Marriage and union formation, families and households

This paper aims to analyze patterns in the matching behaviors between heterosexual couples and homosexual couples using educational, race and age traits. First of all, in order to show how each group is composed we use descriptive statistics of the data. In addition to that we make a comparative between the earnings of each couple to show the economic differences between them. This study also uses contingency tables and log-linear models as methods that can help us try to understand which traits influence more the matching behaviors of each partner. The results show that race and level of education are characteristics that influence more heterosexual couples than homosexual couples. The traits that are more important to homosexual couples in choosing their partners are race and age. These outcomes show that there are real differences in the way these couples choose each other and leave room for questioning the reason for those differences.

In this study we analyze transitions to first marriage in Kyrgyzstan – one of the post-Soviet states of Central Asia. We use retrospective survey data collected in 2011/12 that contain full partnership histories of a representative sample of men and women in that country. We estimate hazard regression models to examine competing risks of arranged and non-arranged marriage among Kyrgyz and Uzbeks - Kyrgyzstan’s two largest ethnic groups. For Kyrgyz we also analyze risks of marriage resulting from forced bride kidnapping. Our results indicate that nonsymmetrical gender roles manifest themselves in positive effects of employment on marriage for men and negative effects for women. They also show that the effects of educational attainment of bride and groom vary by marriage type. With respect to marriage dynamics our results demonstrate that contrary to a popular notion of a post-Soviet revival of traditional marriage practices, the risks of marriage resulting from bride kidnapping have declined since the collapse of the USSR. Finally, we observe that during the most recent period covered by our data marriage risks declined across all marriage types.

This study investigates whether the different circumstances of parenthood that adoptive parents and biological parents encounter lead to different divorce risks. An adoption involves a large emotional and economic investment, and the potential parents undergo an arduous investigation for approval to adopt by the social authorities. Other stressful factors might be the child’s attachment to the new parents, and the child’s development in school, which has been shown to lag behind other children of the same age. Such tensions could increase the divorce risk. However, a gender equal parenthood with involvement from both parents has the potential to decrease this risk. We will study this question in Sweden, a country with a relatively high rate of divorce, strong gender equality norms, as well as a high proportion of internationally adopted children. The study makes use of administrative register data that covers the entire Swedish population over the period 1993-2007. The divorce risk will be investigated with event history analysis. By adjusting for factors shown to correlate with divorce risks we will be able to draw conclusions about the interrelationship between the different circumstances of parenthood for these two groups of parents, gender equal parenthood, and divorce risk.

The relationship between education and divorce has recently reversed in several countries with the less educated men and women being currently more likely to divorce. This carries potential implications for class and gender inequalities in family life, well-being, and children’s life chances. However, little is known about why the least educated currently have lower family stability. Two main explanations can be identified in the literature. First, those with less education could have lower marital satisfaction. Second, those with less education could have lower thresholds to divorce. Relationship dissolution means that a person also gives up access to their partners’ resources. If spouses possess many resources, the drop in marital satisfaction required to motivate a person to divorce might therefore be higher.
Empirical evidence so far has not provided evidence which of the two explanations holds. We use data from the British Household Panel Survey to analyze the trends in marital satisfaction among educational groups and the risks of divorce in these groups given satisfaction levels. We find that marital satisfaction trajectories are practically identical for people with distinct levels of education. Additional analysis will be presented to investigate what explains variation in exit thresholds by education.

This paper aims to provide a more comprehensive sociodemographic view of the transition to marriage in Mexico, a country with a relatively young and stable age at marriage during most of the twentieth century when important socioeconomic and demographic changes also took place. It builds on the idea that the transition to marriage is influenced simultaneously by social context, family context, and individual’s early biography and socioeconomic status. Unlike previous studies that examine the transition to marriage in Mexico, I consider theoretically and analyze empirically the role of intergenerational influences on marriage timing. I analyze the extent to which mother’s age at marriage is related to children’s age at marriage. I find that children of mothers who married young enter into marriage earlier than children of mothers who delayed marriage. This relationship persists after controlling for important socioeconomic factors. In fact, the effect of mothers’ age at marriage on children’s age at marriage is larger than the effect of mother’s education. I also find this relationship to be similar for both sons and daughters, suggesting that family influences are a key aspect of the transition to marriage in Mexico.

