Second Unions Now More Stable than First? A Comparison of Separation Risks by Union Order in France

The frequency of union dissolutions increased sharply over the past 40 years in Western Europe and North America, resulting in a rapid growth in the number of persons living with a second partner. In studies of the 1980s, primarily conducted within the context of marriage, second partnerships were generally found to be less stable than first unions, but more recent studies provide more conflicting evidence. Taking the example of France, we study whether the relationship between first and second union stability indeed reversed between the 1970s and the 2000s, and how union and individual characteristics contributed to changes over time. The analysis presented here is based on the French Generations and Gender Survey (2005). The article first provides an overview of the differences in marriage, childbearing and breakup behaviours in first and second unions. Second, a piecewise linear model for repeated events is used to compare women’s dissolution risks in first and second unions. The results show that over time, the higher instability of second compared to first unions disappeared. Further, women in second unions adopted unmarried cohabitation as a living arrangement more often across the whole period and were more likely to have stepchildren, which was associated with less stable unions. Taking into account this diversity of family situations, i.e. controlling for family form and children, second unions were more stable than first unions, even during the past. At both union orders, marriage breakup risks tended to stabilise despite a continuing increase in the prevalence of separation, which suggests that cohabitation increasingly acts as a filter for marriage.     

Socioeconomic Resources and the Dissolution of Cohabitations and Marriages

A large body of research focuses on the (socio)economic antecedents of marriage dissolution. Less is known about the factors that affect the stability of cohabitations. The focus in this study, which is based on Finnish register data, is on whether the socioeconomic resources of the partners affect the stability of cohabitations and marriages in a similar way. According to the results, a lower level of education, unemployment (of the man in particular) and the male partner’s (or the couple’s) low income increased dissolution rates in unions of both types. The stabilizing effects of each partner’s high educational level as well as the male partner’s employment and high income were stronger in marriages. The union types also seemed to differ in that the separation-promoting effect of the female partner’s high (absolute or relative) income was stronger in marriages, but high-income women are few and the interactions between union type and the income of the female partner were statistically insignificant. The overall conclusion is that in the Finnish context, the socioeconomic antecedents of union dissolution are remarkably similar in cohabitations and marriages, but socioeconomic resources are somewhat more important for the stability of marriages. Only weak support was found for the idea that cohabitations are more compatible with income equality.     

Cohabitation, Marriage, and First Birth: The Interrelationship of Family Formation Events in Spain

In this paper, we investigate (1) the mutualcausal relationship between first unionformation and first childbirth, and (2) theexistence of constant unmeasured determinantsshared by these two events. We argue that thesedeterminants mainly consist of valueorientations that are heterogeneous in thepopulation. We apply event-history techniquesto retrospective survey data on Spain, allowingfor unobserved heterogeneity components whichsimultaneously affect the two processes. Ourfindings confirm the existence of a strongselection effect, which influences both unionformation and first birth. When controlling forthese shared factors, we find that the risk ofconception increases immediately at marriage,and it continues to be high during thefollowing four years. Entry into cohabitation,in contrast, produces a much smaller increasein the relative risk of conception. The effectof conception on union formation isparticularly strong during pregnancy, but itdeclines sharply after delivery.     

Early Union Formation in Canada: Links with Education

This article examines the link between early union formation and education using a new Canadian longitudinal data set, the Youth in Transition Survey (YITS). Educational transitions and early union formation occur around the same time in young adulthood, yet the roles of student and conjugal partner are often thought to be incompatible. We examine the effect of two important educational indicators (exit from full-time school and level of achieved education) on the timing of the first conjugal union. In addition, we incorporate several more direct measures of educational commitment. Results from proportional hazard models reveal that exit from full-time school greatly increases the transition to first union, especially marriage. Similarly, obtaining a post-secondary degree/diploma also significantly increases the risk of forming a union, especially for women. More direct measures of educational commitment show that skipping classes in high school has a negative effect on the risk of marriage, but a positive effect on cohabiting unions. A greater aspiration for future education, meanwhile, has a negative impact on union formation in general.     

