Showing papers in "Journal of Marriage and Family in 2011"

Toward best practices in analyzing datasets with missing data: Comparisons and recommendations

Abstract: Although several methods have been developed to allow for the analysis of data in the presence of missing values, no clear guide exists to help family researchers in choosing among the many options and procedures available. We delineate these options and examine the sensitivity of the findings in a regression model estimated in three random samples from the National Survey of Families and Households (n = 250–2,000). These results, combined with findings from simulation studies, are used to guide answers to a set of 10 common questions asked by researchers when selecting a missing data approach. Modern missing data techniques were found to perform better than traditional ones, but differences between the types of modern approaches had minor effects on the estimates and substantive conclusions. Our findings suggest that the researcher has considerable flexibility in selecting among modern options for handling missing data.

Transnational Families and the Well-Being of Children: Conceptual and Methodological Challenges

Abstract: Family research and scholarship on immigrant families has evolved in the past decade to include factors such as community context, family environment, and individual attitudes to explain immigrant family formation and functioning (see Glick, 2010, for a review). Nevertheless, methodologically and theoretically, families are still predominantly conceived of as nuclear, living together, and bounded by the nation state. Family studies emphasize geographical proximity as a prerequisite for interaction and exchange within families, thereby eliding family ties that cross national borders. As a result, family practices across borders are ignored or assumed to be unfeasible (Baldassar & Baldock, 1999; Mazzucato & Schans, 2008) and transnational families—conceived of as families with members living in different nation states—have been treated as a temporary phenomenon, with family reunification in the host society as the preferred outcome for all family members (Landolt & Da, 2005). In contrast, research from the past decade in the areas of migration and development has demonstrated that individuals' migration-related choices are related to their family members' needs and that migration affects migrants' origin countries. This area of research, however, largely focuses on the economic effects of remittances on households as a whole and rarely analyzes the differential impact of remittances on individual family members (Adams & Page, 2005; Ratha, 2003). Moreover, studies from this field do not consider noneconomic effects such as the impact of migration on the well-being of family members who live apart. In this special section, we broaden analyses in the fields of both family and migration studies by examining the effects that migration has on the well-being (defined as psychological, educational, and health outcomes) of children who are left in the country of origin. Here, we use the word children to emphasize the relationship between a young person and his or her parent or caregiver; however, the contributions to this special section examine children and youths up to 18 years of age. Transnational family arrangements are prevalent worldwide because of stringent migration policies in migrant receiving countries that make it difficult for families to migrate together, families' attempts to escape violent conflict or persecution, or family members' preferences, especially in societies where child fostering is a common practice, such as in many places in Africa. The exact prevalence of transnational family arrangements is unknown, however, because of a scarcity of quantitative evidence caused by the lack of academic and policy attention to this phenomenon. Reports by nongovernmental organizations and international organizations such as Save the Children and UNICEF indicate that approximately 25% of children in selected migrant-sending countries have at least one parent abroad. This estimate appears sufficiently large to justify further research on transnational families and the well-being of children. As a consequence, scholars have begun to turn their attention toward transnational families, though most of the scholarship thus far is in the form of qualitative case studies. This introduction begins with an overview of current scholarship on transnational families from different disciplinary backgrounds and identifies important contributions to the literature and gaps in our knowledge. In the next section, we highlight three conceptual and methodological challenges and discuss how the articles in this special section advance our understanding of transnational families and the well-being of children. We conclude by discussing important elements of an agenda for future research on transnational families in general and their impact on child well-being in particular.

Migrant Parents and the Psychological Well-Being of Left-Behind Children in Southeast Asia.

Abstract: Several million children currently live in transnational families, yet little is known about impacts on their health. We investigated the psychological well-being of left-behind children in four Southeast Asian countries. Data were drawn from the CHAMPSEA study. Caregiver reports from the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) were used to examine differences among children under age 12 by the migration status of their household (N = 3,876). We found no general pattern across the four study countries: Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Multivariate models showed that children of migrant fathers in Indonesia and Thailand are more likely to have poor psychological well-being, compared to children in nonmigrant households. This finding was not replicated for the Philippines or Vietnam. The paper concludes by arguing for more contextualized understandings.

Safety Nets and Scaffolds: Parental Support in the Transition to Adulthood.

Abstract: Using longitudinal data from the Youth Development Study (analytic sample N = 712), we investigate how age, adult role acquisition and attainments, family resources, parent-child relationship quality, school attendance, and life events influence support received from parents in young adulthood. Parental assistance was found to be less forthcoming for those who had made greater progress on the road to adulthood, signified by socioeconomic attainment and union formation. The quality of mother-child and father-child relationships affected parental support in different ways, positively for mothers, negatively for fathers. School enrollment, negative life events, and employment problems were associated with a greater likelihood of receiving support. The findings suggest that parents act as "scaffolding" and "safety nets" to aid their children's successful transition to adulthood.

