Do Sons or Daughters Give More Money to Parents in Urban China?

The patriarchal structure of the traditional Chinese family suggests that sons, more than daughters, provide financial support to elderly parents. The norm of receiving support in old age primarily from sons, however, may have been undermined by dramatic demographic, economic, and cultural changes occurring over the last several decades in China, especially in urban areas. We examine gender differences in adult children’s financial support to parents using a recent data set (“Study of Family Life in Urban China”) collected in 1999 (N = 1,801). The results show that married daughters, especially those living with parents, provide more financial support to parents than married sons do. This significant gender difference can be primarily explained by daughters’ resources, such as education and income.     

Borrowing,Dwelling, Owing

Abstract

Taking the movie The Company Men (John Wells, 2010) as its starting point, the article attempts to think the condition of indebtedness in its connection with living in and with a home. Through readings of Martin Heidegger’s “Building Dwelling Thinking,” the article claims that the predicament of the indebted person and his or her house can be described as linked to a shift in the way we view houses, from “places of dwelling” to “standing-reserves.”     

A gender story of institutional disengagement of young adults in Latin America

Latin America is home to many young adults who are neither engaged in formal education nor work, controversially dubbed as “nini” (“ni” trabajan “ni” estudian, denoting neither working nor studying). At the same time, early union formation and parenthood are pervasive in the region. Theories pertaining to the linkage between parenthood and female labor force participation are heavily based on evidence found in the Global North, with limited research on the topic in settings with less stable family structures, such as Latin American countries. This study tests the role household structure and family formation play on institutional disengagement of young adults in 12 Latin American countries. We explore the gender dynamic of human capital stagnation by focusing on early parenthood and conjugal partnership for women and men aged 20–25. We use censuses from the Integrated Public-Use Microdata Series and country-specific linear regression models. Our results reveal that the intersection of class and gender is a major determinant of institutional disengagement in the region. Women from lower social origins who leave parental home to enter conjugal union and parenthood at younger ages are particularly at risk. This study highlights the urgency of contextualizing the interplay between work and family within the framework of regional family norms, prompting further dialogues concerning the social implications of perceived inactivity.     

Household debt,automatic bill payments and inattention: Theory and evidence

In this article we analyze the impact of automatic bill payment (ABP) on household debt. We present a theoretical intertemporal consumption model that shows an inattention effect when individuals subscribe an ABP for their debts. This effect causes a higher level of indebtedness (beyond optimal) and, therefore, well-being loss. Furthermore, we empirically test this theory for Chile, an emerging economy. We estimate a Tobit-Probit conditional mixed process (CMP) model, using data from the Central Bank of Chile’s Household Financial Survey (HFS). The results confirm the existence of a positive and significant effect of the use of ABP on the financial burden of households.     

Sociology of Debt: States,Credit Markets,and Indebted Citizens

Within the context of the recent financial crisis, the causes and implications of mounting levels of household indebtedness have begun to be examined from a variety of angles: Why have nations differed so drastically, historically speaking, in terms of the level of debt that their citizens carry? Why have patterns converged over the past few decades, with levels of indebtedness increasing across the board? This paper considers these questions from a sociological perspective. I first consider the role of political, institutional, economic, and cultural factors, as well as individual characteristics, in shaping the demand for and supply of credit and the degree and nature of household indebtedness in and across nations. I then attempt to explain the cross‐national convergence towards rising indebtedness over the past few decades by situating the transformation of these various demand and supply side factors under the neoliberal regime.     

Verteilungseffekte von Finanzialisierung

Financialisation is often associated with rising income inequality. The article describes the major aspects of financialisation in the foreign, financial, business and household sector, and identifies several hypotheses how financialisation affects functional income distribution. We discuss enhanced exit options of firms, rising financial overhead costs for businesses, increased competition in capital markets, and weakened bargaining power of workers due to indebtedness. The different hypotheses are operationalised through empirical measures and their effect on the wage share is tested econometrically by means of a panel data set of 14 OECD countries over the period 1992–2014. We find statistically significant negative effects of financial payments of firms and financial openness on the wage share.     

Over‐indebtedness and microcredit in Cambodia: Moving beyond borrower‐centric frames

Over the past two decades, Cambodia has experienced an unprecedented credit boom, a growth in lending so rapid that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) referred to it as “one of the fastest financial deepening episodes by historical cross‐cultural standards” (IMF, 2016, p. 4). This deepening has been driven by the expansion of microcredit. In tandem, over‐indebtedness has increased among microcredit borrowers, and debt has become a significant political and economic concern. This article explores how over‐indebtedness is understood and explained by stakeholders across microcredit value chains. To do so, we draw on interviews with microfinance institution (MFI) executives, investors, branch managers, partners, financial literacy trainers, loan officers and borrowers in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. We find that across the sector, dominant framings of over‐indebtedness privilege borrower‐centric explanations, while discounting the structural drivers of excessive lending and borrowing. As a consequence, current efforts to limit over‐indebtedness are unlikely to produce the kinds of solutions that are most needed to reduce the debt stress among borrowers. These arguments have implications across the Global South, particularly for contexts where microfinance is rapidly expanding.     

