Child‐free and unmarried: Changes in the life planning of young east German women

Using evidence from demographic and survey data, this research examines how one decade of postsocialism has changed the life planning of young East German women. Aggregate data reflect marriage and fertility postponement and increased nonmarital birth rates and cohabitation. The analysis shows East German women's “stubbornness” ( Dölling, 2003 ) in adhering to life perspectives in line with the German Democratic Republic (GDR) standard biography (high nonmarital childbearing, high work orientation, rejection of the homemaker status, desire to combine work and family). The most important findings are that (a) motherhood is postponed to increase child‐free time, (b) cohabitation is increasingly becoming an alternative to marriage, (c) marriage (but not partnership) is increasingly optional for childbearing, and (d) employment is prioritized over family formation.     

Racial-ethnic socialization,racial discrimination,and internalization of the model minority myth in East Asian families

Guided by the integrative model, this study investigated the moderating effect of East Asian American youth-reported (N = 143) racial-ethnic socialization (RES) in the relationship between the youth's experiences of discrimination and internalization of the model minority myth. The results suggest that there was a significant interaction between youth's racial discrimination and youth-reported awareness of discrimination on youth's internalization of the model minority myth (b = 3.52, p < .05). No significant interaction effect emerged between racial discrimination and maintenance of heritage culture on internalization of model minority myth. The findings offer several contributions to inform research, family, and communities in understanding the ways caregivers respond to youth's racialized settings, which also contribute to youth's positive outcomes.     

Rethinking Families and Community: The Color,Class, and Centrality of Extended Kin Ties1

Although a focus on marriage and the nuclear family characterizes much sociological research and social commentary, this article suggests that this focus ignores the familial experiences of many Americans, particularly those on the lower end of the economic spectrum for whom extended kin are central. African Americans and Latinos/as are more involved with kin than whites, but class trumps race in this regard: African Americans, Latinos/as, and whites with fewer economic resources rely more on extended kin than do those more affluent. The emphasis on marriage and the nuclear family may actually promulgate a vision of family life that dismisses the very social resources and community ties that are critical to the survival strategies of those in need. In contrast to those who have argued that marriage is the foundation of the community or even, in that overused phrase, the “basic unit of society,” this article suggests that marriage actually detracts from social ties to broader communities just as an emphasis on marriage and the nuclear family, to the exclusion of the extended family, distorts and reduces the power and reach of social policy.     

DESPERATELY SEEKING EAST ASIA AMIDST THE POPULARITY OF SOUTH KOREAN POP CULTURE IN ASIA

This study questions the term ‘East Asia’ by investigating its usage in South Korean mass media and academic discourse about the Korean Wave and by reframing the Korean Wave as a source of new definitions of the cultural geography of East Asia and East Asian sensibilities instead of its current designations as either an empty signifier or a profitable market. Reframing the Korean Wave as a set of seminal iterations of East Asian pop culture includes its multiplicity and historicity, which enables the delineation of the cultural geography of East Asia as neither a unilateral nor fixed topography but rather something that is constantly re-imagined via pan-Asian pop cultures, materialized through actual encounters, and re-invented through shared historic pasts and modernizing desires. Examining East Asian pop culture also helps to illuminate current structures of feeling in East Asia (‘East Asian sensibilities’). The study concludes with suggestions for future collaborative works and theoretical endeavors, which are imperative for the establishment of East Asian pop culture as an object of analysis.     

Combining Egalitarian Working Lives with Traditional Attitudes: Gender Role Attitudes in Taiwan,Japan, and Korea

In a simple theoretical framework, egalitarian gender role attitudes emerge as more and more women participate in the labor market. Most advanced Western nations enjoy relatively gender-egalitarian working environments, and consequently more egalitarian gender attitudes than their East Asian counterparts. Women in East Asian societies, on the other hand, are said to support both the conditions resulting in stagnant female labor-force participation and traditional attitudes toward gender roles. In Taiwan, however, women are more economically active than in two other East Asian societies—Japan and South Korea—even though women in all three societies favor the traditional gender division of labor. Thus, in Taiwan, women experiencing inconsistencies between their active working lives and their traditional values. This study hypothesizes that this inconsistency, or the coexistence of the old and the new, is reflected in the very mind-set of women. Using comparative data from the 2006 East Asian Social Survey, we analyzed the gap between responses to questions on gender attitudes in relation to working conditions, and other general gender role attitudes. We found there were significant differences in the size of these gaps. Taiwanese women expressed more egalitarian views insofar as the questions were concerned with practical economic interests, while they retained their basic traditional attitudes towards gender roles in their homes. This gap is larger in Taiwan than in Japan or South Korea.     

