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09 DEMOGRAPHY
May 1998, Nol. 35, N° 2
Special Issue: "Men in Families"
Guest Editor: Suzanne M. Bianchi
Father by law: Effects of joint legal custody on nonresident fathers' involvement with children.
Family membership and household composition do not always coincide. Joint legal custody after divorce formalizes the relationship between fathers and children who live apart. Policymakers hope that explicit acknowledgement of nonresident fathers' rights and responsibilities will increase their involvement with their children. I use prospective data from the National Survey of Families and Households to examine the association between joint legal custody and two aspects of nonresident fathers' contributions to their children -- the frequency of visits between fathers and children and child-support payments. The analysis examines approximately 160 families in which parents divorced between interviews conducted for Wave 1 (1987-1988) and Wave 2 (1992-1994) of the survey. I investigate the effects of joint legal custody holding constant physical custody or placement by restricting the analysis to children who live with their mothers most of the year Controlling for socioeconomic status and the quality of family relationships before separation, fathers with joint legal custody see their children more frequently and have more overnight visits than do other fathers. The positive effect of joint legal custody on frequency of visits persists once unobserved differences among families are taken into account. Although fathers with joint legal custody pay more child support than those without joint legal custody, this difference lacks statistical significance when other family characteristics are taken into account. These findings support the view that joint legal custody may encourage some aspects of paternal involvement after divorce.
English - pp. 135-146.
J. A. Seltzer, Department of Sociology, University of California-Los Angeles, 264 Hainers Hall, Box 951551, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1551, U.S.A.
seltzerj@ucla.edu.
(UNITED STATES, DIVORCE, FATHER, CHILD CUSTODY, ALIMONY)
99.09.12 - CANCIAN, Maria; MEYER, Daniel R.
Who gets custody?.
Changes in the living arrangements of children have implications for social policy and children's well-being. Understanding who gets custody on divorce-mother, father, or both sharing custody -- can also inform our understanding of family organization and the merits of alternative theories of marriage and divorce. We examine physical-custody outcomes among recent Wisconsin divorces in an effort to understand the factors associated with shared custody as well as mother-sole custody and father-sole custody. Although mother-sole custody remains the dominant arrangement, shared custody has increased over a nine-year period. We find that the probability of shared custody increases with parent's income. Prior marital history, parents' ages, the age and gender of children, and the legal process also have an impact on the probability of shared custody. In contrast to shared custody, the probability of father-sole custody decreases with parent's income, while the relationship with other significant factors is generally similar. The notable exception is that, unlike shared custody, we find no evidence for an increase over time in the probability of father-sole custody. We also find that when the father has a higher proportion of the couple's total income, both shared custody and father-sole custody are more likely.
English - pp. 147-157.
M. Cancian and D. R. Meyer, School of Social Work, Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1225 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI 53706, U.S.A.
cancian@lafollette.wisc.edu.
(UNITED STATES, DIVORCE, FATHER, MOTHER, ALIMONY)
99.09.13 - ARGYS, Laura M.; PETERS, H. Elizabeth; BROOKS-GUNN, Jeanne; SMITH, Judith R.
The impact of child support on cognitive outcomes of young children.
We use the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-Child data to address three questions. First, does the receipt of child support have beneficial effects for children with absent fathers apart from increasing income? Second, do the effects of child support differ when child-support awards and payments are made cooperatively as opposed to being court ordered? Third, are any positive effects of child support solely a product of unmeasured differences among fathers and families? Controlling for the socioeconomic characteristics of the child and family, we find some evidence that receipt of child support has a positive impact on children's cognitive test scores over and above its contribution to total income. However, the effects vary by test, by race, and by reason for father's absence. Our results also indicate that the distinction between cooperative and noncooperative awards is important. Finally, our instrumental variables estimates show that the effects of child support persist after we control for unobserved characteristics of fathers and families.
English - pp. 159-173.
L. M. Argys, Department of Economics, University of Colorado-Denver, P.O. Box 173364, Denver, CO 80217-3364, U.S.A.
largys@castle.cudenver.edu.
(UNITED STATES, DIVORCE, ALIMONY, FATHER, CHILDREN, PSYCHOLOGY)
99.09.14 - RANGARAJAN, Anu; GLEASON, Philip.
Young unwed fathers of AFDC children: Do they provide support?.