Changing Patterns of Interracial Marriage in a Multiracial Society

Abstract: We use incidence data from the 1980 Census and 2008 American Community Survey to track recent trends in interracial marriage. Intermarriage with Whites increased rapidly among Blacks but stalled among Asians and American Indians. Black–White intermarriage increased threefold over 1980–2008, independent of changing socioeconomic status, suggesting declining social distance between Blacks and Whites. Marriages between the U.S.- and foreign-born populations also grew rapidly. Marriages to immigrants increased fivefold among U.S.-born Asian women and doubled among U.S.-born Latinas since 1980. Out-marriage to Whites also was higher among self-identified biracial than monoracial individuals, but these differences were smallest among Blacks. Interracial couples were overrepresented among cohabiting couples. Finally, log-linear models provide evidence of growing racial exogamy, but only after adjusting for changing demographic opportunities for intermarriage. Marriages between U.S.- and foreign-born coethnics have been driven by new immigration while slowing the upward trajectory of interracial marriage in America.

If Momma Ain't Happy: Explaining Declines in Marital Satisfaction Among New Mothers

Abstract: This study tests competing explanations for the link between the transition to motherhood and declines in wives' marital satisfaction. Using data from the first and second waves of the National Survey of Families and Households (N = 569), we found that new mothers' marital satisfaction declines could be attributed to reductions in wives' quality time spent with their husbands and to increases in perceptions of unfairness in housework. Family role traditionalization in the wake of the birth of a child did not directly explain marital satisfaction declines but was linked to perceptions of marital unfairness. Attendance at religious worship services did not moderate the association between the transition to motherhood and marital satisfaction changes.

Parenting from Abroad: Migration, Nonresident Father Involvement, and Children's Education in Mexico.

Abstract: In Mexico, a country with high emigration rates, parental migration matches divorce as a contributor to child - father separation. Yet little has been written about children's relationships with migrating parents. In this study, I use nationally representative data from the 2005 Mexican Family Life Survey to model variation in the interaction between 739 children in Mexico and their nonresident fathers. I demonstrate that, from the perspective of sending households, parental migration and parental divorce are substantively distinct experiences. Despite considerable geographic separation, Mexican children have significantly more interaction with migrating fathers than they do with fathers who have left their homes following divorce. Further, ties with migrant fathers are positively correlated with schooling outcomes, which potentially mitigates the observed education costs of family separation. Key Words: father -child relations, immigration, living arrangements, migrant families. Fathers who live apart from children often remain actively engaged in their children's lives. Numerous studies have demonstrated that this involvement has meaningful implications for children's well-being (Amato & Gilbreth, 1999; Carlson, 2006; King & Sobolewski, 2006; Madhavan, Townsend, & Garey, 2008). This body of research has proved to be important by contextualizing the well-known worldwide decline in child -father coresidence (Brown, Larson, & Saraswathi, 2002). Yet despite the breadth of research on nonresident parenting, most studies have described families shaped by divorce and nonmarital fertility. We know little about the parenting behaviors of a growing group of nonresident fathers - men who are separated from children in the process of labor migration. This study examines the contributions of migrant fathers to their children in Mexico, a setting in which parental migration is increasingly common. At the national level, 1 in 25 children has a father in the United States; 1 in 1 1 is expected to experience his migration by the age of 15 (Nobles, 2010). Although many families eventually reunite, father -child separations typically last for multiple years (Suarez-Orozco, Todorova, & Louie, 2002). Research on the relationship between Mexican migrant fathers and their children remains nascent (Dreby, 2010; Mirande, 2008). In the place of much empirical evidence is a surprisingly resilient narrative that describes sending families as "abandoned" and "left behind" (e.g., Wright, 2006). This narrative is central to media and policy discussions (Boehm, 2008) and is so pervasive in Mexican family life (Frank & Wildsmith, 2005) that migrant parents in the United States often invoke it to describe their counterparts, regardless of their own stated commitment to children in Mexico (Dreby, 2006). To shed light on this issue, I use data collected on a nationally representative sample of households in Mexico. I ask whether, how much, and in what ways migrant fathers remain connected to their children while in the United States. I then consider whether investments are correlated with children's schooling, an indicator widely considered to be a meaningful predictor of later-life success. As a comparison, I assess whether those patterns of investment are significantly and substantively distinct from those received by children who live apart from fathers following divorce. This undertaking is valuable for several reasons. Although much research exists on children in receiving societies, far less is known about family experiences in the sending communities of major migration flows. Yet it is through investment in the children of sending regions that the longer term macroeconomic benefits of migration should arise (McKenzie, 2005). Given the established importance of family stability for children's well-being (e.g., Fomby & Cherlin, 2007), scholars have raised concern about the development trajectories of children in sending homes (Heymann et al. …

Coresidence With Elderly Parents: A Comparative Study of Southeast China and Taiwan

Abstract: Using recent survey data from the Panel Study of Family Dynamics (PSFD) on 1,655 married persons born in 1964-1976 in southeastern China and Taiwan, we studied coresidence with elderly parents using a multinomial probit model for coresidence type and an ordered probit model for residential distance The study yielded four findings: (a) Patrilocal coresidence was more prevalent in Taiwan than in China; (b) matrilocal coresidence was more prevalent in China; (c) practical factors mattered in both places; (d) in Taiwan only, a couple's economic resources facilitated breaking away from patrilocal coresidence The findings suggest that, although economic development does not necessarily result in less traditional familial culture, personal economic resources may enable individual couples to deviate from tradition

