work conditions and parenting, and significant differences between small and large workplaces, even when background characteristics were controlled.
Abstract: This research focuses on links between mothers' perceptions of their parenting practices, their parenting values, and their children's behavior and the work conditions they experience in small and large workplaces. We explored both direct and indirect (via work-family tension) relationships. We found significant relationships between work conditions and parenting, and significant differences between small and large workplaces, even when background characteristics were controlled. In larger workplaces, work conditions reflecting structural and hierarchical aspects of work were more likely to be related to parenting: schedule demands, supervision, and benefits. In smaller workplaces, work conditions reflecting the process of completing work tasks were more likely to be associated with parenting; these were substantive complexity of work and relationships with coworkers.
TL;DR: In this article, a qualitative and quantitative study of Italian families with young adults is presented, showing that family relations prove to be at once an optimum context for children's self-fulfillment and a hindrance for the generational transition.
Abstract: This article is divided into two parts. The first one, through both qualitative and quantitative data, shows the results of research concerning Italian families with young adults. The second part is devoted to qualitative research and related findings. In particular, young adults ages 20 to 30 have been interviewed jointly with their parents. Given that the evolutionary slowdown is also due to the labor market (see the high rate of youth unemployment), family relations have a wider scope and a specificity of their own. Results outline that family relations prove to be at once an optimum context for children's self-fulfillment and a hindrance for the generational transition. The problem lies in the representation of adulthood that both parents and children share, which in turn stems from the split that is now quite evident between self-fulfillment and the life course transition.
TL;DR: The results support the predictions and help to explain how low mate availability for Black women helps to create and maintain an underclass that is disproportionately composed of less-educated Black women and their children.
Abstract: "We predict that marriage prevalence and husbands' education for Black women [in the United States] vary directly with mate availability. We also predict that marriage prevalence and husbands' education will be lower for Black women with less than a high school education than for other Black women. We test these predictions using data on marriage and husbands' education for a national sample of individuals and data on aggregate-level marriage prevalence and husbands' education for a sample of large metropolitan areas. The results support our predictions, and they help to explain how low mate availability for Black women helps to create and maintain an underclass that is disproportionately composed of less-educated Black women and their children."
TL;DR: In this paper, a synopsis of empirical research on young people in Germany was given to enable a better understanding of the statements that will be made in this article, particularly of the sets of data that would be used to verify the thesis that is implied in the title.
Abstract: By way of introduction, a synopsis of empirical research on young people in Germany will be given to enable a better understanding of the statements that will be made in this article, particularly of the sets of data that will be used to verify the thesis—still in the nest—that is implied in the title. This will be followed by a presentation of demographic developments during the past 45 years, which will elucidate the quantitative importance of young people with respect to other age groups. Subsequently, the questions of when and why young people move out of the parental home and why some continue to live there will be tackled. The data analyzed in this article were collected in various distinctly different empirical surveys on the subject.
TL;DR: In this paper, a series of self-report measures assessing stepfathers' perceptions of the stepfather role and their perceived adjustment in several individual, stepfather, marital, and family domains are presented.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to assess the relations between stepfathers' constructions of their role as stepfathers and several dimensions of their adjustment. Thirty-nine stepfathers who resided with stepchildren between the ages of 10 and 18 completed a series of self-report measures assessing their perceptions of the stepfather role and their perceived adjustment in several individual, stepfather, marital, and family domains. Positive stepfather outcomes were related to (a) stepfathers' perceptions that they frequently engage in parenting behaviors and that they should engage in these behaviors; (b) small discrepancies between perceived role behavior and standards of how one should behave as a stepfather, particularly with respect to the warmth dimension of parenting; and (c) role clarity. Implications for theory modification and future research are discussed.
TL;DR: The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) as mentioned in this paper was the culmination of 8 years of conflict and compromise, and the breadth of the coalition fighting for the for the FMLA, and their ideological cohesiveness, presented a powerful front to legislators who were being pressured by business and Republican leaders to fight the bill.
Abstract: The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was the culmination of 8 years of conflict and compromise. Whether this legislation was caused by socioeconomic change, interest group pressure, or party politics is the question current research has addressed. Although socioeconomic change exerted pressures on citizens, that pressure could not be translated into policy enactment without the mobilization of interest groups and politicians in an effective issue network. By examining closely three dimensions of the FMLA—the duration, scope, and remuneration—it is possible to specify causes of successful policy enactment. The breadth of the coalition fighting for the for the FMLA, and their ideological cohesiveness, presented a powerful front to legislators who were being pressured by business and Republican leaders to fight the bill. Even within a hostile political climate, interest group cohesion and strategic alliances allowed policy attainment.
TL;DR: In this paper, the 1988 National Survey on Families and Households was used to assess the extent of network involvement and the relationship to household labor in African American families, finding that about half of married, African American couples received tangible assistance related to managing a household and a majority of men and women reported receiving emotional support from friends and relatives.
