Suchergebnisse

Abstract  Recent research by Albrecht and Albrecht (2004) on nonmarital conception outcomes is extended using data from the 1995 cycle of the National Survey of Family Growth. Residential differences in nonmarital conception outcomes are examined, including nonmarital conception, live birth outcomes, and marital status at birth following a nonmarital conception. Analyses emphasize the role of more contemporary family behaviors in conception outcomes and the importance of distinguishing suburban‐metro from central city‐metro residence in studies that emphasize residential variation in family outcomes. Findings are that (1) nonmetro women have retained more traditional family behavior with regards to marriage following a nonmarital conception, (2) nonmetro and suburban women, however, have equally traditional family patterns and behaviors on many of the outcomes of interest, and (3) it is important to include contemporary family behaviors, such as nonmarital cohabitation, in studies that evaluate traditional family behavior among nonmetro populations.

Abstract  Employing data from the 1980, 1990, and 2000 March supplements of the Current Population Surveys, this study examines changing household and family structure in metro and nonmetro areas and corresponding changes in poverty, emphasizing female‐headed families with children under age 18. We also pay particular attention to the structure and economic conditions of subfamilies with children during this period. Household and family structure in suburban metro and nonmetro areas were quite similar by 2000. In contrast, families and households in nonmetro and metro central city areas were similar in their high prevalence of poverty. Finally, the risk of female‐headed families and subfamilies with children living in poverty is highest for nonmetro residents, and their individual characteristics suppress rather than account for this disadvantage. This pattern persisted across the decades studied, despite economic growth during the 1990s.

Abstract We examine race and residential variation in the prevalence of female‐headed households with children and how household composition is associated with several key economic well‐being outcomes using data from the 2000 5% Public Use Microdata Sample of the U.S. Census. Special attention is paid to cohabiting female‐headed households with children and those that are headed by a single grandmother caring for at least one grandchild, because these are becoming more common living arrangements among female‐headed households with children. We find that in 2000: (1) cohabiting and grandmother female‐headed households with children comprised over one‐fourth of all female‐headed households with children, (2) household poverty is highest for female‐headed households with children that do not have other adult household earners, (3) earned income from other household members lifts many cohabiting and grandparental female‐headed households out of poverty, as does retirement and Social Security income for grandmother headed households, and (4) poverty is highest among racial/ethnic minorities and for female‐headed households with children in nonmetro compared to central cities and suburban areas.

Abstract  We update and extend prior research on residential differences in women's family formation experiences using data from the 1995 cycle of the National Survey of Family Growth. Residential differences in the timing of family formation behaviors are examined, including first birth, first cohabitation, and first marriage. Our study emphasizes the significance of cohabitation, estimating the effect of geographic residence on type of union formation (i.e., cohabitation versus marriage) and relationship context of first birth (i.e., cohabiting, married, or single). We find that (1) the timing of family formation behaviors, including marriage and childbearing, differs by residence; (2) nonmetro women are more likely to enter marriage and marry at younger ages than their metro counterparts; and (3) when marriage and cohabitation are presented as competing risks, nonmetro women are more likely to marry than cohabit both as a first union and a first birth context.

The purpose of this article is to examine the other (much more neglected) single-parent family type: those single-parent families headed by fathers. We use specially constructed child files from the 1960-1990 Public Use Microdata Samples data from the Census of Population to address two general questions: (a) To what extent has both the likelihood and the demographic characteristics of these families changed over time? (b) What are the consequences for children of living in different kinds of father-only families? We find that single-father families are comparatively rare, but increasing rapidly, especially since 1980. Increasingly, these families are formed by fathers who are young, never married, with low incomes, and fewer children. Analysis of the 1990 data reveal wide diversity in living arrangements among children in single-father families. Furthermore, the social capital of children's fathers, the availability of adults, and children's economic well-being vary markedly across these types of families.

Young adults commonly exit from and return to the parental home, yet few studies have examined the motivation behind these exits and returns using a life course framework. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, the authors examined associations between mental health problems and economic characteristics and exits from (n = 8,162) and returns to (n = 6,530) the parental home during the transition to adulthood. The average age of the respondents was 24 years. The authors found evidence that mental health and economic characteristics were related to home leaving and returning. Emotional distress was associated with earlier exits from and returns to the parental home; alcohol problems were associated with earlier returns to the parental home. The findings regarding economic resources were unexpectedly mixed. Greater economic resources were linked to delayed exits from and earlier returns to the parental home. The implications of these findings for young adults are discussed.