Intergenerational Exchange Between Parents and Migrant and Nonmigrant Sons in Rural China

Abstract: This investigation examined whether intergenerational exchanges of time and money resources between older parents and their adult sons in rural China were conditioned on sons' migration status. Data derived from 2001 and 2003 waves of a longitudinal study of 1,126 parents, aged 60 and older, living in rural areas of Anhui Province, China, and their 2,724 adult sons. Random-effects regression analysis showed that marginal financial returns to parents of providing grandchild care services and financial assistance were greater from migrant sons than from nonmigrant sons. We explain these results in terms of strategic investments in the earning potential of migrant sons and the bargaining power wielded by grandparents who care for dependent children of migrants.

Couples as partners and parents over children's early years.

Abstract: We used data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine how couple relationship quality and parental engagement are linked over children’s early years—when they are infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. Our sample included 1,630 couples that were coresident over years 1 to 3 and 1,376 couples that were coresident over years 3 to 5 (1,196 over both periods). Overall, we found that better relationship quality predicted greater parental engagement for both mothers and fathers—especially in the infant to toddler years; in contrast, we found little evidence that parental engagement predicted future relationship quality. Married and cohabiting couples were generally similar in how relationship quality and parenting were linked.

Time Does Not Heal All Wounds: Mortality Following the Death of a Parent

Abstract: People linked through social ties are known to have interdependent health Our aim was to investigate such collateral health effects in the context of offspring mortality after a parent's death in children aged 10–59 years The data (N = 3,753,368) were from a linked-registers database that contains the total Swedish population In minor children, we found elevations in mortality risks associated with a parent's death Adult offspring experienced a reduced mortality risk recently after a parent's death, which over time approached, and in some instances even exceeded, that of the general population Mother's death tended to have a stronger influence than father's death, unnatural parental deaths had a stronger effect than natural ones, and male offspring were more vulnerable than female offspring

The Familial Socialization of Culturally Related Values in Mexican American Families.

Abstract: Research has documented a relation between parents' ethnic socialization and youth's ethnic identity, yet there has been little research examining the transmission of cultural values from parents to their children through ethnic socialization and ethnic identity. This study examines a prospective model in which mothers' and fathers' Mexican American values and ethnic socialization efforts are linked to their children's ethnic identity and Mexican American values, in a sample of 750 families (including 467 two-parent families) from an ongoing longitudinal study of Mexican American families (Roosa, Liu, Torres, Gonzales, Knight, & Saenz, 2008). Findings indicated that the socialization of Mexican American values was primarily a function of mothers' Mexican American values and ethnic socialization, and that mothers' Mexican American values were longitudinally related to children's Mexican American values. Finally, these associations were consistent across gender and nativity groups.

Patterns of Stepchild-Stepparent Relationship Development.

Abstract: Thirty-two stepdaughters and 17 stepsons participated in this grounded theory study of emerging adult stepchildren's perceptions about how relationships with their stepparents developed. The theory created from this study proposes that the degree to which stepchildren engage in relationship-building and -maintaining behaviors with stepparents is a function of stepchildren's evaluative judgments about the stepparents' positive contributions. Stepchildren's judgments about stepparents are made with inputs from biological parents and other kin. Stepchildren's ages when relationships began, gender of stepchildren and stepparents, and time spent together because of custody arrangements provided the context within which relationships developed. The outcomes in this grounded theory were six patterns of step-relationship development: accepting as a parent, liking from the start, accepting with ambivalence, changing trajectory, rejecting, and coexisting. These patterns of development were distinct trajectories that related closely to qualitatively different stepparent-stepchild relationships. Only 30% of stepchildren with multiple stepparents evaluated them similarly. Key Words: grounded theory, remarriage, stepchild, stepparent. "I adore Jim. I despised Bill. Greta was great. Laura 1 did like: I disagreed with her on a lot of stuff, but 1 did really get along with her. And Babbette just isn't a pleasant person." - Nina, about her stepparents. Although clinicians (Visher & Visher, 1996) and researchers (Crosbie-Burnett, 1984) have long focused attention on stepparent -stepchild relationships as key to overall stepfamily functioning, surprisingly little research exists on the processes by which these relationships develop (Ganong & Coleman, 2004; King, 2006). Given that almost one third of U.S. children will live with a stepparent before they reach adulthood (Bumpass, Raley, & Sweet, 1995) and that lower levels of well-being among stepchildren compared to children in nuclear families have often been attributed to adjustment problems related to acquiring a stepparent (Ganong & Coleman), it is important for researchers to better understand how step-relationships develop, particularly step-relationships that are satisfying for the individuals involved. Knowing how affirming step-relationships develop is useful for practitioners and researchers. Stepparents ' Contributions to Step-relationships Several researchers have reported that steprelationships are closer when stepparents take a supportive role with stepchildren and let biological parents do most of the disciplining (CrosbieBurnett & Giles-Sims, 1994; Hetherington & Clingempeel, 1992). Additionally, authoritative stepparents - who favor high warmth and flexible control as a "parenting style" - have better relationships with stepchildren than authoritarian stepparents, who demonstrate low warmth and high control (Golish, 2003; Henry & Lovelace, 1995). Some stepparents recognize that their stepchildren are more willing to accept them if they treat them warmly (EreraWeatherly, 1996; Svare, Jay, & Mason, 2004) and engage in friendship-building strategies early in the relationship (Ganong, Coleman, Fine, & Martin, 1999). These research findings echo clinicians' advice for stepparents to befriend stepchildren and try to build close relationships with them before attempting to discipline them (Visher & Visher, 1 996). Although the idea that stepparents should engage stepchildren in activities that are supportive and fun until relational bonds are firmly established may seem logical, not all stepparents do this (Ganong et al., 1999). Many stepparents quickly try to set rules and administer discipline (Berger, 1998; Bray & Kelly, 1998; Erera-Weatherly, 1996; MacDonald & DeMaris, 1996), which often results in conflict and emotionally distant relationships (Bray & Kelly, 1998; Ganong et al. …

