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JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE FAMILY STUDIES, Spring 1999, Vol. 30, N? 2
WHITE, James M.
Work-family stage and satisfaction with work-family balance.
Voydanoff's (1987) three constructs for the sequencing of work and family stages are integrated with family development theory to produce three hypotheses in regard to work-family career stages and its relationship to satisfaction with the balance between work and family. Canadian findings indicate that the effects for work-family stages are moderated by gender. Mothers who work over twenty hours a week are less satisfied with the balance between work and family than fathers and mothers who work less than twenty hours or are at home full time. Part time dual earner families show relatively high satisfaction with work-family balance for both genders. These findings are discussed in the contexts of family development theory and current social change.
(CANADA, FAMILY LIFE CYCLE, FEMALE EMPLOYMENT, MOTHERHOOD, SOCIAL CHANGE, SATISFACTION).
English ? pp. 163-175.
J. M. White, Family Science, 2205 East Mall, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4, Canada.
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MALHOTRA, Anju; TSUI, Amy Ong.
Work and marriage: Mother-daughter similarities in Sri Lanka.
This paper examines generational interaction and gender roles in Sri Lanka by focusing on the mother-daughter dyad with regard to the issues of marriage and work. Using survey and focus group data from the Kalutara district for 288 pairs of young daughters aged 15-30 and their coresident mothers, we examine each generation with regard to participation in paid employment and attitudes towards the daughters expected age at marriage. Our findings show that most of the women in our study, regardless of generation, hold some very "modern" attitudes about both work and marriage. At the same time, current work force participation levels are low among both mothers and daughters. The generational similarity extends to the determinants of attitudes towards marriage timing, showing that there is no generation gap, and that there is widespread normative acceptance of relatively late marriages among daughters as well as mothers, reflecting traditional support for delayed marriages in Sri Lankan society. The two generations, however, are very different in the factors correlating with their work status: for mothers, family issues, especially the work status of other members is of prime importance, while for daugthers their life course stage in terms of age and schooling status, as well as media exposure are the major factors related to employment. Mothers are more likely to be working because of economic need, while the younger women have greater flexibility on issues of family responsibility.
(SRI LANKA, MOTHER, DAUGHTERS, AGE AT MARRIAGE, FEMALE EMPLOYMENT).
English ? pp. 219-241.
A. Malhotra, International Center for Research on Women, 1717 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20036, U.S.A; A. O. Tsui, Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 123 West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516-3997, U.S.A.
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WEISS, Linda.
Single women in Nepal: Familial support, familial neglect.
This paper focuses on familial assistance to those high caste Nepalese women who are either widowed or estranged from their husband. Some 20% of high caste women may be single at any given point in time; because of discrimination in rules of inheritance, educational access and access to marketable skills, the likelihood of their full self-sufficiency, through property or work, is relatively small. Assistance from family is, therefore, essential to single women of these castes, but the structure of the kinship system and the norms governing behavior make accessing support sometimes difficult. Affines are responsible for the care of these women, but may have little motivation to provide it--particularly in cases of separation, divorce, or where the women is young or without offspring (therefore needing careful supervision and many years of support). Natal kin may have a greater desire to help, yet they face a number of constraints on their behavior towards once married women; thus they can often provide some assistance, but only rarely substantial support. Still, natal kin were found to be very important at the end of a woman's marriage, a surprising finding considering the strongly patrilineal kinship system and patriarchal ideology.
(NEPAL, WOMEN?S STATUS, SINGLE PERSONS, FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS, ECONOMIC RESOURCES, KINSHIP).
English ? pp. 243-256.
L. Weiss, Division of Health and Science Policy, New York Academy of Medicine, 1216 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10029, U.S.A.
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ARIAS, Elizabeth; PALLONI, Alberto.
Prevalence and patterns of female headed households in Latin America: 1970-1990.
Our goal in this paper is to describe levels and trends of female headed households in Latin America during the past twenty years. The data available to us do not support the idea that the breakup of the traditional family, the advent of massive rura-urban migratory flows, and the disruptions produced by rapid urbanization and industrialization leads inevitably to increases in female headship. Female headship does increase by a small amount in three countries but declines or remains invariant everywhere else. We find remarkable similarities across countries in the age-patterns of female headship as well as in the compositional factors accounting for it, namely, marital status, education, poverty and urban-rural residence.
