Suchergebnisse

Virtually, all large-scale family surveys in the United States and Europe have yielded a positive view of family ties in contemporary societies. The present study examines whether surveys like these are affected by selective nonresponse. Are people with negative family ties less likely to participate in surveys, and if so, to what extent does this yield a biased descriptive view of family solidarity? Using a novel multiactor design with matched register data, we examine the determinants of nonresponse of the parents of adult children aged 25–45 in the Netherlands. Our analysis reveals significant effects of the strength of parent–child ties on parental nonresponse, especially for fathers. Moreover, we find negative effects of divorce on father's participation and this effect is stronger when family ties are weak. While these findings support the hypothesis of selective nonresponse, the magnitude of the effects is small and descriptive findings on family ties change only modestly when correcting for selective nonresponse.

ObjectiveThis research describes the attitudes that people have toward biological and nonbiological parenting and examines how living arrangements during youth affect people's attitudes as adults.BackgroundIt is generally believed that people have negative beliefs about nonbiological (i.e., step) family relationships, but there is little systematic research on such attitudes, and even less is known about how these come about. This topic is important given the long‐term increase in the number of stepfamilies, a trend that raises concerns as to whether attitudes toward stepfamilies can become more positive over time.MethodWe used Dutch survey data from 5,949 respondents aged 25 to 45 years with an oversample of people who grew up with a stepparent. The respondents' parents also were interviewed. Attitudes were measured in the same way for the two generations, and elaborate retrospective questions were asked about respondents' living arrangements in youth.ResultsPeople who grew up in a stepfamily had more positive attitudes about stepfamily relationships and more negative views on the relevance of biological relatedness. This effect was only present for stepfather and not for stepmother families. Part of this effect was due to parental attitudes, but even after these were taken into account, the effect of living arrangements in youth remained.ConclusionThe general public is divided about the relevance of biology for family relationships. Value socialization and observational learning in youth are both important for understanding people's attitudes toward stepfamily relationships.ImplicationsAs the number of stepfamilies keeps growing, normative support for stepparents may increase.

Data on secondary school children in England, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden show that large differences exist in family structure within the minority population: In some groups, father absence is more common than among natives; in others, it is less common. These patterns reflect the differences in family structure in the origin countries, but the migration process also plays a role. Next, it is found that father absence has negative effects on immigrant children's well-being, but these effects appear weaker in minority groups where father absence is more common. Heterogeneous effects are interpreted in terms of different degrees of institutionalization of father absence in different minority groups.

This article tests the thesis that intermarriage fosters the integration of immigrants by studying the children of intermarriage. Using secondary school–based questionnaire data from England, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden, I compare the children of mixed marriages to second-generation immigrants and to children of native origins. Three dimensions of integration are measured: social integration (contacts with natives), cultural integration (religiosity and family values), and economic integration (school achievement tests). I examine the effect of intermarriage on these outcomes as well as interactions with gender, socioeconomic status, destination country, and origin group. Our findings show that the outcomes for the children of mixed origins are in between the outcomes of immigrants and natives. In some respects, mixed children are exactly halfway, confirming a model of additive effects of parental origins. In other cases, mixed children are closer to immigrants than to natives, pointing to a model of stigmatization and ethnic retentionism.

Using retrospective survey data collected in the Netherlands in 2012, the author examined how childhood circumstances moderate the effect of an early parental divorce on relationships between fathers and adult children. Using adult children's reports about the frequency of contact and the quality of the relationship, he found strong negative effects of parental divorce. These effects are moderated by 3 childhood conditions. The more fathers were involved in childrearing during marriage, the less negative the divorce effect on father–child relationships. Father's resources also moderated the effect, with a smaller divorce effect for more highly educated fathers. Finally, high levels of interparental conflict reduce the impact of divorce as well, generalizing the stress relief effect to a new outcome. In general, the study shows that the impact of divorce is heterogeneous; that childhood circumstances play an important role in this; and that, under specific conditions, there is virtually no negative effect of parental divorce.

"Using nationally representative data on secondary school children in England, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden, this study describes the relationships that children have with their fathers after divorce. Differences in the post-divorce relationship are explained in terms of demographic factors, socioeconomic factors, and contextual differences (between countries and between immigrants and natives). The focus is on living arrangements after divorce, the amount of contact with the father, and the perceived quality of the relationship. Many children have at least weekly contact with their father but one in six children never see their father at all. Fathers in high-status families are more highly involved in the child's life after divorce than fathers in low-status families. A mother's employment also has a positive effect on the post-divorce relationship with the father. Co-parenting is most common in Sweden. Post-divorce relationships are also strongest in Sweden and relatively weak in Germany. Immigrant children see their fathers less often after divorce than native children. In the second generation, children of mixed marriages in particular tend to have little contact with the father." (author's abstract)

New data from a national Dutch survey are used to examine the effects of divorce and repartnering on the relationships that fathers have with their adult children. Compared with divorced fathers who live alone, repartnered fathers have less frequent contact with their children, they exchange less support with them, and the quality of the relationship is poorer. Divorce and repartnering thus have cumulative negative effects. These findings primarily apply when the divorce occurred when the child was young. Interpretations are given in terms of the reduced need for support that fathers have when they have a new spouse, the problems children may have with a stepmother, and the tendency of fathers to shift their investments to a new family after divorce ("swapping families"). Indirect evidence especially supports the "swapping families" hypothesis although the principle of need plays a role as well.