We examine the support provided by fathers of children born to disadvantaged teenage mothers. Our sample includes the fathers of 6,009 children born over a two-year period to 3,855 teenage mothers receiving AFDC in three economically depressed inner cities. These fathers provide little social and economic support to their children. Support declines as their children age from infants to toddlers and as fathers' relationships with the mothers grow more distant. Fathers' employment status and educational attainment positively affect the amount of economic support that they provide but do not strongly influence the amount of social support they provide.
English - pp. 175-186.
A. Rangarajan and P. Gleason, Mathematica Policy Research, P.O. Box 2393, Princeton, NJ 08543, U.S.A.
arangarajan@mathematica-mpr.com.
(UNITED STATES, ALIMONY, FATHER, CHILDREN, POVERTY, ADOLESCENT FERTILITY)
99.09.15 - COOKSEY, Elizabeth C.; CRAIG, Patricia H.
Parenting from a distance: The effects of paternal characteristics on contact between nonresidential fathers and their children.
Changes in marital and fertility behavior have influenced the role of father for many men. We use data from the first two waves of the National Survey of Families and Households to examine various sociodemographic, situational, and attitudinal characteristics that might influence the degree of contact between nonresidential fathers and their minor children. We tap two different dimensions of distance parenting and find that although several variables influence both visiting and talking on the telephone or writting letters, some factors (the presence of multiple children in a household) predict visiting only, while others (child's age and gender) predict only verbal/written contact. Similarly, some of the life-course decisions made by fathers appear to crowd out their involvement with nonresidential children, whereas other decisions reinforce their parenting behavior.
English - pp. 187-200.
E. C. Cooksey, Department of Sociology, The Ohio State University, 300 Bricker Hall, 190 N. Oval Mall, Columbus, OH 43210, U.S.A.
cooksey.1@osu.edu.
(UNITED STATES, FATHER, CHILDREN, INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS, HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION)
99.09.16 - HARRIS, Kathleen Mullan; FURSTENBERG, Frank F., Jr.; MARMER, Jeremy K.
Paternal involvement with adolescents in intact families: The influence of fathers over the life course.
We measure the quality and quantity of fathers' involvement with adolescent children in intact families over time using longitudinal data from the National Survey of Children. We examine differentials in fathers' involvement by children's and family characteristics and model the long-term effects of fathers' involvement on children's outcomes in the transition to adulthood. Fathers are more involved with sons than with daughters and they disengage from adolescents with increasing marital conflict. We find beneficial effects for children of father's involvement in three domains: educational and economic attainment, delinquent behavior, and psychological well-being. The course of affective relations through-out adolescence also has a beneficial effect on delinquent behavior and psychological well-being.
English - pp. 201-216.
K. M. Harris, The Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, C.B. #8120, University Square, Chapel Hill, NC 27516, U.S.A.
kathie_harris@unc.edu.
(UNITED STATES, FATHER, CHILDREN, INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS, ADOLESCENTS)
99.09.17 - CLARKE, Linda; COOKSEY, Elizabeth C.; VERROPOULOU, Georgia.
Fathers and absent fathers: Sociodemographic similarities in Britain and the United States.
Using data from the British Household Panel Survey and the National Survey of Families and Households in the United States, we present a sociodemographic profile of fathers and compare the determinants of absent fatherhood in each country. Although fatherhood has a younger profile in the United States, especially for blacks, predictors of fathers' residency with their children are remarkably similar in the two countries. In both countries, the strongest predictor of a father's absence is the parents' relationship to each other at the time of the child's birth. Policy implications of this finding are discussed.
English - pp. 217-228.
E. C. Cooksey, Department of Sociology, The Ohio State University, 300 Bricker Hall, 190 N. Oval Mall, Columbus, OH 43210, U.S.A.
cooksey.1@osu.edu.
(UNITED STATES, UNITED KINGDOM, FATHER, HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION, COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS)
99.09.18 - DODOO, F. Nii-Amoo.
Men matter: Additive and interactive gendered preferences and reproductive behavior in Kenya.
The extent of men's roles in reproductive decision-making in Africa is a subject of contention. Despite the volume of work on the roles men play in fertility decisions, there have been few attempts to derive direct empirical estimates of the effect of men's preferences on reproductive behavior. I employ 1989 and 1993 Kenya Demographic and Health Surveys to examine the relative roles of the reproductive preferences of males and females on contraceptive use. Additive and interactive measures of preferences document a significant effect of men's preferences, which may eclipse women's preferences. The implications of these findings are discussed.
English - pp. 229-242.
F. N.-A. Dodoo, African Population Policy Research Center, c/o APPRC Coordinator, International Programs Division, The Population Council, One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, New York, NY 10017, U.S.A.
