The decisions of Spanish youth: A cross-section study

This paper presents a simultaneous model for the joint decisions of working, studying and leaving the parental household by young people in Spain. Using cross-section data from the 1990–1991 Encuesta de Presupuestos Familiares, the model is estimated by a two stage estimation method. Endogeneity of the three decisions proves to be important in order to understand the dynamics of household formation. Our results also confirm a number of plausible intuitions about the effect of individual characteristics and economic variables on these decisions, and provide some new insights into the reasons for young people in Spain remaining in large numbers in the parental home. Most of the results are gender independent. Received: 18 September 1998/Accepted: 24 October 2000     

Parental Leave Take-Up of Fathers in Luxembourg

The study uses administrative data from Luxembourg to investigate fathers’ decisions to use parental leave. We focus on two measures of opportunity cost: the difference between the parental leave benefit and the salary of the father and the mean salary growth for a period of 6 months for each father. The first measure captures the direct opportunity cost, while the second is a proxy for foregone promotion opportunities. We use Cox proportional hazards model for the analysis. The results suggest a negative relationship between foregone income and taking parental leave. Surprisingly, salary growth appears to be positively related to the hazard of taking parental leave. Coefficients of control variables are in line with previous findings: fathers are more likely to use parental leave if they work in larger organization and for the first child.     

Raising charitable children: the effects of verbal socialization and role-modeling on children’s giving

This paper uses nationally-representative data from the PSID and CDS to estimate the causal effects of two parent socialization actions—talking to children about giving and role-modeling—on children’s decisions whether or not to give to charity. We develop an identification framework based on the intra-household allocation and cultural transmission literatures that shows how different assumptions about parental response to time-varying unobserved changes in children’s prosocial values can be combined with the child fixed effects estimate and the difference between siblings’ over-time-differences estimate to infer a bound on the causal effect of parental action to socialize their children. Under the identifying assumption we think is most reasonable for socializing the willingness to give to charity, that parents treat the socialization actions of others as cultural substitutes, our estimates imply that talking to children about giving raises the probability of children’s giving by at least .13. We find no evidence that parental role-modeling affects children’s giving, except among non-African-American girls. The identification framework and substantive results have implications for those with a general interest in using data from naturalistic settings to estimate causal effects of parental socialization actions, those interested in the external validity of laboratory findings, and those interested in the socialization of warm glow.     

Sibling, peer, neighbor, and schoolmate correlations as indicators of the importance of context for adolescent development

We use nationally representative data to calculate correlations in achievement and delinquency between genetically differentiated siblings within a family, between peers as defined by adolescents' "best friend" nominations, between schoolmates living in the same neighborhood, and between grademates within a school. We find the largest correlations between siblings, especially identical twins. Grademate and neighbor correlations are small. Peer-based correlations are considerably larger than grademate and neighbor correlations but not larger than most sibling correlations. The data suggest that family-based factors are several times more powerful than neighborhood and school contexts in affecting adolescents' achievement and behavior.     

Does Subjective Social Status Predict Self-Rated Health in Chinese Adults and Why?

A positive relationship between subjective social status (SSS) and health has been documented in many countries, however, many studies rely on non-representative, cross-sectional samples. Potential mechanisms underlying the association between SSS and health have been proposed but empirical investigation remains scarce. Capitalizing on nationally representative data from the 2010–2016 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), this study examines the longitudinal association between SSS and self-rated health in Chinese adults 20–70 years old. Estimates from lagged dependent variable models confirm a linear relationship between current SSS and self-rated health two years later over a 6-year follow-up period, after adjusting for education, occupation, income, and other demographic controls. This relationship remains robust after adjusting for additional indicators of objective socioeconomic status (SES) including household wealth, education of the spouse, parental literacy, and political capital. Mediation analysis shows that a large proportion (about 60%) of this association can be explained by such psychosocial factors as future prospects, life satisfaction, and mental illness. For Chinese adults, SSS is an important predictor of health not because it is a comprehensive measure of multidimensional SES, but because of a salient psychosocial pathway.

     

Perceptions of Stigmatization and Satisfaction with Services Received,Among Users of Social Welfare Services for the Child and the Family in 3 European Regions

A system of psychosocial indicators, based on atheoretical model describing stigma perceptions byusers and practitioners of social welfare services forchildren and their families, was tested in 3 Europeanregions: Catalonia (Spain), Wales and the Netherlands.Data collection from users included questions on theirsatisfaction with the professional providing theservice and on their involvement in decisions abouthim/her and his/her family. In the Catalan sample oneadditional item asked about satisfaction with theoverall support received.Multiple correspondence analysis showed a consistentpattern of answers for our construct stigmaperceptions, using our indicators system.Discriminant analysis showed that our model works withattributions as expected in 86,32% of cases.Surprisingly, in the discriminant analysis all thesatisfaction indicators were excluded by the stepwisemethod, showing no strong relation between stigmaperception related to a service, and satisfactionusing such a service.Such results suggest that service users clearlydiscriminate between the fact that a service isfunctioning in a stigmatizing way, and the fact theyare satisfied or not with the practitioner helpingthem, with services involving them in decisions, orwith the overall support received from welfareservices.     