Coparenting and Relationship Quality Effects on Father Engagement: Variations by Residence, Romance

Abstract: We focused on coparenting support, partner relationship quality, and father engagement in families with young children that did not change structurally over 4 years of participation in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study (N = 1,756). There was a significantly stronger and more robust positive association between fathers' perceived coparenting support at age 1 and father engagement at age 3 among nonresidential nonromantic parents compared with residential (married or cohabiting) and nonresidential romantic parents. There was a significantly stronger and positive association between relationship quality at age 1 and father engagement at age 3 among nonresidential nonromantic parents compared with residential parents. The findings emphasize the importance of considering both family structure and romantic involvement contexts of fathering when tracking father engagement over time.

Help to Family and Friends: Are There Gender Differences at Older Ages?

Abstract: This article uses recent data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (N = 5,220) to explore gender differences in the extent to which adults in their 50s and 60s provide informal help to their adult children, elderly parents, and friends. We find that both men and women report very high levels of helping kin and nonkin alike, although women do more to assist elderly parents, and women provide much more emotional support to others than do men. Men provide more assistance than women with housework, yard work, and repairs. As they retire from the workforce, married men become significantly more involved in the care of their grandchildren, which virtually eliminates any gender difference by the time they are in their 60s.

Who Lacks Support and Why? an Examination of Mothers' Personal Safety Nets

Abstract: We use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 12,140 person-waves) to identify characteristics associated with mothers' having or lacking "personal safety net" support from family and friends. We focus on characteristics that are likely to increase the importance of having support available but may also interfere with the maintenance of supportive ties: poverty, poor physical and mental health, and challenging child rearing responsibilities. By capitalizing on distinctions among these types of personal disadvantages and among types of personal safety nets (financial, housing, child care, and emotional), we help to explain why personal disadvantages are associated with weaker support. Our paper contributes to the literature emphasizing the importance of reciprocity in support relationships and introduces the idea that families that are more difficult to help will have less support available.

Market Earnings and Household Work: New Tests of Gender Performance Theory

Abstract: I examine the contested finding that men and women engage in gender performance through housework. Prior scholarship has found a curvilinear association between earnings share and housework that has been interpreted as evidence of gender performance. I reexamine these findings by conducting the first such analysis to use high-quality time diary data for a U.S. sample in the contemporary period. Drawing on data on 11,868 married women and 10,770 married men in the American Time Use Survey (2003-2007), I find no evidence that married men "'do gender" through housework. I do, however, find strong evidence of gender performance among women as evidenced by a curvilinear association between earnings share and women's housework time. Key Words: family and work, gender, housework/division of labor. Prior research has led to near unanimity among scholars that what married men and women earn in the market affects the amount of housework they do at home. Nevertheless, there is substantial ambiguity and debate about just how earnings affect housework time (Bittman, England, Folbre, Sayer, & Matheson, 2003; Evertsson & Nermo, 2004; Gupta, 2007). Household bargaining theory posits that earnings share should be negatively related to housework time, as the higher earning spouse can be expected to use his or her position of superior earnings to negotiate a smaller housework burden (Lundberg & Pollak, 1996). Though some research bears out this prediction in couples in which the husband earns the majority of couple earnings (Brines, 1994; Greenstein, 2000), scholars have detected a surprising relationship between earnings share and housework in couples in which the wife earns more than half of couple earnings. Women in these couples actually appear to do more housework than otherwise similar women who have earnings that are roughly equal to their husbands', and men in these couples appear to do less housework than otherwise similar men in couples with approximately equal earnings (Brines; Bittman et al; Greenstein). The literature then documents an unexpected curvilinear relationship between earnings share and housework time. Scholars have interpreted this relationship through the prism of gender performance theory, arguing that housework can serve as a way in which men and women enact gender and create social meaning (Coltrane, 2000; Shelton & John, 1996; West & Zimmerman, 1987). This type of gender performance may be particularly important in the context of gender deviance, such as when couples do not adhere to the malebreadwinner norm, with housework being used to neutralize deviance and reconstruct gender (Bittman et al., 2003; Greenstein, 2000). Though a number of findings in the housework literature seem to provide support for gender performance theory, the broader empirical record is substantially more ambiguous. One set of findings suggests that men may in fact "do gender" by reducing housework time when they earn less than their wives (Brines, 1994; Greenstein, 2000). But this evidence in support of gender performance theory has been challenged by scholars who found that these results are driven primarily by outliers - the lowest earning men in married couples (Bittman et al., 2003; Gupta, 1999b). Other research provides some evidence that, although men may not be doing gender, women may be engaging in gender performance through housework (Bittman et al.; Evertsson & Nermo, 2004). This finding has also been challenged, in this case by recent work that draws on autonomy theory to suggest that women's absolute levels of earnings, not their share of earnings, may predict the amount of time they spend on housework (Achen & Gough, 2009; Gupta, 2006, 2007). This uncertainty in the literature has created a substantial gap in our understanding of housework. In this paper I provide new evidence to help resolve the empirical debate. Drawing on time diary data collected between 2003 and 2007 by the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), I assessed the relationship between men's and women's housework time and their earnings. …