( Dodoof@Ctrvax.Vanderbilt.edu.
(KENYA, FERTILITY DETERMINANTS, DECISION MAKING, PREFERENCES, SEX DIFFERENTIALS)
99.09.19 - CASPER, Lynne M.; O'CONNELL, Martin.
Work, income, the economy, and married fathers as child-care providers.
Previous research on fathers as child-care providers indicates a need to study the father's role in child care in the context of different economic cycles. Using data from the 1988, 1991, and 1993 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation, we examine whether fathers' availability and the couple's economic resources are differentially related to child care by fathers over time. We focus on the differences between 1991 -- a recession year -- and 1988 and 1993 -- two nonrecession years. Increased availability of fathers is significantly related to higher levels of fathers'participation in child care in all three years. Relative economic resources between husbands and wives help explain care by fathers only during the recession year, whereas family income is important only in the nonrecession years. These results suggest that in the future, researchers should acknowledge fluctuations in the economy when studying husbands' participation in traditional female tasks, as macroeconomic shifts appear to impact the likelihood of married fathers caring for their preschoolers during mothers' working hours.
English - pp. 243-250.
L. M. Casper and M. O'Connell, Fertility and Family Statistics Branch, Population Division, U.S. Bureau of the Census, Washington, DC 20233, U.S.A.
lcasper@census.gov.
(UNITED STATES, CHILD REARING, FATHER, ECONOMIC RECESSION, ECONOMIC RESOURCES, FEMALE EMPLOYMENT)
Have African American men become less committed to marriage? Explaining the twentieth century racial cross-over in men's marriage timing.
Prior to World War II, the median age at marriage for white men was later than that for African American men. Since World War II, African American men have, on average, married later than white men. A discrete-time hazard model using data from the National Survey of Families and Households was analyzed to explain this racial cross-over in men's timing of marriage. Dramatic increases in the educational attainment of African American parents and the large movement of African Americans out of the South brought about the racial cross-over in the timing of marriage. Increased enrollment in higher education among African American men also contributed to the racial cross-over in the timing of marriage. Although lack of full-time employment and military service delayed marriage, these factors did not contribute to the racial cross-over.
English - pp. 251-258.
H. Koball, Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, University Square CB #8120, 123 West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516, U.S.A.
Heather_Koball@unc.edu.
(UNITED STATES, AGE AT MARRIAGE, TRENDS, WHITES, BLACKS, COMPARATIVE ANALYSYS)
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09 DEMOGRAPHY
August 1998, Vol. 35, N° 3
99.09.21 - MOFFITT, Robert A.; REVILLE, Robert; WINKLER, Anne E.
Beyond single mothers: Cohabitation and marriage in the AFDC program.
We investigate the extent and implications of cohabitation and marriage among U.S. welfare recipients. An analysis of four data sets (the Current Population Survey, the National Survey of Families and Households, the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth) shows significant numbers of cohabitors among recipients of AFDC. An even more surprising finding is the large number of married women on welfare. We also report the results of a telephone survey of state AFDC agencies conducted to determine state rules governing cohabitation and marriage. The survey results indicate that, in a number of respects, AFDC rules encourage cohabitation. Finally, we conduct an analysis of the impact of AFDC rules on cohabitation, marriage, and single motherhood and find weak evidence in support of incentives to cohabit.
English - pp. 259-278.
R. A. Moffitt, Economics Department, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, U.S.A.
moffitt@jhu.edu.
(UNITED STATES, POVERTY, AID PROGRAMMES, MARRIAGE, CONSENSUAL UNION)
Changes in assortative mating: The impact of age and education, 1970-1990.
Data from the U.S. Census and Current Population Survey are used to examine trends in the propensity to marry or to cohabit by the age and educational attainment of potential partners. Marriage rates declined sharply across all age and educational combinations between 1970 and 1980 and declined more sharply for less-educated persons between 1980 and 1990. The rise in cohabitation compensated somewhat for the decline in marriage rates, but the compensation was unequally spread among age and educational combinations. Highly educated men were more likely, and highly educated women were no more or less likely to marry than to cohabit with less-educated partners in 1970 and 1980. By 1990, however, educational assortative-mating patterns between these two types of unions were similar. In 1990, marriages and cohabitations involving women who were better educated than their partners were more common than those involving women who were less educated than their partners. In addition, men and women in their early 20s tend to have partners better educated than themselves, but persons in their 30s tend to cross the less-than-high-school/more-than-high-school educational barrier when partners differ in educational attainment.
English - pp. 279-292.