(LATIN AMERICA, HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD, WOMEN, TRENDS, SOCIAL CHANGE).
English ? pp. 257-279.
E. Arias and A. Palloni, Center for Demography and Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Social Science Bldg., 1180 Observatory Drive, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, U.S.A.
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WON, Young-Hee; LEE, Gary R.
Living arrangements of older parents in Korea.
This study examines the probability of coresidence with a married child among a sample of 291 elderly Korean parents. The primary objective was to ascertain whether hypotheses derived from studies in the United States also generate support in Korea, with its very different normative system. Most hypotheses are supported: the most dependent elders (older, less educated, less wealthy, unmarried) are most likely to live with married children. However unlike the situation in the United States, parental health is positively related to coresidence. In addition, holding stronger familistic norms is positively related to coresidence, but this variable does not alter the effects of dependency indicators on coresidence. Implications for cultural change in Korea are discussed.
(KOREA, AGED, PARENTS, HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION, COHABITATION, SOCIAL NORMS).
English ? pp. 315-328.
Y.-H. Won, Department of Social Welfare, Korean Bible University, 205 Sangke-Dong, Nowon-Gu, Seoul 139-791, Korea; G. R. Lee, Department of Sociology, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403, U.S.A.
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JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE FAMILY STUDIES, Summer 1999, Vol. 30, N? 3
ROMANIUC, Anatole; CHUIKO, Liubov.
Matrimonial behavior in Canada and Ukraine: The enduring hold of culture.
The study compares a century-long matrimonial experience in Canada and Ukraine in terms of such criteria as intensity (universality), timing (age), stability and integrity of marriage. The study reveals a culture of early and universal marriage in Ukraine and that of marriage at more mature ages and one that is not nearly as universal in Canada, thus confirming the existence of Hajnal's Western and Eastern marriage pattern divide. Perhaps the most striking feature which appears from this comparative study is the tenacity of matrimonial culture in the face of the many unsettling events the two countries have experienced over the century.
How is it that an early and universal marriage custom took such a strong hold in Ukraine, a country that suffered from the overpopulation and acute fragmentation of family holdings, whereas in Canada, a country of immigration and abundance of land, late and less-than-universal marriage prevailed? And why do the traditional marriage patterns continue more or less in our day? To solve this conundrum, the study examines the prevailing inheritance customs, types of households, parental responsibility, kinship solidarity, aversion toward illegitimacy. The importance of institutional support for matrimonial culture is illustrated by the example of Canadian Ukrainians.
Theoretical questions are raised as to the demographic and matrimonial responses to the modernity exigencies, and as to the role of normative and rational imperatives in shaping the individual conduct in the matters of matrimony.
(CANADA, UKRAINE, NUPTIALITY, TRENDS, COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS, SOCIAL NORMS, CULTURE).
English ? pp. 335-361.
A. Romaniuc, 1977 Highridge Ave., Ottawa, Ontario K1H 5H1, Canada; L. Chuiko, Demography and Human Resources Centre, Institute of Economics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 26 Panasa Myrnoho Street, Kyiv-11, Ukraine 2522011.
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CRETSER, Gary A.
Cross-national marriage in Sweden: Immigration and assimilation 1971-1993.
Sweden, once considered a nation of emigration, has experienced a great deal of immigration and is now a multi-ethnic state. National data on marriages performed in Sweden between 1971 and 1993 are examined to analyze the rates and patterns of cross-national unions. Comparisons are made between Swedish men and women in their tendency to intermarry with particular nationalities over time. These intermarriage trends and patterns are discussed in relation to data on immigration to Sweden during approximately the same period. Findings show there has been a substantial increase in cross-national marriage in Sweden. When Swedes marry someone of another nationality it is most often a Finn and Swedish women more frequently than men marry non-Nordic spouses. The relative number of immigrants to Sweden from particular origin countries and their sex ratio is predictive of which nationality and gender are likely to intermarry with Swedes. These findings are considered from marriage market and assimilation perspectives.
(SWEDEN, MIGRANT ASSIMILATION, MIXED MARRIAGE, IMMIGRATION, TRENDS).
English ? pp. 363-380.
G. A. Cretser, Behavioral Sciences Department, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California 91768, U.S.A.
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EFFAH, Kofi B.
A reformulation of the polygyny-fertility hypothesis.