Back to Africa: Second Chances for the Children of West African Immigrants

Abstract: This paper examines the phenomenon of West African parents living in Europe and North America who send their older children back home: from places of high immigrant aspiration to those of hardship and privation. Drawing on a project on West African immigration to Europe and on previous field studies in Africa, we conclude that West African immigrants fearing the consequences of their children's indiscipline in the West, where racism and hostility can endanger the entire family, may send unruly children back to the home country. In doing so, we believe, they build on long-standing African disciplinary efforts in hopes of toughening their children's resilience to the challenges in the new place and wait for the risk to dissipate. Key Words: African families, cross-cultural, culture/race/ethnicity, ethnography, fostering, migration. Recent decades have seen a sharp rise in the number of West African nationals in Europe and North America. Most have been young men seeking work or a degree, though women have come in greater numbers as well, whether independently or, under family reunification provisions, to join a husband (Sow, in press). More thinly documented have been the West African children who are directly affected by international migration to the West. Some of these children are left behind when a parent travels abroad for work; others come as migrants themselves, whether as the dependents of a working parent or, in more extreme cases, unaccompanied by an adult. Among the most puzzling cases are those of the children of West African immigrants in Europe or North America who are sent back to Africa, particularly children of older school age. Leaving places that seem to offer every advantage - established health and educational systems as well as the likelihood of a stable, prosperous future - these children effectively return to countries with levels of personal hardship and privation that most Europeans and Americans would find unacceptable for their own children (Aries, 1962). When asked to explain their actions, immigrant parents may point to lower costs of living and abundant child care back home. Alternatively, they may declare that a child is adapting poorly to the new place or needs to grow up knowing the family's ancestral roots. If pressed, though, nearly all West African immigrant parents living in Europe and the United States, which we describe collectively as "the West," ultimately say they want their children to gain a secure footing the West. Observations like these raise two questions. First, what might immigrants of recent West African origin find so objectionable about countries usually described as the pinnacles of African immigrant ambition to the point that they would send their children back to live in one of the poorest regions on earth? Second, why would they so often send their children back home at just the point when the children should be preparing most intensively for a successful professional life in their new homes? Stripped of their wider social and cultural contexts, we believe the apparent facts in this case are misleading. Drawing from our past and present studies in Africa and Europe and from a range of secondary sources, we examine in some detail the West African tenet that ensuring a child's social and intellectual development requires maximal parental access to long-standing disciplinary practices. We then turn to two related concerns of West African parents about life in Europe and the United States. One is what parents see as a Western tendency to coddle and spoil children and to restrict parents' access to the discipline they may deem necessary for bringing a child into line. A child with an easy life, they fear, will have faltering interest in school and career achievement, losing the ambitions the parents had for him or her, quite possibly the main reason they made the international move in the first place. Even more serious for parents may be the repercussions of an undisciplined child's involvement in gangs, violence, and crime. …

Unemployment in Families: The Case of Housework.

Abstract: Unemployment has consequences for individuals, but its impacts also reverberate through families. This paper examines how families adapt to unemployment in one area of life—time in housework. Using 74,881 observations from 10,390 couples in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we estimate fixed effects models and find that individuals spend between 3 and 7 hours more per week in housework when unemployed than when employed, with corresponding decreases of 1 to 2 hours per week in the housework hours of unemployed individuals' spouses. We are the first to show that unemployment is associated both with a reallocation of housework to the unemployed spouse and an increase in the family's total household production time. The results also provide evidence for gender differences in adjustments to the division of labor during unemployment, with wives' unemployment associated with an increase in housework hours that is double the increase for unemployed husbands.