Z. Qian, Department of Sociology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-2101, U.S.A.
zqian@asu.edu.
(UNITED STATES, MARRIAGE, MATE SELECTION, CONSENSUAL UNION, LEVELS OF EDUCATION)
99.09.23 - MURPHY, Mike; WANG, Duolao.
Family and sociodemographic influences on patterns of leaving home in postwar Britain.
We identify child-level and parent-level characteristics associated with children's patterns of leaving home. We use a multilevel discrete-time hazards model to examine the impact of family and demographic factors at both levels, and utilize the Alternating Conditional Expectation algorithm optimally to transform the dependent and independent variables. We find that measured variables at both the child and the parent level have important influences, as do period and cohort factors. However unmeasured parent-level factors have an influence on the departure of children that is broadly similar in magnitude to measured factors.
English - pp. 293-305.
M. Murphy and D. Wang, Population Studies, London School of Economics, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE, U.K.
M.Murphy@les.ac.uk.
(UNITED KINGDOM, PARENTS, CHILDREN, FAMILY COMPOSITION)
Reassessing the decline in parent-child old-age coresidence during the twentieth century.
The share of the elderly living with an adult child decreased monotonically throughout the 20th century, while the probability of reaching old age and the number of years lived in old age increased. As a result, the expected number of life-years lived with adult children while in old age may have increased, decreased, or stayed the same. I estimate that the number of life-years lived in old-age coresidence with adult children stayed roughly constant between 1900 and 1940, while the rate of coresidence declined. Life-years lived in old-age coresidence then declined substantially between 1940 and 1990. Moreover the number of life-years lived in old-age coresidence in 1990 would have been roughly half as great as it actually was had there been no improvements in mortality between 1900 and 1990. And if fertility had remained at its 1900 levels, life-years lived in old-age coresidence would have been about 45% higher in 1990 than it actually was. The results imply that analyses of the change in familial assistance to the elderly should also consider changes in mortality.
English - pp. 307-313.
R. F. Schoeni, RAND, 1700 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90407, U.S.A.
schoeni@rand.org.
(UNITED STATES, AGED, CHILDREN, COHABITATION, HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION)
99.09.25 - THOMSON, Elizabeth; HOEM, Jan M.
Couple childbearing plans and births in Sweden.
We use data from a nationally representative sample of Swedish couples to estimate effects of partners' childbearing plans on the rate of subsequent childbearing. Only 11% of the couples in this sample expressed plans in opposite directions (plan to have a child versus not to have a child), but 24% had differing levels of certainty about their plans. Of the couples in which both partners said they definitely planned to have another child, 44% had a child within two years. If neither partner planned to have another child, less than 2% of couples had a birth. The figure was 6% if the partners had opposing childbearing plans. Thus, both men and women exerted veto power over further childbearing. Disagreements were equally likely to be resolved in favor of the woman as of the man, and effects of partners' plans on the birth hazard did not depend on the couple's gender arrangements, family ideologies, or marital status. We discuss these results in the context of Sweden's public support for gender equality and for childrearing, its pervasive contraceptive regime, and its high rates of cohabitation. We also argue for the collection of data from partners in future family and fertility surveys.
English - pp. 315-322.
E. Thomson, Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1180 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI 53706, U.S.A.
thomson@ssc.wisc.edu.
(SWEDEN, FERTILITY DETERMINANTS, EXPECTED FAMILY SIZE, COUPLE)
99.09.26 - HANNUM, Emily; XIE, Y.
Ethnic stratification in Northwest China: Occupational differences between Han Chinese and national minorities in Xinjiang, 1982-1990.
The debate on market reforms and social stratification in China has paid very little attention to China's ethnic minorities. We explored rising occupational stratification by ethnicity in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Analyses of census data from 1982 and 1990 pointed to educational disadvantages faced by ethnic minorities as the most plausible explanation for the change. Multivariate analysis revealed a significant increase in the effect of education on high-status occupational attainment but no change in the effect of ethnicity. Net of education, ethnic differences in high-status occupational attainment were negligible. In contrast, large ethnic differences in manufacturing and agricultural occupations persisted after education and geography were statistically controlled.
English - pp. 323-333.
E. Hannum, Harvard Graduate School of Education, 454 Gutman, 6 Appian Way, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
( emily_hannum@harvard.edu.
(CHINA, PROVINCES, SOCIAL STRATIFICATION, OCCUPATIONAL COMPOSITON, ETHNIC MINORITIES, LEVELS OF EDUCATION)
99.09.27 - CHATTOPADHYAY, Arpita.