Who, What, Where, and When? Specifying the Impact of Educational Attainment and Labour Force Participation on Family Formation

This article studies the impact of educational attainment and labour force participation on the timing of entering a union, marriage, and parenthood, using data from Flemish and Dutch young adults born between 1961 and 1965. This impact is hypothesized to be contingent on sex, the event under consideration, the societal context in which family formation occurs, and the age of young adults. As expected, educational attainment has a stronger negative effect on women's entry into parenthood than on their entry into a union, a stronger negative effect on women's entry into marriage and parenthood in the Netherlands than in Flanders, and a stronger effect during the early stages of young adulthood than later on. Men's educational attainment did not show the expected positive effect on family formation. Enrollment in full-time education delays family formation, but more so in Flanders than in the Netherlands. Unemployment delays family formation among men, but only in Flanders.     

我国亲子关系立法完善问题新探

2001年修正后的《婚姻法》关于父母子女关系方面的规定,仍有许多不尽完善之处。特别是对父母子女之间应当具有的基本权利和义务没有作出全面明确的规定,内容上仍显粗糙,不能适应我国新时期婚姻家庭关系发展变化和调整婚姻家庭关系的需要。建议在今后修改《婚姻法》或制定《民法典》时,应对子女的姓权、非婚生子女的认领、继父母子女关系的形成和解除等基本内容作出相应的规定,以进一步完善我国的婚姻家庭立法。     

Employment After Parenthood: Women of Migrant Origin and Natives Compared

Motherhood negatively affects female employment in majority populations across Europe. Although employment levels are particularly low among women of migrant origin, little is known about the motherhood–employment link in migrant populations. This paper investigates whether family formation differentially affects the labour market position of migrant women and their descendants compared to natives. Using longitudinal microdata from the Belgian social security registers, 12,167 women are followed from 12 months before until 48 months after the birth of their first child for the period 1999–2010. Levels of activity (versus inactivity), employment (versus unemployment) and full-time employment (versus part-time employment) are compared between natives and first- and second-generation women of Southern European, Eastern European, Turkish and Moroccan origin. We find that activity and employment levels decrease to a larger extent following the transition to parenthood among women of migrant origin than among natives. With respect to activity levels, differences between second-generation women and natives are largely explained by socio-demographic and pre-birth job characteristics, while differences between first-generation women and natives are not, suggesting that other factors such as tied migration patterns determine labour market attachment among first-generation mothers. With respect to employment levels, unemployment is increasing more among women of migrant origin of both generations than among natives, also when controlling for background characteristics, which signals differential access to stable job positions as well as to family policies. In sum, the results draw attention to the challenge that parenthood creates for mothers of migrant origin in terms of retaining and gaining employment, but also to the role of labour market entry and early career positions.     

Gender Differences in the Transition to Adulthood in France: Is There Convergence Over the Recent Period?

Numerous studies have shown that educational attainment and labour force status have a strong impact on the timing of family formation for both men and women. The effects of educational level, school enrolment and employment seem to be different for men and women. The aim of this article is to investigate how gender-specific differences in family formation have changed over time, and more particularly, whether these differences have disappeared in recent years. We use a large-scale survey (more than 240,000 men and women born after 1940) conducted within the French 1999 census and apply event history techniques. The sample size allows us to test our hypotheses with more sophisticated models that cover several interactions. Our data fully support the convergence hypothesis for men and women with regard to the effects of educational attainment and working status (working/not working). However, it is only partly relevant for the effects of their school enrolment status on entry into first union and parenthood. For both men and women, the impact of work experience on first union disappears over time, but remains important for first parenthood.     