Over the last few years the effect of polygyny on fertility has drawn an extensive amont of research. However, much of the literature that addresses the polygyny-fertility hypothesis has methodological and conceptual problems. The original polygyny-fertility hypothesis overestimates the effect of polygyny on fertility because of the assumption that current marital status accounts for the fertility of women. This paper reformulates the polygyny-fertility hypothesis by arguing that polygyny is likely to depress fertility if polygynous women have been previously married. Using the 1993 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey data, we find that polygyny reduces fertility for only women who have been previously married. Thus, in the absence of previous marriage, the fertility of monogamous and polygynous women is similar. The results further indicate that urban residency, education and age at first marriage reduce fertility, while current age and ever use of contraception increase fertility.
(GHANA, POPULATION THEORY, POLYGYNY, FERTILITY DETERMINANTS, REMARRIAGE).
English ? pp. 381-408.
K. B. Effah, Texas Department of Human Services, Budget Management Services (W421), P.O. Box 149030, Austin, Texas 78714-9030, U.S.A.
kofi@bms.dhs.state.tx.us.
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ADDAI, Isaac; TROVATO, Frank.
Structural assimilation and ethnic fertility in Ghana.
This study explores the relative importance of socioeconomic and ethnic/cultural factors on possible convergence in reproduction among four and residual Ghanaian ethnic groups. Two views on differences in ethnic fertility have emerged in the literature. The first is the characteristics assimilation thesis which is based on the premise that when socioeconomic and demographic differences between social groups are statistically controlled, their fertility levels should converge. The other view, the cultural/ethnic effect thesis, attributes group fertility differences to the influence of subgroup culture and experiences.
No study in this area of research has explored the relative efficacy of these explanations within the context of Ghana. We study the Twi, the Fante/Other Akan, the Ewe and the Ga-Adangbe ethnic groups and the Northern Groups using data from the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey of 1993. The results derived from the analysis are more congruent with characteristics assimilation thesis because once sociodemographic differences between these groups and a standard population are equalized through statistical controls, the fertility differences virtually disappear. The cultural/ethnic hypothesis, which stresses the influence of group norms, beliefs, values and experiences in group behaviour, including reproduction, is of no importance among the groups under study.
(GHANA, FERTILITY DETERMINANTS, ETHNIC GROUPS, FERTILITY DIFFERENTIALS).
English ? pp. 409-427.
I. Addai, Social Science Department, Lansing Community College, P.O. Box 40010, Lansing, Michigan 48901-7210, U.S.A.; F. Trovato, Department of Sociology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2H4, Canada.
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PATEL, Tulsi.
The precious few: Women's agency, household progression, and fertility in a Rajasthan village.
Male authority and dynamics of power and privilege, and women's "structural mutedness" seem apparent. However, it is also accepted that wherever there is power there is resistance. In the light of the above issues, the paper explores women's exclusive domain of childbirth in rural Rajasthan in Northern India. It adopts the processual, life cycle and household development approach to constitute women's fertility career. It highlights the significance of women's agency in their efforts at manoeuvering their own fertility outcomes without overthrowing mothering or patriarchy.
(INDIA, RURAL AREAS, PATRIARCHY, WOMEN?S STATUS, FERTILITY).
English ? pp. 429-451.
T. Patel, Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, Delhi 110007, India.
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LEE, Sookkhyun C.; KEITH, Pat M.
The transition to motherhood of Korean women.
This research examines the effect of the birth of a child on couple relationships and compares the transition to motherhood of employed and non-employed Korean women. Data are analyzed from indepth interviews with 20 employed and 20 non-employed women in Korea. Preparation for motherhood, difficulties and satisfactions, changes in the marital relationship, support from others, and attitudes toward child rearing are considered by employment status. Perhaps because of considerable family support, employed women did not experience severe difficulties in adapting to the new role. Indeed, extensive family support may interfere with fathers' participation in child care. Suggestions for policy changes are noted.
(KOREA, INTERSPOUSE RELATIONSHIPS, FIRST BIRTH, MOTHERHOOD, FEMALE EMPLOYMENT).
English ? pp. 453-470.
S. C. Lee, Department of Child and Family Studies, Yonsei University, 134 Shinchon-Dong, Sudaemun-Ku, Seoul 120-749, Korea; P. M. Keith, Department of Sociology, Iowa State University, 107 East Hall, Ames, Iowa 50011, U.S.A.
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SMITH, Peter J.; BEAUJOT, Roderic.
Men's orientation toward marriage and family roles.