Child Marriage or Forced Marriage? South Asian Communities in North East England

This article addresses the links between child marriage and forced marriage in the UK, drawing from a research study on South Asian communities in North East England. It looks at definitional issues through an analysis of UK and South Asian policies. It also analyses how these concepts are understood by service providers, survivors of child marriage and young people from South Asian communities. Finally, concepts such as gender, age, familial and community control reflected in normative marriage practices are addressed.     

The real East Asian Aid model: Development assistance as an instrument of comprehensive security in Japan,South Korea and Taiwan

Discussion of East Asian aid modes has remained superficial. And one donor, Taiwan, has been overlooked. This article reconsiders East Asian donorship, and places Taiwan within this category. It argues that East Asian donors are insecure, and see aid as part of a wider security policy. Aid policy pursues two main goals: economic strength and international influence. The aid apparatus is insulated from legislative and public pressure. Due to the nature of the goals pursued, relations with recipient governments in general are good, and recipient publics bad, relative to other Development Assistance Committee (DAC) donors. Relations with other donors are ambivalent; good relations are important, but can interfere with other goals. As such, Taiwan is a quintessential East Asian donor.     

Impact of problem gambling on financial,emotional and social well-being of Singaporean families

Problem gambling has a profound impact on family members. While this has been previously documented, this paper reports on the first study to consider the extent of this impact in Asian societies where the family continues to be a very important basis for social organization. This study, based on in-depth interviews with 50 Singaporeans with a family member who is a problem or pathological gambler, examines how their financial, emotional and social well-being is impinged upon by gambling. The enormous losses of savings, property and lifestyle, the emotional tensions based on constant harassment from moneylenders, the threats of suicide by the gambler and the distancing of social networks place family members of problem gamblers in a vulnerable state. The qualitative data in this paper fleshes out the lived experience of family members and reveals the extent to which the family is mobilized in Asian societies to cope with problem gambling. While the impact of problem gambling on families is similar across societies, routine mobilization of the extended family and the greater role of public shame and embarrassment in dictating Asian families' responses underscore the need for specialized services in these societies to assist family members to better cope with the financial, emotional and social strains caused by problem gambling.     

Parent‐to‐Child Aggression Among Asian American Parents: Culture,Context, and Vulnerability

We examined correlates of lifetime parent‐to‐child aggression in a representative sample of 1,293 Asian American parents. Correlates examined included nativity, indicators of acculturation, socioeconomic status, family climate, and stressors associated with minority status. Results revealed that Asian Americans of Chinese descent and those who immigrated as youth were more likely to report minor parental aggression; ethnicity and nativity were not associated with severe aggression. Indices of acculturation did not predict risk, but minority status stressors (perceived discrimination, low social standing) predicted risk of both minor and severe aggression. Affective climate differed markedly in families with minor versus severe aggression. Parental aggression in Asian American families may not be cultural per se, but stress associated with immigrant family context may heighten vulnerability.     

Decline of Real Love and Rise of Virtual Love: Love in Asia

In Japan, marriage rates have declined since 1980, and interest in romantic relationships has declined in the 21st century. This article shows, mainly based on the official statistics and surveys, that (i) people in contemporary Japanese society have become less willing to get married or even date; (ii) various forms of virtual love have emerged; and (iii) they have spread in East Asian countries in general. Marriage stems from romantic relationships. Simultaneously, it brings with it new economic life. In Japan and other East Asian countries there is an unwritten norm that marriage should be part of economic life. Therefore, satisfying romantic emotions outside real love and marriage is accepted.     