Giving to family versus giving to the community within and across generations

In this paper, we examine the impact of parental giving on the transfer behavior of adult children to family members and community institutions using unique data from the Indonesian Family Life Surveys. Our findings point to persistence of private transfer networks across generations. In particular, the community transfer decisions of adults living outside origin households are positively influenced by the origin household’s community giving. We also investigate the relationship between household transfers to family and community networks. We find that unobserved heterogeneity in giving to family members and community organizations is positively correlated, suggesting important complementarities between transfer networks.     

Parental care and EGG size in salamanders: An examination of the safe harbor hypothesis

Summary The safe harbor hypothesis includes the suggestion that parental care causes the embryonic stage to be the safest harbor, and, therefore, egg size will increase in populations with parental care to decrease the duration of subsequent, higher risk stages. Neither the safe habor hypothesis nor r and K theory seem adequate to explain the correlation between egg size and the presence/absence of parental care among salamanders, a group in which there is a further correlation between the larval (hatchling) habitat and egg size/parental care. Pond-breeding salamanders generally have small eggs and lack parental care, and stream-breeding salamanders generally have large eggs and parental care. I argue that the fundamental difference in the food available to hatchling salamanders between lentic (plankton-rich) and lotic (plankton-poor) environments selects for relatively lower parental investment in the lentic environment. From the standpoint of parental fitness, small (more numerous) hatchlings have a greater payoff where the available food is mall and dense (zooplankton in lentic environments), and large hatchlings are selectively advantageous where the food is of large size and less dense (benthic invertebrates in lotic environments). Selection for larger hatchlings in lotic environments results in longer embryonic periods and,ceteris paribus, greater total embryonic mortality. Embryo hiding and guarding have evolved among lotic-breeding salamanders as compensatory mechanisms to reduce the rate of embryonic mortality. In this view, parental care is a consequence of selection for larger egg size and not an umbrella that allows egg size to increase, contrary to the safe harbor hypothesis. The relationship between variance in parental investment and food available to offspring, developed here for salamanders, may be of general significance. YosiakiIt?, a critic of r and K theory, independently arrived at a similar conclusion from a broader data base.     

Role of Parental Education in Schooling and Child Labour Decision: Urban India in the Last Decade

This paper uses household level data from National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) of India, the 55th (1999–2000) and the 61st (2004–05) rounds, to show that even with a significant wage incentive for schooling of urban children, the school drop out rate and child labour incidence are not small over this period. The parents’ level of education plays an important role in reducing this tendency; thus establishing the linkage between social and human capital outcomes in the family. We also look at the incidence of harmful and manual occupations among the child labour. Mother’s education appears as the more important factor in the recent round in curbing the manual work incidences; supporting earlier findings that women’s empowerment (one important indicator of which would be female educational level) is indeed becoming instrumental in increasing parental awareness. Using a pooled data set, we have also analysed the changes in the impact of parental education on these decisions between 1999–2000 and 2004–05.

The Intergenerational Effect and Second Childbirth: Survey Findings from the Shaanxi Province of China

Traditionally, the fertility behaviors of Chinese people have been deeply influenced by the entrenched patriarchal, patrilineal, and patrilocal systems. Women’s fertility decisions and behaviors are significantly influenced by their parents and parents-in-law. Given the current social changes with low fertility levels and intentions in China, it is still unclear about the actual link between the fertility behavior and the intergenerational effect. Therefore, we utilize data from 1577 questionnaires, conducted in 2013 in the Shaanxi Province of northwest China about fertility intentions and behaviors, and use the event history analysis method and the Cox proportional hazard model to explore the association between intergenerational effects and women’s second childbirths. “The number of the parental generation’s children” and “the living arrangements of the parental generation” are employed to measure the intergenerational effect. The findings show that there is an existence of intergenerational transmission of fertility between women of childbearing age and their parents-in-law, rather than their biological parents when considering the effects of their parents-in-law. In addition, the study finds a significant correlation between women’s second childbirth and the living arrangements of their parents-in-law, but no significant association with the living arrangements of their biological parents. These results support that the patriarchal, patrilineal, and patrilocal systems play a role in women’s fertility behaviors in contemporary China.     