中美婚姻伦理差异研究

中美两国不同的经济发展水平和文化传统使两国的婚姻伦理存在差异。在婚姻的选择上中国家庭注重整体利益,美国家庭则注重个人情感。这体现在中美两国不同的婚姻前提条件和婚姻决定权上。婚后,夫妻关系成为婚姻伦理的主要部分,中国夫妻的关系较为密切,而美国夫妻即使关系再亲密双方也会保持一定的独立性,这与两国夫妻不同的家庭地位和相处模式密切相关。中美两国的离婚率和离婚原因反映出当婚姻出现问题时,中国家庭会本着"从一而终"的观念尽力挽回,而美国家庭则是用"顺其自然"的态度面对。     

职工下岗与家庭暴力

由职工下岗而带来的家庭暴力呈上升趋势。为遏制此行为的发生 ,一方面用可婚姻法来规范 ,另一方面可从解决职工就业问题入手。以两手抓的方式可减少因下岗而带来的家庭暴力。     

论扩大就业的基本思路

中国的就业问题既不同于市场经济体制下以劳动力市场供求矛盾为基本表现的就业问题,也不同于计划经济体制下以统包统配、行政安置矛盾为基本表现的就业问题,中国正处于由传统计划经济体制向现代市场经济体制过渡的时期,在这一时期的就业矛盾主要表现为体制性冗员释放与转换,因此,扩大就业的基本思路,必须从这种特有的“制度性就业”矛盾出发。解决这一矛盾,必须建立规范、科学、公平的就业政策;必须依据就业能力和失业承受能力,合理确定就业的近期和远期目标;必须确定实事求是的经济发展道路。      

四川省人口结构变化对产业升级的影响

文章收集了2005——2017年四川省21个市州的面板数据,采用多元线性回归模型,从人口年龄结构、人口文化结构、人口就业结构、结婚率、城镇化率、失业率几个方面分析了四川省人口结构变化与产业升级之间的关系。随机效应模型回归结果显示:四川省人口结构变化和产业升级之间的相关性明显,四川省女性人口、第三产业从业人口、高中毕业生人口和失业率与产业升级呈正相关关系;结婚率与产业升级呈负相关关系。对此,文章提出普及十二年义务教育、鼓励女性创业、实施全面多孩政策、大力发展老龄产业等措施。     

论婚姻的法律学涵义

婚姻伴随人类的发展而变化,从伦理关系演变为法律关系,婚姻在现代社会仍然是重要的法律关系。研究婚姻问题需要从婚姻法律学涵义入手,厘清学界一些争议,明确法律婚姻的几个要素:两性结合,自愿前提,夫妻身份的公示性,合法结合的社会性。婚姻在法律社会需要法律规范和法律保障,这对于维护婚姻的稳定性和构建和谐社会具有积极意义。     

The choice between a married or unmarried first union by young adults

In this paper the choice between marriage and unmarried cohabitation as a first union by young adults is studied. A hazard analysis is performed on a sample of 590 26-year-old men and women from the Netherlands. Students are much less likely to start a union in general, and marriage in particular, than are other categories of young adults. Young adults living at home are less likely to enter a consensual union than those living on their own. Religious young adults are much less likely to enter a consensual union and much more likely to marry than are non-religious ones. Educational attainments at age 16 do not influence union formation.Cet article étudie le choix des jeunes adultes entre mariage et cohabitation pour leur première union : une analyse, utilisant un modèle à risques proportionnels, est effectuée sur un échantillon de 590 jeunes hommes et jeunes femmes âgés de 26 ans en Hollande. Les étudiants ont une plus faible probabilité de s'engager dans une union en général, et plus particulièrement dans un mariage, que les autres catégories de jeunes. Les jeunes vivant chez leurs parents ont également une plus faible probabilité d'entrer dans une union consensuelle que ceux vivant indépendamment. Enfin les jeunes qui pratiquent une religion ont une plus faible probabilité d'entrer dans une union consensuelle et une plus forte probabilité de se marier que les non pratiquants. En revanche le niveau d'éducation à 16 ans n'a aucune influence sur les unions à venir.

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This paper was mainly written while the author was affiliated with the Department of Social Research Methodology of the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam; his current affiliation is with the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI), P.O. Box 11650, 2502 AR The Hague, The Netherlands.     