Starting with the theoretical notion that gender can be seen as a schema that imposes structure and meaning, this paper explores the diversity in men's orientations regarding marriage and family roles. The responses from a qualitative survey in Southwestern Ontario shows variation between traditional and liberal orientations in terms of men's views on the extent to which women prefer childcare over work. However, men from various orientations largely consider it appropriate to make distinctions between the family roles of men and women. Most respondents are in some kind of intermediate category between traditional and modern orientations, where the contradictions, which affect women more than men, are unevenly recognized.
(CANADA, MEN, ATTITUDE, SEX ROLES, MARRIAGE, FAMILY, CULTURAL CHANGE).
English ? pp. 471-488.
P. J. Smith and R. Beaujot, Department of Sociology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A SC2, Canada.
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CHATTOPADHYAY, Arpita; MARSH, Robert.
Changes in living arrangement and familial support for the elderly in Taiwan: 1963-1991.
Data from two cross sectional household surveys conducted in 1963 and 1991 in the city of Taipei are used to study the effect of industrialization, urbanization and economic growth on intergenerational co-residence and family support for the elderly. Changes in attitude toward intergenerational living arrangement and financial support from children are also examined enabling the assessment of the strength of cultural factors in maintaining peoples attitude toward elderly support during a period of rapid economic change. Our results show that intergenerational co-residence has declined significantly. However, this does not necessarily jeopardize the welfare of the elderly as sons increase income transfers to parents, compensating for non co-residence. The study also indicates that attitudinal change in respect of financial support has been much more drastic than that in respect to co-residence.
(TAIWAN, CAPITAL CITY, AGED, HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION, COHABITATION, ECONOMIC RESOURCES, CULTURE, ATTITUDE).
English ? pp. 523-537.
A. Chattopadhyay, Department of Sociology, Kansas State University, 204 Waters Hall, Manhattan, Kansas 66506, U.S.A.; R. Marsh, Department of Sociology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, U.S.A.
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JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE FAMILY STUDIES, Autumn 1999, Vol. 30, N? 4
DASGUPTA, Satadal; HENNESSEY, Se?na; MUKHOPADHYAY, Rajat Subhra.
Caste, class and family structure in West Bengal villages.
This paper examines the influences of caste and class status on family structure in rural India. Analysis of the data collected from three villages of the West Bengal state in India shows that caste status continues to be significantly related to the family structure. However, class status -- whether based on occupation or landownership -- has a stronger and statistically more significant relationship with family structure. Further analysis of the data shows that both occupational classes and caste structure are strongly related to landownership and also show statistically significant relationship with each other. It appears that it is because of their strong relationship with landownership that occupational classes and caste structure maintain significant relationships with family structure.
(INDIA, RURAL COMMUNITIES, CASTES, SOCIAL CLASSES, FAMILY COMPOSITION, LAND TENURE).
English ? pp. 561-577.
S. Dasgupta and S. Hennessey, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, P.E.I. C1A 4P3, Canada; R. S. Mukhopadhyay, Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, North Bengal University, West Bengal, India 734430.
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QIAN, Zhenchao.
Who intermarries? Education, nativity, region, and interracial marriage, 1980 and 1990.
This study examines interracial marriage among whites, African Americans, Hispanics, and Asian Americans, using PUMS data from the 1980 and the 1990 censuses. The level of interracial marriage is related inversely to the size of the racial group and to the proportion of the racial group in each region. Demographic structure, however, does not fully explain the racial differences in interracial marriage, Hispanics and Asian Americans have higher levels of interracial marriage than African Americans, despite the greater prevalence of immigrants in the former two groups. Interracial marriage differs by educational attainment for each racial group, but spousal educational differences are similar among different types of interracial marriages. The findings suggest that racial differences in interracial marriage by educational attainment do not show that interracial marriage is an exchange of whites' racial status for minorities' higher educational attainment, but indicate racial differences in educational attainment. Finally, immigration status, an indication of acculturation, shows different effects on interracial marriage for each racial group.
(UNITED STATES, MIXED MARRIAGE, ETHNIC GROUPS, RACES, COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS, LEVELS OF EDUCATION).
English ? pp. 579-597.
Z. Qian, Department of Sociology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-2101, U.S.A.
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CALV?S, Anne-Emmanu?le; MEEKERS, Dominique.
The advantages of having many children for women in formal and informal unions in Cameroon.