Gender, migration, and career trajectories in Malaysia.
With data from the Malaysian Family Life Survey, I use a continuous-state hazards model to study the impact of migration on the dynamics of individuals' careers. I distinguish between the effects of family migration and solo migration by gender. The results show that migration alters the career trajectory primarily by accelerating the process of occupational mobility rather than by increasing the level of occupational attainment. Further, the effect of migration on careers varies by type of migration, especially for women. Male-female differences in the outcome of family migration, however, are visible only in transitions into and out of employment.
English - pp. 335-344.
A. Chattopadhyay, Department of Sociology, Kansas State University, 204 Waters Hall, Manhattan, KS 66506-4003, U.S.A.
arpita@ksu.edu.
(MALAYSIA, INDIVIDUAL MIGRATION, FAMILY MIGRATION, OCCUPATIONS, OCCUPATIONAL MOBILITY, SEX DIFFERENTIALS)
99.09.28 - MERLI, M. Giovanna.
Mortality in Vietnam, 1979-1989.
Little is known about past and present mortality in Vietnam, as the first official data on mortality have only recently become available from censuses taken in 1979 and 1989. Using these data, I estimate Vietnamese mortality during the intercensal period using two techniques that rely on age-specific growth rates from two successive age distributions. Intercensal emigration and differential completeness of census enumeration associated with massive outflows of refugees in the wake of the Vietnam War, population redistribution policies, and a highly mobile population represent important sources of bias for the estimation of intercensal mortality. I incorporate several strategies to minimize bias from these sources and to select the method that is least sensitive to errors associated with them. Life expectancy at birth estimated for the 1979-1989 intercensal period is 61.4 years for males and 63.2 for females. These results suggest a trend of declining mortality between the 1970s and the 1980s and add solid empirical evidence to the debate over whether mortality in Vietnam has been deteriorating or improving.
English - pp. 345-360.
M. G. Merli, Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-3340, U.S.A.
giovanna@u.washington.edu.
(VIET NAM, POPULATION SITUATION, MORTALITY TRENDS, MORTALITY MEASUREMENT, BIAS, INTERCENSAL ESTIMATES)
99.09.29 - ZIMMER, Zachary; LIU, Xian; HERMALIN, Albert; CHUANG, Yi-Li.
Educational attainment and transitions in functional status among older Taiwanese.
Despite considerable research examining the influence of socioeconomic status on health, few studies have considered this relationship as it pertains to older adults in non-Western societies. We attempt to ascertain the influence of education on changes in physical functioning in a rapidly developing country. Data come from the 1989 Survey of Health and Living Status of the Elderly in Taiwan and a follow-up interview in 1993 (N = 4,049, age = 60+). Individuals are conceptualised to be in a state of functional independence or functional limitation at the time of origin, based on their ability to perform three physical functioning tasks. The outcome at the follow-up interview is categorized as functionally independent, limited, or dead, allowing for six probabilities, one from each state of origin to each outcome. These are calculated using a multinomial logit model, controlling for other factors often thought to be associated with health transitions. High levels of educational attainment result in a decreased incidence of functional limitation for those originating in a state of independence. Contrary to expectations, however, education has little influence on those who originate functionally limited. Thus, higher education plays a substantial role in primary prevention of morbidity, delaying the onset of disability, but other factors are more important once limitations begin. We speculate on the reasons behind these findings, including that the results may be culturally dependent.
English - pp. 361-375.
Z. Zimmer, Department of Sociology, University of Nevada, 4505 Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV 89154, U.S.A.
zimmerz@nevada.edu.
(TAIWAN, AGED, LEVELS OF EDUCATION, PHYSICAL HANDICAP, PUBLIC HEALTH)
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09 DEMOGRAPHY
November 1998, Vol. 35, N° 4
Demography and the environment.
Demographers' interest in the environment has generally been enmeshed in broader issues of population growth and economic development. Empirical research by demographers on environmental issues other than natural-resource constraints is limited. In this paper I briefly review past demographic thinking about population and the environment and suggest reasons for the limited scope of demographic research in this area. Next, I describe more recent demographic research on the environment and suggest several newer areas for demographic research. Finally, I consider the future of research on the environment in the field of demography.
English - pp. 377-390.
A. Pebley, RAND Population Research Center, P.O. Box 2138, Santa Monica, U.S.A.
pebley@rand.org.
(ENVIRONMENT, DEMOGRAPHIC RESEARCH)
99.09.31 - HORIUCHI, Shiro; WILMOTH, John R.