Young Adults' Attitudes Toward Polygamous Marriage as a Function of Gender,Attitudes Toward Same-Sex Marriage,and Other Sociopersonality Constructs

U.S. citizens are overwhelmingly opposed to the legalization of polygamous marriage, but specific reasons for this opposition remain unclear. In this study we examined young adults' (n = 814) attitudes toward polygamous marriage as a function of myriad variables. Particular attention was given to the presumed association between attitudes toward same-sex marriage and polygamous marriage. Results indicated that, overall, young adults' attitudes toward polygamous marriage were neutral. Also, attitudes toward same-sex marriage significantly correlated with attitudes toward polygamous marriage. However, not all pro–same-sex marriage participants were pro-polygamous marriage. Moreover, opposition to same-sex marriage, (female) gender, higher levels of authoritarianism, and endorsement of traditional family values conjointly and individually predicted opposition to polygamous marriage. Implications of the findings are discussed, particularly in the context of U.S. discourse over the legalization of same-sex marriage.     

Cohabitation and Marriage: Complexity and Diversity in Union-Formation Patterns

Nonmarital cohabitation and marriage are now fundamentally linked, a fact that is routinely reflected in current research on union formation. Unprecedented changes in the timing, duration, and sequencing of intimate co-residential relationships have made the study of traditional marriage far more complex today than in the past. It is now clear that a white, middle-class, American-centric research template has become increasingly anachronistic. In this review article, we begin by providing an overview of contemporary theory, empirical approaches, and demographic trends in cohabitation and marriage, focusing primarily on the United States, but also distinguishing the U.S. from patterns found in other high-income societies, including European countries, Canada, Australia, and in East Asia. We place the spotlight on the causes and consequences of union transitions. We identify the commonalities between cohabitation and marriage, but also key differences that are expressed unevenly across different populations and cultural groups. The rise in nonmarital cohabitation has upended conventional theoretical models and measurement approaches to the study of traditional marriage, complicating matters but also reinvigorating family scholarship on union formation and its implications for partners, children, and society.     

Four Decades of Trends in Attitudes Toward Family Issues in the United States: The 1960s Through the 1990s

This article examines trends in family attitudes and values across the last 4 decades of the 20th century, with particular emphasis on the past 2 decades. The article focuses on attitudes toward a wide range of family issues, including the roles of men and women, marriage, divorce, childlessness, premarital sex, extramarital sex, unmarried cohabitation, and unmarried childbearing. More generally, the article considers trends in 3 broad contemporary values: freedom; equality; and commitment to family, marriage, and children. Five data sets are used for the article: Monitoring the Future, General Social Survey, International Social Science Project, Intergenerational Panel Study of Parents and Children, and the National Survey of Families and Households. These 5 data sets reveal substantial and persistent long‐term trends toward the endorsement of gender equality in families, which may have plateaued at very high levels in recent years. There have also been important and continuing long‐term trends toward individual autonomy and tolerance toward a diversity of personal and family behaviors as reflected in increased acceptance of divorce, premarital sex, unmarried cohabitation, remaining single, and choosing to be childless. At the same time, marriage and family life remain important in the cultural ethos, with large and relatively stable fractions of young people believing that marriage and family life are important and planning marriage and the bearing and rearing of children.     

Ethnic Language Retention and East Asian Endogamy in the United States

This study examines the influence of ethnic language on the endogamy of three East Asian groups, which have been previously omitted within intermarriage research. The study findings present important indications of ethnic language playing a key role in endogamy amongst East Asian groups. Providing for this key component, the groups were divided into U.S. born vs. foreign-born East Asians. Amongst foreign-born East Asians, the effect of English ability provided significance over U.S. born East Asians. Separate examinations of Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans presented diverse patterns of endogamy, migration, and ethnic language retention. Specifically, findings provided insight to high levels of endogamy amongst U.S. born Japanese due to ethnic concentration, despite their loss of ethnic language.     