Expanding the Family Economic Stress Model: Insights From a Mixed‐Methods Approach

The current study used a mixed‐methods approach to examine how low‐income mothers managed their household economies, their experiences of economic pressure, and the consequences for family and child functioning. Qualitative analyses (N = 32 families) revealed that experiences of economic pressure were associated with an inability to afford both basic needs and some modest but highly valued “extras.” To meet demands, mothers reported using a variety of strategies, including instrumental support from friends and family members and other financial strategies. Results from the quantitative analyses (N= 516 families; 800 children, ages 6 – 15) were generally consistent with patterns observed in the qualitative analyses and extended the findings to include effects on parenting practices and children’s behavioral functioning.     

CONSPICUOUS SPENDING AND THE INCOME DISTRIBUTION OF SOCIAL GROUPS

Using South African household expenditure data, we analyze how the spending of a household on visible goods, such as jewelry and clothes, depends on the distribution of income within its social group. We find that this spending is positively correlated with the share of peers who possess a similar income level to the household, what we dub the “local income share.” Moreover, we find that the spending of a household on visible goods is positively correlated with the average income of peers that are poorer than this household. We interpret this as evidence for cascade effects through which income changes among the poorest in the social group can trigger adjustments in the visible spending patterns of the wealthy. In line with previous research (Charles et al. 2009), we also find that visible spending of a household is negatively correlated with the average income of its social group. We present a simple model of status competition based on Hopkins and Kornienko (2004) that synthesizes these effects and can account for our results. (JEL D12, D31, O12)     

Envy,inequality and fertility

Review of Economics of the Household - This study seeks to examine the consequences of “keeping up with the Joneses” on household fertility outcomes. “Envy” is introduced in...     

Ethnic conflict,group polarization,and gender attitudes in Croatia

We examine the sources of traditional gender attitudes during a period of social conflict and change. Using survey data from Croatia (Center for the Investigation of Transition and Civil Society, 1996; N= 2,030) we explore the relationships between war‐related experiences, in‐group and out‐group polarization, and two dimensions of gender attitudes: policy attitudes (e.g., attitudes toward divorce and abortion) and gendered family roles (e.g., attitudes toward the division of household labor). We argue that ethnic conflict promotes in‐group polarization (i.e., attachment to the Croatian nation) and out‐group polarization (i.e., distrust of “others”), which lead to a resurgence of traditional values, including traditional gender attitudes. We also examine the effects of childhood socialization, individual resources, and interpersonal familial ties on gender attitudes. Results support the conflict‐group polarization model and indicate that out‐group polarization has the most powerful effect on both gendered family role attitudes and policy attitudes for men and women. In‐group polarization does not affect gender attitudes, however.     

INTEGRATED HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS: AN ASSESSMENT OF U.S. METHODS AND AN INNOVATION

We present a vision for improving household financial surveys by integrating responses from questionnaires more completely with financial statements and combining them with payments data from diaries. Integrated household financial accounts—balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows—are used to assess the degree of integration in leading U.S. household surveys, focusing on inconsistencies in measures of the change in cash. Diaries of consumer payment choice can improve dynamic integration. Using payments data, we construct a statement of liquidity flows: a detailed analysis of currency, checking accounts, prepaid cards, credit cards, and other payment instruments, consistent with conventional cash flow measures and the other financial accounts. (JEL D12, D14, E41, E42)     

“A male feminist walks into a bar,because it was set so low: The pedestal effect and the economy of gratitude in feminist spaces”

Men in feminist spaces often find themselves the recipients of disproportionate gratitude and attention—along with other persistent effects of male privilege that I have elsewhere termed the Pedestal Effect—despite this running counter to both prevailing feminist ideologies and the desires of the men themselves. Sociologist Arlie Hochschild described a similar economy of gratitude wherein low expectations led to heightened valuation of married men's household contributions, smuggling inequities from the wider society into the marriage and inhibiting progressive change even if both parties desired a more egalitarian partnership. By applying Hochschild's framework to interview data from 52 men and 12 women active in the field, I show that the same process explains the troubling continuance of male privilege in feminist spaces: while interviewees of all genders problematize the imbalanced economy of gratitude and many have attempted specific counterstrategies, it nonetheless persists in importing inequalities, undermining men's accountability, and inhibiting desired progressive change. This suggests that the economy of gratitude may be a ubiquitous interactional process that reproduces inequalities across a wide range of social contexts. I emphasize that the economy of gratitude is in fact intersectional, not only gendered, and introduce the idea of a “low bar” to more fully account for the broad range of social influences on expectation-setting.     