Deceleration in the age pattern of mortality at older ages.
The rate of mortality increase with age tends to slow down at very old ages. One explanation proposed for this deceleration is the selective survival of healthier individuals to older ages. Data on mortality in Sweden and Japan are generally compatible with three predictions of this hypothesis: (1) decelerations for most major causes of death; (2) decelerations starting at younger ages for more "selective" causes; and (3) a shift of the deceleration to older ages with declining levels of mortality. A parametric model employed to illustrate the third prediction relies on the distinction between senescent and background mortality. This dicho-tomy, though simplistic, helps to explain the observed timing of the deceleration.
English - pp. 391-412.
S. Horiuchi, Laboratory of Populations, Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10021-6399, U.S.A.
horiush@rockvax.rockefeller.edu.
(SWEDEN, JAPAN, DEATH RATE, AGE-SPECIFIC RATE, AGED, MORTALITY DECLINE, CAUSES OF DEATH)
99.09.32 - IWASHYNA, Theodore J.; ZHANG, James X.; LAUDERDALE, Diane S.; CHRISTAKIS, Nicholas A.
A methodology for identifying married couples in Medicare data: Mortality, morbidity, and health care use among the married elderly.
We describe a method for the development of cohorts of up to three quarters of the 14 million married couples aged 65 and over in the United States. The health care experiences, illness histories, and mortality of these identified couples can be assessed longitudinally using Medicare data, We summarize strengths and limitations of using data from Medicare administrative records for the study of marriage, health, and aging. We illustrate the method by demonstrating substantial differences in survival in a cohort of hospice patients as a function of not only the patient's own diagnosis and illness burden but also the patient's spouse's illness burden.
English - pp. 413-419.
T. J. Iwashyna, Harris School of Public Policy Studies, University of Chicago, c/o N. Christakis, 5841 S. Maryland Avenue, MC 2007, Chicago, IL 60637, U.S.A.
j-iwashyna@uchicago.edu.
(UNITED STATES, AGED, MARRIED PERSONS, METHODOLOGY, DATA COLLECTION, MORTALITY, MORBIDITY, MEDICAL CARE)
Contraceptive use in South Africa under apartheid.
In this paper, patterns of contraceptive use among black South African women in the late 1980s are examined Multilevel logit models are used to evaluate the extent to which segregation of the African population into homelands gave rise to uneven patterns of contraceptive use; how this pattern was shaped by variations in family-planning acceptability; and the way in which the system of male labor migration and social and economic inequities across communities affected women's use of contraceptives. Results show that variation in contraceptive use across homeland areas diminished with the addition of community controls for development and migration. Controlling for unobserved heterogeneity indicated that localized conditions could offset the advantages or disadvantages of living in a former homeland.
English - pp. 421-434.
C. E. Kaufman, The Population Council, One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10017, U.S.A.
ckaufman@popcouncil.org.
(SOUTH AFRICA, CONTRACEPTIVE USAGE, HISTORY, APARTHEID, BLACKS)
99.09.34 - AXINN, William G.; BARBER, Jennifer S.; THORNTON, Arland.
The long-term impact of parents' childbearing decisions on children's self-esteem.
We examine the long-term impact of parents' childbearing decisions on children's self-esteem. We focus on subjective aspects of the home environment in the creation of children's internalized sense of self-worth. Unique 23-year family panel data combining measures of mothers' childbearing, mothers' childbearing intentions, and children's self-esteem allow us to examine the overall links between parents' childbearing and children's self-esteem. The results demonstrate that parents' childbearing intentions can have a significant long-term impact on their children's self-esteem. Children who were unintended by their mothers have significantly lower self-esteem 23 years later. Our findings indicate that giving birth to an unintended child can have a long-term negative impact on subjective aspects of the child's well-being, at least in terms of self-esteem. Unintended childbearing has received an increasing amount of research attention in recent years.
English - pp. 435-443.
W. G. Axinn, Department of Sociology, University of Michigan, 1225 S. University Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248, U.S.A.
baxinn@umich.edu.
(SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, WANTED CHILD, UNWANTED CHILD, INDIVIDUAL WELFARE)
99.09.35 - SCHMERTMANN, Carl P.; AMANKWAA, Adansi A.; LONG, Robert D.
Three strikes and you're out: Demographic analysis of mandatory prison sentencing.