The process of union formation and, consequently, the context of childrearing have deeply changed in Italy in the last decades. The increase in non-marital cohabitation has been accompanied by an impressive spread of out-of wedlock births. The possible consequences of these changes on gender role-set within couples are quite unknown in this country. In particular, there is no clear evidence whether (and how) Italian married and unmarried parents differ in childrearing practices.
In this paper, we aim to verify whether a more egalitarian gender role-set is found among childless cohabiting couples in Italy and if persists for those who have a pre-school child, using a sample from the 2008/09 Time Use Survey. We expect that cohabiters are more egalitarian in sharing unpaid work and childcare, but we want to verify whether this is explained by the cohabitation in itself or rather by differences in individual and couple characteristics (such as labor market participation and education level). A special attention will be dedicated to fathers' role according to the kind of couple.

West Bengal is unique in the sense that female age at marriage is among the lowest in India when the state has been a forerunner in demographic transition among Indian states. Similarly marriage age has been persistently low in Bangladesh despite heavy investments in female education and employment. This paper contends that regional context is an important determinant of marriage/childbearing patterns. West Bengal has more in common with Bangladesh than with the rest of India given the long history shared by the two wings of pre-Partition British Bengal. Applying survival analysis techniques to Bangladesh 2007 DHS and West Bengal 2005-06 NFHS, the paper examines the life course followed by women. The age affect is a more important determinant for leaving education than any other co-variate examined. The age or cohort effect is highly significant in determining the likelihood of entry into first marriage in Bangladesh, but not in West Bengal. Contrary to a fixed life course trajectory, results reveal that women follow diverse patterns. Whereas, women with little education enter marriage and childbearing early, the trajectory for educated women is not as clear cut. The paper discusses the plausible causes and consequences of the various trajectories of family formation.

The dramatic shift from marriage to cohabitation during the last four decades in most Latin American countries begs the question as to the living arrangements of cohabiting couples and single mothers. The new “Family Interrelationship Variables” in the IPUMS samples of Latin American censuses facilitated the construction of an enlarged LIPRO typology. LIPRO classifies individuals with respect to the type of household in which they are living.
The results indicate that cohabiting women and single mothers of ages 25 to 29 are frequently found in parental households or in other extended or composite households. However there are large variations according to country and education. For instance, cohabitation is mainly in nuclear households, as in Europe, in Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Brazil, and Argentina. It is mainly in extended households in Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Panama, Venezuela and Cuba. Mexico and Chile occupy intermediate positions. In all instances coresidence of cohabiting couples with other kin drops significantly upon the transition to parenthood, and then there are no differences between cohabiting and married couples anymore. Single mothers, however, continue to coreside in extended or composite households, and this holds particularly for the better educated among them.

Modernisation coupled with survival needs push women into jobs formerly dominated by men in Africa. This study examined married women’s involvement in one of these jobs and the implications on family structure in southwest Nigeria. Consequently, 150 copies questionnaires were purposively distributed among female bankers and complemented with 20 in-depth interview sessions in selected banks in Ado-Ekiti. Findings revealed that 72.0% remained in banking jobs so as to cater for their needs and that of their families. While 95.3% contributed financially to the family upkeep, majority of respondents’ spouses were not supportive of the job and about 80.7% quarrelled with their husbands over their job demands. However, 95.3 % were not willing to quit their jobs in spite of challenges faced. Further, 46.6% were able to cope with the rigors of family and work demands through house-helps; support from husbands (24.7%) and care givers. Chi-square results showed a significant relationship between income and continued stay in the job (p=001) while no significant relationship was found between women’s involvement in the job and separation/divorce. Women involvement in paid employment has affected women’s roles as mothers and wives. This change, however, may not affect the stability of their marriages

A recent boom in cohabitation in Mexico has sparked a debate about whether it is a new form or a renascence of the old. To be clear, the characterization of the old form of cohabitation focuses mostly about who cohabits and who does not (i.e., the low educated, etc.), but says little about its duration or dissolution via marriage and separation. Regrettably, claims of a new form of cohabitation are meted out without a thorough examination of cohabitation as a process. Therefore, I propose to establish a more accurate baseline using a multi-state transition formulation. Using data from two nationally representative surveys, this paper investigates the dynamism surrounding cohabitation as a status in matrix of possibilities, which is yet to be well understood. The current project contributes towards better understanding of the changing demographics of cohabitation in Mexico, and the nature and meaning of cohabitation around the world.