中国单身女性的困境: 多元交叉的社会压力和歧视

随着中国单身人口比例的上升,单身人群特别是单身女性群体受到了社会各个层面的关注。目前国内对单身女性的研究主要通过深度访谈来探讨单身未婚女性的身心和生活状态,缺乏系统的理论观照,且访谈样本又大都局限于大城市的中产阶层单身未婚女性,因而限制了研究成果的代表性。从交叉性理论出发,分析中国单身女性面临的宏观(儒家文化和人口调控压力)、中观(媒体的形象控制和代际压力)和微观(性别歧视、年龄歧视和单身歧视)的多元交叉压力和歧视,厘清目前单身女性所受到的压力和歧视,从不同阶层单身女性的需求出发,才能为她们提供切实有效的帮助,并有助于解决目前我国单身人口比例上升的问题,缓解人口老龄化的压力。     

The Impact of Family Policies on Fertility Trends in Developed Countries

We examine how strongly fertility trends respond to family policies in OECD countries. In the light of the recent fertility rebound observed in several OECD countries, we empirically test the impact of different family policy instruments on fertility, using macro panel data from 18 OECD countries that spans the years 1982–2007. Our results confirm that each instrument of the family policy package (paid leave, childcare services and financial transfers) has a positive influence on average, suggesting that the combination of these forms of support for working parents during their children’s early years is likely to facilitate parents’ choice to have children. Policy levers do not all have the same weight, however: in-cash benefits covering childhood after the year of childbirth and the provision of childcare services for children under age three have a larger potential influence on fertility than leave entitlements and benefits granted around childbirth. Moreover, we find that the influence of each policy measure varies across different family policy contexts. Our findings are robust after controlling for birth postponement, endogeneity, time-lagged fertility reactions and for different aspects of national contexts, such as female labour market participation, unemployment, labour market protection and the proportion of children born out of marriage.     

现阶段我国企业职工就业状况与对策

我国目前下岗职工失业是经济发展多年累积的深层次矛盾的综合反映,也是改革开放和发展进程中的必经阶段。现阶段政府要大力促进和推动再就业工程,建立社会支持和帮助网络,并且从教育体制、成人教育、职工培训等方面提高劳动者素质,积极开发人力资源。通过实施再就业工程,不仅要强调劳动力的安置,更要以正确处理改革、发展、稳定的三者关系为前提,建立更加科学和完善的就业机制。     

对质疑"配偶权:一种'夫对妻、妻对夫'的权利"的质疑——与桑本谦博士商榷

婚姻制度发生之前没有人形成,此时地球上生命链接的高级形态是“过渡期间的生物”———南方古猿。从猿转变到人的首要条件是实行杂乱的性交关系。对杂乱性交的限制和禁例,标志着婚姻制度的发端,这是自然分工的结果。婚姻结构了血缘家族,家族即社会,社会为人猿之分野。由是而论,婚姻制度的出现昭示了从猿到人进化过程的终结。血缘婚配为人类婚姻制度的第一种形态,也是群婚的初始阶段,这是一种以同辈男女互为夫妻的两性结合方式。因此,桑文所谓的“婚姻制度的真正创始人必定是两个男人”的代表性观点,是个伪命题。前提不真,关于发生学意义上的配偶权是“一种对性资源的排他占有权”的推定,也是不成立的。     

独生子女家庭的资源稀缺性与婚姻形式

文章提出独生子女家庭是一种资源稀缺性的家庭类型,分析了资源稀缺性的体现及其根本原因,并提出在嫁娶婚、招赘婚和两家并一家这三类不同的婚姻形式下,家庭成员对稀缺资源的占有情况不同,婚姻成为独生子女家庭资源重新分配的一个重大事件,涉及到与另一个独生子女家庭之间的关系,并进而影响婚后两家间的关系以及代际关系,在这种情况下,独生子女家庭间的婚姻是一种婚姻策略的后果。