Much of the debate about the costs and benefits of "three-strikes" laws for repeat felony offenders is implicitly demographic, relying on unexamined assumptions about prison population dynamics. However even state-of-the-art analysis has omitted important demographic details. We construct a multistate life-table model of population flows to and from prisons, incorporating age-specific transition rates estimated from administrative data from Florida. We use the multistate life-table model to investigate patterns of prison population growth and aging under many variants of three-strikes laws. Our analysis allows us to quantify these demographic changes and suggests that the aging of prison populations under three-strikes policies will significantly undermine their long-run effectiveness.
English - pp. 445-463.
C. P. Schmertmann, Center for the Study of Population, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-2240, U.S.A.
schmertmann@fsu.edu.
(UNITED STATES, PRISONS, POPULATION DYNAMICS, METHODOLOGY)
99.09.36 - TELLES, Edward E.; LIM, Nelson.
Does it matter who answers the race question? Race classification and income inequality in Brazil.
Previous studies of racial inequality have relied on official statistics that presumably use self-classification of race. Using novel data from a 1995 national survey in Brazil, we find that the estimates of racial income inequality based on self-classification are lower than those based on interviewer classification. After human capital and labor market controls, whites earn 26% more than browns with interviewer classification but earn only 17% more than browns with self-classification. Black-brown differences hardly change: Blacks earn 13% and 12% less than browns with interviewer classification and self-classification, respectively. We contend that interviewer classification of race is more appropriate because analysts of racial inequality are interested in the effects of racial discrimination, which depends on how others classify one's race.
English - pp. 465-474.
E. E. Telles, The Ford Foundation, Rio de Janeiro Office, 320 E. 43rd Street, New York, NY 10017, U.S.A.
e.telles@fordfound.org.
(BRAZIL, RACES, METHODOLOGY, DATA COLLECTION, QUESTIONNAIRES, BIAS, INCOME)
Revisiting occupational sex segregation in the United States, 1910-1990: Results from a log-linear approach.
I reexamine trends in the strength and structure of occupational sex segregation in the United States from 1910 to 1990. Log-multiplicative models show significant change in the association between gender and occupation. Contrary to conventional characterizations, a substantial proportion of this change occurred before 1970. Likewise, a margin-free index shows more integration over the century than do conventional indices. These discrepancies arise from occupation-specific variations in the trajectory of sex segregation: Highly segregated occupations were especially likely to integrate between 1930 and 1940. I identify regions of the occupational structure and pivotal periods in which shifts in segregation occurred and compare these results with conventional historical accounts.
English - pp. 475-488.
K. A. Weeden, Department of Sociology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-2047, U.S.A.
weeden@leland.stanford.edu.
(UNITED STATES, SEX DISCRIMINATION, OCCUPATIONS, METHODOLOGY, TRENDS)
Occupational gender segregation: Index measurement and econometric modeling.
Empirical studies of gender segregation by occupation must be founded on rigorous measurement procedures. There appears to be a consensus that any index used in the analysis of time-series or international cross-section employment data must be either margin-free or decomposable to yield a margin-free component. On the other hand, Charles and Grusky (1995) advocate the use of multiplicative log models from which a margin-free odds ratio can be derived. In this paper I contrast the construction and interpretation of the index of dissimilarity and the Karmel-MacLachlan index with the multiplicative modeling of gender segregation and the associated log index.
English - pp. 489-496.
M. Watts, Department of Economics, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia.
ecmjw@cc.newcastle.edu.au.
(SEX DISCRIMINATION, OCCUPATIONS, METHODOLOGY, MEASUREMENT)
99.09.39 - GRUSKY, David B.; CHARLES, Maria.
The past, present and future of sex segregation methodology.
We review the logic underlying margin-free analyses of sex segregation arrays. In the course of our review, we show that the Karmel-MacLachlan decomposition does not live up to its margin-free billing, as the index upon which it rests, Ip , is itself margin-sensitive. Moreover, because the implicit individualism of D is necessarily inconsistent with margin-free analysis, the field would do well to abandon not merely the Karmel-MacLachlan decomposition but all related efforts to purge marginal dependencies from D-inspired measures. The criticisms that Watts (1998) levels against our log-multiplicative approach are likewise unconvincing. We demonstrate that our preferred models pass the test of organizational equivalence, that the "problem" of zero cells can be solved by applying well-developed methods for ransacking incomplete or sparse tables, and that simple log-multiplicative models can be readily devised to analyze disaggregate arrays. We illustrate these conclusions by analysing a new cross-national archive of detailed segregation data.
English - pp. 497-504.
D. B. Grusky, Department of Sociology, McClatchy Hall, Building 120, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, U.S.A.
grusky@leland.stanford.edu.