Abstract: Studies on support networks suggest that networks are an important context from which families manage, especially for African American families. The 1988 National Survey on Families and Households was used to assess the extent of network involvement and the relationship to household labor. Among married, African American couples, about half received tangible assistance related to managing a household and a majority of men and women reported receiving emotional support from friends and relatives. Path models with tangible assistance, emotional support, demographic factors, and an indicator of stress revealed different variable relationships for husbands and wives. Husbands who received help with tasks reported more hours in weekly housework time. For wives, however, tangible assistance was independent of time in household tasks, but emotional support contributed to feeling overwhelmed by household responsibilities.
TL;DR: The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) as mentioned in this paper offers an excellent case study of a family policy that became embroiled in partisan conflict, arguing that the policy would pose hardships for businesses and severely diluted the original legislation, reducing the leave period and eliminating many workers from coverage.
Abstract: The Family and Medical Leave Act offers an excellent case study of a family policy that became embroiled in partisan conflict. The Democratic authors of the bill proposed an extensive leave period available to most workers. Arguing that the policy would pose hardships for businesses, Republicans severely diluted the original legislation, reducing the leave period and eliminating many workers from coverage. The resulting bill offered less support to working parents than leave policies in most other countries. The article opens with a description of problematic features of the bill that derive from partisan politics and then places the drafting of the bill in historical context. The story of the bill's passage is then discussed, highlighting the role of parties and interest groups, especially business organizations. The article concludes by providing a larger analysis of the leave debate.
TL;DR: This article explored paradigm shifts in family sociology from the 1960s to the 1990s using a thematic content analysis of 7 multiple-edition texts and found that structural functionalism continued to frame many topics and debates in the majority of texts even when new concepts and more critical literature were added.
Abstract: This article explores paradigm shifts in family sociology from the 1960s to the 1990s using a thematic content analysis of 7 multiple-edition texts. Two competing views on theoretical developments are examined. David Cheal claims that challenges posed to structural functionalist hegemony resulted in theoretical pluralism and an end to this hegemony. Dorothy Smith argues that Parson's theoretical assumptions are so deeply embedded in the discourse of family sociology that they continue to govern major issues and debates. As late as the 1990s, we found that structural functionalism continued to frame many topics and debates in the majority of texts even when new concepts and more critical literature were added. Notable exceptions were textbook treatments of African American families and gender issues. This suggests that the relative success of social movements in institutionalizing their goals may be an important factor in determining paradigm shifts.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discussed the possible relationship of material and non-material resources in the family and outside the family with young adults' decision of leaving or staying home, and concluded that the nonmaterial factors outside the families offer promising explanations for the trend shift in the average age at which young adults leave home for the first time.
Abstract: This article presents some trends in the leaving home process of young adults between 1950 and 1990 and the trend shift that took place in the second half of the 1970s. Using a theoretical scheme, the authors discuss the possible relationship of material and nonmaterial resources in the family and outside the family with young adults' decision of leaving or staying home. Related to family-bound material resources, the authors discuss variables such as parental money, parental services, and the economic job status of the father. Nonmaterial family resources are the parent-child relationship, norms and values, and educational level. Both material and nonmaterial variables do not explain the trend shift in the leaving home process. In general, the authors conclude that the material and nonmaterial variables outside the family offer promising explanations for the trend shift in the average age at which young adults leave home for the first time.
TL;DR: In this article, a preference model developed from qualitative data predicts a strong preference for care by a relative, even if the child has to live separately from his/her mother, and distrust of nonrelative and formal care.
Abstract: This article uses qualitative and quantitative evidence to examine child care decision making in Bangkok, Thailand. The preference model developed from qualitative data predicts a strong preference for care by a relative, even if the child has to live separately from his/her mother, and distrust of nonrelative and formal care. Overall about three quarters of children in the sample were cared for by their mother (some of whom were combining work with child care) or another relative when they were age 2. Although the degree to which mothers were working in a formal setting was the strongest predictor of being in nonmaternal care, children of higher socioeconomic status were also found more likely to be in nonmaternal care and less likely to be in a relative's care. The results are discussed in light of changing roles for women in a society undergoing rapid socioeconomic change.
TL;DR: This paper explored the extent to which party politics influences the nature and provision of child care policies in Canada, specifically in the provinces of Ontario and Alberta, and argued that partisan politics do matter, but within fiscal constraints.
Abstract: This article explores the extent to which party politics influences the nature and provision of child care policies in Canada, specifically in the provinces of Ontario and Alberta. The article argues that whereas the primary impetus for the expansion and reduction of child care programs over the last 15 years in these two provinces has been economic, party philosophy has been an important intervening variable. In particular, it matters whether the party has as its goal the retrenchment of the welfare state or simply the reduction of spending. Although right-wing governments may attempt retrenchment as well as spending reductions, left-wing governments are unlikely to attempt wide-scale retrenchment. Thus, partisan politics do matter, but within fiscal constraints.