In Cameroon, as in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, many couples like to have a large family. Previous studies have attributed this desire to have many children to the importance of children for expanding the lineage and continuing the family name, and to the children's contribution to the household economy and support in old age. This study expands on this research by recognizing that women in formal and informal unions are likely to have different reasons for wanting or not wanting to have many children.
The analysis of data from the 1991 Cameroon Demographic and Health Survey (CDHS) demonstrates that married women, women in co-residential informal unions, and women in non-co-residential informal unions have different perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of having many children. These findings are important for improving the efficiency of future population policies designed to reduce levels or fertility. The results also show that non-co-residential and co-residential informal unions are conceptually different from marriage, which strongly suggests that the reported increases in the prevalence of informal unions in many African societies indicate an important change in the African family, the implications of which are still poorly understood.
(CAMEROON, DESIRED FAMILY SIZE, FERTILITY DETERMINANTS, WOMEN, MARITAL UNION, CONSENSUAL UNION, TEMPORARY UNION).
English ? pp. 617-639.
A.-E. Calv?s, D?partement de D?mographie, Universit? de Montr?al, C.P. 6128 Suc. A, Suite 600, Montr?al, Qu?bec H3C 3J7, Canada; D. Meekers, Research Division, Population Services lnternational, 1120 19th Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20036, U.S.A.
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SANCHEZ, Laura; HALL, Carla S.
Traditional values and democratic impulses: The gender division of labor in contemporary Spain.
We examine the gender division of labor among married Spaniards (Family and the Use of Time Survey, 1993), testing hypotheses about secular, rational efficiency effects of employment, education, and political attitudes conflicting with wives' and husbands' gender traditional reactions to parenthood and Catholicism. The dependent variables include a summed inventory of six routine household maintenance tasks, daily hours spent in employment, housework, child care, and leisure, and three measures of timing, pacing, and multi-tasking pressures. Wives perform the vast majority of routine daily household maintenance chores and spend longer days in combined paid employment, housework, and child care than do husbands. Wives also experience greater pacing, timing, and multi-tasking pressures than do husbands. We find support for our argument that Spaniards combine both traditional and equalitarian orientations in their daily routines. Wives especially seem to balance a rationally efficient orientation to their market capital and time availability demands, but still retain a very traditional homemaking role based on affiliation with Catholic principles.
(SPAIN, SEX ROLES, SEXUAL DIVISION OF LABOUR, TIME BUDGET, TRADITION, CULTURAL CHANGE).
English ? pp. 659-685.
L. Sanchez and C. S. Hall, Department of Sociology, 220 Newcomb Hall, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118, U.S.A.
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WILSON, Margot.
"Take this child": Why women abandon their infants in Bangladesh.
This study provides an in depth analysis of the decision-making processes of abandoning mothers and families. The data were collected from a shelter for abandoned women and children located in Dhaka, Bangladesh and reflect the experiences of extremely poor women and children. The abandonment of children is by no means a recent development. The experiences of these women and children demonstrate how individuals become detached from their families and their communities. They reveal the marginal nature of women's lives, the ways in which mother-child relations are culturally constructed, and the coping strategies adopted by families living in the harsh economic realities of Bangladesh. Out of wedlock pregnancy and the abandonment of women and children are issues deeply embedded in the social fabric of Bangladesh. The potential for change lies in broader social reforms, primarily the elimination of deep-rooted prejudices against women in general and the development of social support systems for abandoned pregnant women in particular.
(BANGLADESH, POVERTY, ABANDONED CHILDREN, SOCIAL NORMS, WOMEN?S STATUS).
English ? pp. 687-702.
M. Wilson, Department of Anthropology, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia V8W 3P5, Canada.
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DONNER, William W.
Sharing and compassion: Fosterage in a Polynesian society.
On Sikaiana, a small isolated Polynesian atoll, there are very high rates of fosterage and many children move between several different caretakers. Fosterage is an important way to express Sikaiana values of generosity and build social relations. Sikaiana fosterage provides an example of how several different families can share responsibilities for raising children. Sikaiana fosterage also provides a comparative perspective for examining American and other Western family systems where there is a widespread preference for the exclusive rearing of children within one family.
(POLYNESIA, FOSTERING, SOCIAL SYSTEM, CHILD REARING).
English ? pp. 703-722.
W. W. Donner, Department of Anthropology, Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA 19530, U.S.A.
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