(SEX DISCRIMINATION, OCCUPATIONS, METHODOLOGY, MEASUREMENT)
The analysis of sex segregation: When is index mea-surement not index measurement?.
In their paper in this issue, Grusky and Charles (1998) make a number of dubious claims about the measurement and interpretation of sex segregation. First, they incorrectly claim that only log-odds measures yield margin-free measures of segregation. Second, the estimation and testing of a limited class of log-linear models does not provide an independent test of the appropriateness of a log-odds ratio index to measure segregation. Their estimation informs them of the statistically justifiable degree of occupational disaggregation, not whether a log-odds ratio is superior to, say, a linear index in the measurement of segregation. Finally, their index A is beset with problems of interpretation, not withstanding their arguments, and their additional measures, AW and AB, suffer similar problems. Grusky and Charles are, however correct in arguing that measurement procedures should be margin-free. Further, I concur with the view that the adoption of a single annual summary measure of segregation cannot be justified, because it is premised on the assumption that individual occupations, or groups of occupations, exhibit similar trends in sex segregation.
English - pp. 505-508.
M. Watts, Department of Economics, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia.
ecmjw@cc.newcastle.edu.au.
(SEX DISCRIMINATION, OCCUPATIONS, METHODOLOGY, MEASUREMENT)
99.09.41 - VAN DER VEEN, Willem Jan.
Comment on "Compromised birth outcomes and infant mortality among racial and ethnic groups".
Frisbie, Forbes, and Pullum (1996) show that it is meaningful to account for low birth weight, preterm delivery, and intrauterine growth-retardation when analysing differences in compromised birth outcomes and infant mortality among racial and ethnic groups. I compare their findings for the 1987 U.S. birth cohort with findings for the 1988 U.S. birth cohort, using linked birth and infant death vital statistics from the National Center for Health Statistics. I focus on their calculation of fetal growth curves, which are highly at odds with the curves commonly used in the obstetric and pediatric literature. I compare birth outcome distributions and infant death probabilities using Frisbie et al.'s method and other standards. I conclude that Frisbie et al.'s method is not suited for the study of intrauterine growth-retardation at the population level because of the major flaws in gestational age measurement that exist in the type of data they use. An appropriate alternative is to apply a standard of normal intrauterine growth derived from antenatal estimation of fetal weight-for-gestational-age to the vital statistics data.
English - pp. 509-518.
W. J. van der Veen, Population Research Centre, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 800, 9700 AV Groningen, Netherlands.
w.j.van.der.veen@frw.rug.nl.
(HIGH RISK PREGNANCY, INFANT MORTALITY, MORTALITY DETERMINANTS, DIFFERENTIAL MORTALITY, RACES, ETHNIC GROUPS, METHODOLOGY)
99.09.42 - FRISBIE, Parker W.; FORBES, Douglas; HUMMER, Robert A.; PULLUM, Starling G.
Birth outcome, not pregnancy process: Reply to van der Veen.
In a recent article (Frisbie, Forbes, and Pullum 1996) we documented racial/ethnic differences in birth outcomes according to a more fine-grained classification than has typically been employed in the demographic literature. In his commentary, van der Veen focuses on the measurement of one of the dimensions of that classification, maturity of the infant, as proxied by the fetal growth ratio. The crux of the critique is easily seen in van der Veen's statement that "all of my disagreements with Frisbie et al.'s method arise from their particular use of a postnatal standard for the assessment of intrauterine growth". Our critic misunderstands our objective: He fails to realize our interest in birth outcome, not pregnancy process, and does not perceive that our intent was to extend the research extant in both the demographic and public-health literatures in which patently postnatal (i.e., ex utero) measures are taken as outcomes interesting in their own right and/or as risk factors for infant mortality and infant and childhood morbidity. Specifically, he does recognize that we purpose fully expanded our focus to include moderately compromised births to determine if they were at higher risk than the normal births with whom they are conventionally categorized. Our discussion draws on research cited in the original article, on studies cited by our critic, and on a few more recent investigations. Although we have never argued that ours is the only, or even the best, approach in all cases, we try to clarify the rationale for, and adduce additional empirical evidence of the utility of the method we used.
English - pp. 519-527.
W. P. Frisbie, Population Research Center, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, U.S.A.
frisbie@prc.utexas.edu.
(HIGH RISK PREGNANCY, INFANT MORTALITY, MORTALITY DETERMINANTS, DIFFERENTIAL MORTALITY, RACES, ETHNIC GROUPS, METHODOLOGY)
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