Headed Toward Equality? Housework Change in Comparative Perspective

Abstract: This paper examines gendered housework in the larger context of comparative social change, asking specifically whether crossnational differences in domestic labor patterns convergeovertime.Ouranalysisofdatafrom13 countries (N = 11,065) from the 1994 and 2002 International Social Survey Program (ISSP) confirmed that social context matters in shaping couples’ division of labor at home, but also showed that context affects patterns of change. Ourresultssuggestedthat,comparedtothemost egalitarian countries, the shift in housework patternswasgreatestamongthemosttraditional countries. This provides support for the thesis of cultural convergence, but the evidence did not suggest that such convergence will lead to complete equality in the foreseeable future. Compared with trends in other aspects of social life, change in the domestic division of labor has been slow, and traditional patterns remain prevalent. Nevertheless, there is a broad trend toward more gender equality in housework and a decline in the burden shouldered by women. A

Coparenting and Father Involvement in Married and Unmarried Coresident Couples.

Abstract: Children can benefit from involved fathers and cooperative parents, a benefit which may be particularly important to the growing population of children born to unmarried parents. This study observes father involvement and coparenting in 5,407 married and unmarried cohabiting couples with a 2-year-old child in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B). A link was found between cooperative coparenting and father involvement for all couples. Compared with married couples, couples who married in response to the pregnancy and couples who remained unmarried showed higher levels of father involvement and more cooperative coparenting, indicating a potentially greater child focus. Key Words: cohabiting parents, dyadic/couple data, father-child relations, parenting and parenthood. Increasing numbers of children are being bom to unmarried parents, with nonmarital childbearing in 2005 representing 36.8% of U.S. births, or more than 1.5 million births, an increase of 12% over 2002 (Hamilton, Martin, & Ventura, 2006). It is estimated that 80% of unmarried parents are romantically involved with each otiier at the time of die baby's birth, and about half are cohabiting, a proportion that appears to be rising (Bumpass & Lu, 2000; McLanahan et al., 2003). The unmarried fathers have an opportunity to be positively involved, thus benefiting their children (Marsiglio, Amato, Day, & Lamb, 2000). Fathers may be more involved when they have a cooperative coparenting relationship with the child's mother (Abidin & Brunner, 1995; Beitel & Parke, 1998; McBride & Rane, 1998), and cooperative coparenting also enhances me well-being of children (Abidin & Brunner, 1995; McHale, 1995). These effects have been found in married couples, but they have not yet been explored in unmarried cohabiting couples. It is thus necessary to expand our knowledge of the complex interrelationships among family members in this emerging family form. Coparenting represents the nexus of the mother-father relationship and die parentchild relationship, and as such, it is an ideal locus for prevention and intervention efforts (Feinberg, 2002). Indeed, several recent initiatives seeking to improve at-risk fatiiers' involvement with their children emphasize coparenting, or team parenting (e.g., Hanks & Smith, 2005; Strengthening Fragile Families Training Institute, 2006). This study examines the association of coparenting with father involvement in the context of the couple's relationship. Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study -Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), the analysis focuses on coresident parents with a shared 2-year-old child. The focus is on the association of three aspects of coparenting (i.e., support, responsibility, and dissonance), with tiiree core aspects of father involvement (i.e., engagement, accessibility, and responsibility). This analysis distinguishes among parents who were married before the pregnancy, those who married in response to the pregnancy, and those who remained unmarried. It examines both father and mother reports, thus allowing for a comprehensive analysis of relationship processes. Union Formation Unmarried parenthood may represent a distinct process of union formation. Stanley, Kline, and Markman (2005) described the difference between sliding and deciding in relationships. "Deciding" couples make the decision about commitment to a partner before constraints such as a shared child are imposed. By contrast, for "sliding" couples, the constraints are imposed before they have made any intentional choices about the long-term relationship. This distinction follows research by Manning and Smock (2005), who found that cohabiting couples often described moving in together as an unconscious, unintentional process. It also echoes the work of Surra and Hughes (1997), who distinguished between relationship-driven and event-driven reasons for marriage. The different pathways of union formation may be reflected in the couples' enactment of their family roles. …

Effects of Family Structure Type and Stability on Children's Academic Performance Trajectories

Abstract: Using five waves of panel data from 8,008 children in the ECLS-K, the current study compared children's academic performance growth curves from kindergarten through fifth grade among three types of nondisrupted and three types of disrupted families. The analyses found that children in nondisrupted two-biological-parent and nondisrupted stepparent households consistently made greater progress in their math and reading performances over time than their peers in nondisrupted single-parent, disrupted two-biological-parent, and disrupted alternative families with multiple transitions. These trajectory differences were either partially or completely accounted for by family resources in the kindergarten year (Time 1). Overall, our findings provided strong support for the resource-deprivation perspective and partial support for the instability-stress perspective.

Chronic and Proximate Depression among Mothers: Implications for Child Well-Being.