Dissolving (in)effective partnerships

This paper studies the problem of partnership dissolution in the context of asymmetric information. Past work shows that the initial share allocation, interdependence of partners’ valuations, and asymmetric control all affect the possibility of efficient dissolution. In this paper, I show, in a novel class of “cooperative” partnerships characterized by ex ante interdependence of valuations, that effectiveness is significantly more important than the initial share allocation. Intuitively, as the effectiveness of cooperation between partners (and thus partnership value) increases, the gains from dissolving decrease but the informational rents remain constant, so efficient dissolution is more difficult to achieve. For sufficiently high effectiveness, efficient dissolution is impossible for any initial share allocation. For sufficiently low effectiveness, however, efficient dissolution is possible for all initial share allocations. The possibility of efficient bargaining depends on the initial share allocation only for moderately effective partnerships.     

Gendered stories of parental caregiving among siblings

Using data from in-depth interviews with eight pairs of male and female siblings, we investigate the influence of gender on the division of responsibility among adult children who are providing care to their elderly parent and how parental caregiving provides an opportunity for the explicit (re)negotiation of gender dynamics across household boundaries. We explore the ways that “helper brothers” and “co-provider brothers” divide care with their sisters, and the impact of this division of care on the sisters' roles as coordinators of care and their future plans for their parents' care. “Specialized knowledge” also emerges as an important factor in the gendered division of care among the respondents. Finally, we examine the consequences of our findings with regards to gender relations and discuss the limitations of this exploratory study.     

A decade of changes: Within-group analysis of LGBTQ individuals' perceptions of their community context and the relevance for social service providers

The previous decade has seen a drastic shift in the social environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. It is not surprising then to find that the perceived “best” and “worst” aspects of life for nonmetropolitan LGBTQ individuals have also changed. We use data from two cohorts of the Rainbow Illinois survey to examine differences between responses in 2000 and 2011. Furthermore, we examine demographic differences in the perception of what is “best” and “worst” among the 2011 cohort. Results suggest that although the general social climate has improved for some, it remains problematic for others. Implications for social service providers are thoroughly discussed.     

Individual versus Household Migration Decision Rules: Gender and Marital Status Differences in Intentions to Migrate in South Africa

This research tests the thesis that the neoclassical microeconomic and the new household economic theoretical assumptions on migration decision‐making rules are segmented by gender, marital status, and time frame of intention to migrate. Comparative tests of both theories within the same study design are relatively rare. Utilizing data from the Causes of Migration in South Africa national migration survey, we analyse how individually held “own‐future” versus alternative “household well‐being” migration decision rules effect the intentions to migrate of male and female adults in South Africa. Results from the gender and marital status specific logistic regressions models show consistent support for the different gender‐marital status decision rule thesis. Specifically, the “maximizing one’s own future” neoclassical microeconomic theory proposition is more applicable for never married men and women, the “maximizing household income” proposition for married men with short‐term migration intentions, and the “reduce household risk” proposition for longer time horizon migration intentions of married men and women. Results provide new evidence on the way household strategies and individual goals jointly affect intentions to move or stay.     

Aging With Rising Risk: Have Older Households Experienced Faster-Growing Risk Exposure Than Younger Ones Since the 1990s?

Financial markets have been characterized by boom and bust cycles since the 1980s, while the responsibility for managing retirement wealth has increasingly shifted onto individual households at the same time. Policy makers and experts have expressed concern over rising risk exposure among older householders, who appear to be increasingly exposed to the growing financial risks just as they near retirement. We consider household data from the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances from 1989 to 2010 to analyze the correlation between age and risk exposure. We test whether older householders’ risk exposure has indeed grown over time, whether it has increased more than that of younger householders, whether changes in the demographic composition of older householders have contributed to older households’ rising risk exposure, and the degree to which increases in risk exposure can be traced to a growing concentration of household assets held in stocks and housing and to rising householder indebtedness. Our results indicate that risk exposure has grown more for older householders than for younger ones, that demographic changes among older householders have contributed to additional increases in older householders’ risk exposure, and that the growth of older householders’ risk exposure is driven more by rising risky asset concentration and less by greater indebtedness.     

Life Course Transitions and Housework: Marriage,Parenthood, and Time on Housework

We examine the effects of transitions in marital and parenthood status on 1,091 men’s and women’s housework hours using two waves of data from an Australian panel survey titled Negotiating the Life Course. We examine transitions between cohabitation and marriage, and from cohabitation or marriage to separation, as well as transitions to first and higher‐order births. We find extraordinary stability in men’s housework time across most transitions but considerable change for women in relation to transitions in parenthood. Our results suggest that the transition to parenthood is a critical moment in the development of an unequal gap in time spent on routine household labor.     

Ethnic Differences in Financial Outcomes Among Low-Income Older Asian Immigrants: A Financial Capability Perspective

ABSTRACT

This exploratory study examined ethnic differences in financial outcomes among low-income older Asian immigrants from a financial capability perspective. We used survey data collected from a convenience sample of Chinese, Korean, and “Other Asian” ethnic participants in a subsidized employment program (n = 159). We ran logit regressions of dichotomous financial outcomes. Regression analysis showed significant ethnic differences in some financial outcomes after controlling for financial capability and other factors. Findings did not support our hypothesis that financial capability explains ethnic differences in financial outcomes. Findings suggest the need to develop culturally suitable financial capability measures for future research.