Division of Labor,Gender Ideology,and Marital Satisfaction in East Asia

Using data from the 2006 Family Module of the East Asian Social Survey (N = 3,096), this article examines associations of marital satisfaction with divisions of housework and gender ideology in four East Asian societies: urban China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. Compared with Japanese and Korean married women and men, Chinese and Taiwanese spouses were more satisfied with their marriage and had more egalitarian divisions of housework, but simultaneously they held less egalitarian gender ideologies. Multivariate analyses showed that relative share of housework was negatively associated with marital satisfaction for Japanese and Korean men and for Korean and Taiwanese women. Egalitarian gender ideology was significantly associated with lower marital satisfaction only among Taiwanese women. In addition, the negative association between housework and marital satisfaction was more pronounced for Taiwanese women who espoused more egalitarian gender ideologies. The authors discuss how differences in macro‐level social contexts explain these cross‐society variations.     

A GIS Analysis of East Asian Care Gaps in Residential and Assisted Living Facilities in Vancouver,Canada

Residential care and assisted living services provide support to seniors who may not have the ability to live independently. However, East Asian residents often do not have sufficient access to culturally specific activities, which may result in psychosocial stress and isolation. This study presents a geographic analysis method to evaluate spatial distribution of culturally tailored senior care facilities in Metro Vancouver. We identify geographical disparities, indicating that many East Asian seniors have poor local access to a culturally tailored facility. We recommend the use of geographical analysis techniques to improve the analysis and planning for senior care in an increasingly diverse population.     

Marriage matters for Black middle-class women: A review of Black American marriages,work, and family life

It is well documented that Black women tend to experience lower marriage participation than non-Black women because of the marriage squeeze, including an unequal sex-ratio within age cohorts, and the increase in economic precarity among Black men. The experience of the marriage squeeze impacts poor, and college educated Black women, but this is only one viewpoint. Drawing on work and family research at the intersection of racial identity, gender, and class, I argue that marriage provides Black middle-class women access to privileges and resources like safety and kin networks within a U.S. nation-state constrained by racism and sexism. By relying on marriage, Black middle-class women can realize personal and familial desires, as well as encounter patriarchal oppression. I end this review with a discussion on future directions for research in this area, and a discussion on imagined futures for Black women that incorporates self-love and self-actualization.     

Marriage and Child Well-Being: Research and Policy Perspectives

Over the past decade, the linkages between marriage and child well-being have attracted the attention of researchers and policy makers alike. Children's living arrangements have become increasingly diverse and unstable, which raises important questions about how and why family structure and stability are related to child outcomes. This article reviews new research on this topic, emphasizing how it can inform policy debates about the role of marriage in reducing poverty and improving child outcomes. It also pays special attention to new scholarship on unmarried, primarily low-income families, the target of recent federal marriage initiatives, to appraise the potential contributions of family research to ongoing policy discussions.     

Women's Attitudes Toward Family Formation and Life Stage Transitions: A Longitudinal Study in Korea

Although it is well documented that family attitudes become less traditional over cohorts, little is known about how individuals' attitudes change over time. More research also is needed on how the within‐individual changes relate to important life stage events such as marriage, childbirth, and transitions in education and work. Evidence is particularly lacking in Asian countries, which have socioeconomic and cultural contexts very different from those in the West. To fill these gaps in the literature, the authors analyzed the attitudes toward family formation of Korean women in their 20s and 30s (N = 6,042). Individual fixed effects regression using the panel data from the Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women and Families revealed that women became more traditional over time and that transitions to marriage and motherhood partly accounted for the change. These findings are explained within the context of very low fertility in Korea and have implications for other rapidly changing societies.     

Women from the Middle East and North Africa in Europe: understanding their marriage and family dynamics

The aim of this article is to assist the understanding of social workers in Europe of marriage and family dynamics among women from Middle East and North African countries who have moved to Europe. The focus of this article is on husband selection processes and family dynamics after marriage in Egypt, which is used as a case study reflecting culture and norms surrounding marriage in this region. This article reports on the findings of doctoral studies which examined marriage patterns and family dynamics in North Africa and in particular in Egypt where more in-depth data were available. The authors reflect issues surrounding values and process of marriage not only in terms of the implications for practice with social work clients or service users, but also in relation to the potential of women from this region who may join the social care workforce.