Abstract: This article uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Survey (N = 2,427) to examine the association between the chronicity and timing of maternal depression and child well-being. Maternal depression, particularly chronic depression, is linked to internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors in children, and children have worse behaviors when mothers report proximate depression. Children of depressed and nondepressed mothers have similar cognitive outcomes. Results also suggest that boys are more vulnerable to maternal depression than girls and that socioeconomic advantage does not buffer children from the consequences of maternal depression. Given that impairments in early childhood may place children on disadvantaged life-course trajectories, early intervention and treatment of depressed mothers may help ameliorate social disparities.

Parental Strains and Rewards Among Mothers: The Role of Education

Abstract: Using data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 1,198), this study examines the associations between education and parental strains and rewards among mothers of young children. Findings indicate that a college degree or more is related to less parenting anxiety, but more role captivity, and less new life meaning from parenting than lower levels of education. Differences by education are partly explained by variation in levels of progressive parenting values and work commitment, but remain significant. These patterns indicate that education provides greater resources that ease parental anxiety, but also leads to greater perceived demands of having a successful career, which contribute to more role captivity and less new life meaning from parenting.

Short‐Term Reciprocity in Late Parent‐Child Relationships

Abstract: Long-term concepts of parent-child reciprocity assume that the amount of support given and received is only balanced in a generalized fashion over the life course. We argue that reciprocity in parent-child relationships also operates in the short term. Our analysis of short-term reciprocity focuses on concurrent exchange in its main upward and downward currencies, time and money. Fixed-effects models with data from SHARE (N = 8,816 dyads) revealed that within a family, parents gave financial transfers to those children who supported them with time transfers of help and care. Reciprocal patterns emerged most clearly if parents were highly dependent, received intense support, and had sufficient financial opportunities to reciprocate. We conclude that short-term reciprocity eases the burden of late parent-child relationships. Key Words: ambivalence, cross-national research, families in middle and later life, intergenerational transfers, parent-child relations, reciprocity. In Western economies, children can expect continuous financial support from their parents, who remain net givers after retirement and even at very old ages. Conversely, children provide several types of time transfers to their parents, ranging from occasional help with daily activities to hands-on care (Rossi & Rossi, 1990). As a result, we observe a variety of transfers in both directions that constitute an overall pattern of support exchange in two main currencies: time and money (Soldo & Hill, 1993). Accounting for the observed patterns of intergenerational support exchange becomes increasingly important as demographic aging raises the prevalence of parents' old-age dependency (e.g., Harper, 2006). This increases the pressure on adult children, who are, next to spouses, the most reliable source of support for old and frail parents. How do intergenerational relationships develop under conditions of higher need, dependency, and burden? Recent empirical studies have drawn on the concept of reciprocity to account for exchange patterns of intergenerational support (e.g., Grundy, 2005; Henretta, Hill, Li, Soldo, & Wolf, 1997; Lennartsson, Silverstein, & Fritzell, 2010; Lowenstein, Katz, & Gur-Yaish, 2007; Silverstein, Conroy, Wang, Giarrusso, & Bengtson, 2002). The main idea of reciprocity in parentchild relationships refers to long-term exchange: Adult children feel indebted to their old and frail parents, who supported them earlier, and use time transfers of help and care as repayments for the earlier parental investments (Hollstein & Bria, 1998). Some analysts, however, focused on short-term patterns of concurrent giving and receiving and labeled these patterns reciprocal, although it remains unclear why the observed behavior constitutes a reciprocal exchange and how it differs from long-term reciprocity (e.g., Albertini, Kohli, & Vogel, 2007; Brandt, Deindl, Haberkern, & Szydlik, 2008; Grundy, 2005; Lowenstein et al., 2007). A theoretical concept of short-term reciprocity in parent-child relationships has not been offered to date. The present study aims to address this deficit. We outline a concept why reciprocity in parent-child relations operates not only longitudinally but also contemporaneously. Our analysis concentrates on the short-term dimension of reciprocity and the corresponding pattern of concurrent intergenerational exchange in its main upward and downward currencies, time and money. The key questions are as follows: Why can concurrent transfers be interpreted as reciprocal exchange? How can we identify shortterm reciprocity? Which factors determine these exchanges of time and money? Data come from the first wave (2004) of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), including respondents from 12 countries. Because these countries represent different welfare regimes (Esping-Andersen, 1990; Ferrera, 1996) as contexts for intergenerational support exchange in families, SHARE allows for comparative analyses. …

Changes in At-Risk American Men's Crime and Substance Use Trajectories Following Fatherhood.

Abstract: Fatherhood can be a turning point in development and in men's crime and substance use trajectories. At-risk boys (N = 206) were assessed annually from ages 12 to 31 years. Crime, arrest, and tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use trajectories were examined. Marriage was associated with lower levels of crime and less frequent substance use. Following the birth of a first biological child, men's crime trajectories showed slope decreases, and tobacco and alcohol use trajectories showed level decreases. The older men were when they became fathers, the greater the level decreases were in crime and alcohol use and the less the slope decreases were in tobacco and marijuana use. Patterns are consistent with theories of social control and social timetables.

Individualized Marriage and the Integration of Resources

Abstract: In individualized marriages, spouses maintain independence in their relationship. In individualized marriages, do married couples manage their money in pooled accounts or do they keep separate accounts? We answer this question with the 2002 International Social Survey Programme (N = 18,587; 31 country contexts) and examine how variation in the individualization of marriage is related to variation in resource integration within marriage. We make two contributions. First, we found that individualization matters. When couples understood and practiced individualized marriage, they were more likely to keep their money separate. The presence of individualized approaches to marriage and individualized alternatives to marriage within a country were also related to a higher likelihood of couples keeping money separate. Second, we found that integrating resources remained a constitutive part of marriage. Despite trends toward individualization and growing alternatives to marriage, most married couples continued to pool their money. Key Words: individualization, marriage, money. Integrating resources has always been an integral part of marriage. Originally it was the sole purpose (Coontz, 2005). Marriage integrated the resources of two extended families, including land and political power. As the institution evolved, the focus of marriage turned to the couple, although integrating resources remained important. Legally and practically, two individuals became a single unit as couples moved into the same home, opened a joint bank account, filed taxes together, and had rights to half of all that was acquired throughout the marriage. Why does integrating resources figure so prominently in marriage? There are two complementary approaches to this question in the literature. Economic perspectives focus on the advantages in efficiency found in integrated arrangements (Treas, 1993). Institutional approaches suggest that strategies for managing resources will reflect institutional contexts (Zelizer, 1995). We integrate these approaches by considering recent discussions suggesting that marriage today is increasingly individualized (Amato, Booth, Johnson, & Rogers, 2007; Beck & Beck-Gernsheim, 2001; Cherlin, 2004, 2009; Giddens, 1992). These arguments propose that it is increasingly common for people to enter marriage solely for the love and intimacy found in the relationship. As long as love and intimacy last, couples remain together, and when those factors are no longer present, the relationship ends. In these fluid relationships, hallmarks such as specialization in tasks between spouses are expected to decrease as individuals place a premium on their ability to care and provide economically for themselves without dependence on the other. Spouses maintain their individual identities and independence in the context of their relationships. Furthermore, individuals today are able to live alone, delay marriage, or have families, including intimate relationships and raising children, without marriage (Teachman, Tedrow, & Crowder, 2000; Thornton, Axinn, & Xie, 2007). Is the individualization of marriage changing the way money is managed in marriage? We consider this question using the 2002 International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) Family and Changing Gender Roles module. The data include information concerning family characteristics across 3 1 country contexts, allowing us to examine the prevalence of individualized marriage patterns cross-nationally. If relationships are becoming more individualized, we should expect individuals within couples to keep and manage their own money, allowing for increased independence and ease of ending relationships. The analysis allows us to examine the prevalence of resource integration and consider whether integrating resources remains central to marriages today and what implications this has for arguments about the growing individualization of marriage. THE CHANGING INSTITUTION OF MARRIAGE Shift to companionate marriage As sociologists and historians have previously documented, marriage as an institution evolves over time (Burgess & Locke, 1945; Cherlin, 2004; Coontz, 2004, 2005). …

Opting Out and Buying Out: Wives' Earnings and Housework Time.

Abstract: It has been proposed that the negative association between wives’ earnings and their time in housework is due to greater outsourcing of household labor by households with high-earning wives, but this hypothesis has not been tested directly. In a sample of dual-earner married couples in the Consumption and Activities Mail Survey of the Health and Retirement Study (N = 796), use of market substitutes for women’s housework was found to be only weakly associated with wives’ time cooking and cleaning. Furthermore, expenditures on market substitutes explain less than 15% of the earnings–housework time relationship. This suggests that use of market substitutes plays a smaller role in explaining variation in wives’ time in household labor than has previously been hypothesized.

Parental Depression and Child Outcomes: The Mediating Effects of Abuse and Neglect.

Abstract: Using longitudinal data on 1,813 children and parents from a nationally representative child-welfare sample, National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW), this study investigated physically abusive and neglectful parenting as mediating the effects of parent depression on child mental health by developmental stage. Findings from latent growth models indicated that parental depression had a significant impact on child outcomes for all youths, but of the 2 types of parenting behaviors, only neglectful parenting mediated the relationship for preschool and school-aged children. Neither parenting behavior mediated the effects of parental depression for adolescents.

A Mixed-Methods Social Networks Study Design for Research on Transnational Families

Abstract: This paper advocates the adoption of a mixed‐methods research design to describe and analyze ego‐centered social networks in transnational family research. Drawing on the experience of the "Social Networks Influences on Family Formation" project (2004-2005; see Bernardi, Keim, & von der Lippe, 2007a, 2007b), I show how the combined use of network generators and semistructured interviews (N = 116) produces unique data on family configurations and their impact on life course choices. A mixed‐methods network approach presents specific advantages for research on children in transnational families. On one hand, quantitative analyses are crucial for reconstructing and measuring the potential and actual relational support available to children in a context where kin interactions may be hindered by temporary and prolonged periods of separation. On the other hand, qualitative analyses can address strategies and practices employed by families to maintain relationships across international borders and geographic distance, as well as the implications of those strategies for children's well‐being.