Psychosocial Risk and Protective Factors for Depression Among Lesbian,Gay, Bisexual,and Queer Youth: A Systematic Review

Many lesbian, gay, bisexual, or queer (LGBQ) youth suffer from depression. Identifying modifiable risk and protective factors for depression can inform the development of psychosocial interventions. The aim of this review is to evaluate the methodological characteristics and summarize the substantive findings of studies examining psychosocial risk and protective factors for depression among LGBQ youth. Eight bibliographic databases were searched, and 35 studies that met all inclusion criteria were included for review. Results show that prominent risk factors for depression include internalized LGBQ-related oppression, stress from hiding and managing a socially stigmatized identity, maladaptive coping, parental rejection, abuse and other traumatic events, negative interpersonal interactions, negative religious experiences, school bullying victimization, and violence victimization in community settings. Prominent protective factors include a positive LGBQ identity, self-esteem, social support from friends, and family support. LGBQ youth may face an array of threats to their mental health originating from multiple socioecological levels.     

The Effect of a First Born Child on Work and Childcare Time Allocation: Pre-post Analysis of Australian Couples

This paper uses Australian data from a national representative sample of Australian couples having their first child. Using data from before and after the birth of the child on a range of variables, including economic resources, gender attitudes, workplace flexibility, and availability of non-parental childcare, we first model the factors are associated with the decision to remain in work or not after the birth of the first child. The main finding here is that childbirth has a major impact on mothers’ paid work-time, whereas for fathers it has very little impact. Factors that are related to a mother’s decision to remain in work or not include the absolute (but not relative) pay of each parent, the father’s workplace flexibility, and paid parental leave available to the mother. We then model the factors that govern, for those mothers remaining in paid work, how much paid work they undertake. We find that changing employers is related to mothers’ work hours, as are absolute post-birth salaries, as is the relative pay of each partner. As with the decision to work or not, the availability of paid parental leave to the mother is significantly related to the amount of work-time for those mothers that do continue to work. Similarly, the use of external childcare is positively associated with maternal work hours. Finally, we model the factors that determine childcare time allocation and find that for neither parent do pre-birth economic resources significantly affect childcare time, once a decision about basic work patterns has been made. Gender role attitudes affect childcare time decisions, unlike work time decisions.     

Should i stay or should i go? The impact of age norms on leaving home

This article studies the association between social norms and the timing of leaving home. Although largely overlooked by most recent studies on leaving home, life-course theory suggests that age norms and age grading influence life-course decisions in general and leaving home in particular. We use Fishbein and Ajzen's model of "reasoned behavior" to integrate this strand of research with the more individualistic view that dominates current thinking. Using data from a Dutch panel survey, we use a Cox regression model with a control for sample selection to estimate the association between perceived age norms and the timing of leaving home. We show that perceived opinions of parents are associated with the actual timing of leaving the parental home but that societal norms and friends' norms concerning the timing of leaving home are not. In addition, the timing of leaving home is also associated with the perceived costs and benefits of leaving home and with the perceived housing market situation.     

Economic incentives and the timing of births: evidence from the German parental benefit reform of 2007

Economic theory suggests that incentives matter for people’s decisions. This paper investigates whether this also holds for less self-evident areas of life such as the timing of births. We use a natural experiment when the German government changed its parental benefit system on January 1, 2007. The policy change strongly increased economic incentives for women to postpone delivery provided that they were employed. Applying a difference-in-difference-in-difference approach, we find very strong evidence that women with an employment history near to the end of their term indeed succeeded to shift births to the New Year and, therefore, could benefit from the new and more generous parental benefit system. Suggesting a model of chain reactions, we also report evidence that some women with due dates earlier in December tried but did not succeed to shift births to the New Year.     

Psychosocial risk factors for excessive gestational weight gain: A systematic review

BackgroundExcessive weight gain during pregnancy can have adverse health outcomes for mother and infant throughout pregnancy. However, few studies have identified the psychosocial factors that contribute to women gaining excessive weight during pregnancy.AimTo review the existing literature that explores the impact of psychosocial risk factors (psychological distress, body image dissatisfaction, social support, self-efficacy and self-esteem) on excessive gestational weight gain.MethodsA systematic review of peer-reviewed English articles using Academic Search Complete, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, MEDLINE Complete, PsycINFO, Informit, Web of Science, and Scopus was conducted. Quantitative studies that investigated psychosocial factors of excessive GWG, published between 2000 and 2014 were included. Studies investigating mothers with a low risk of mental health issues and normally-developing foetuses were eligible for inclusion. From the total of 474 articles located, 12 articles were identified as relevant and were subsequently reviewed in full.FindingsSignificant associations were found between depression, body image dissatisfaction, and social support with excessive gestational weight gain. No significant relationships were reported between anxiety, stress, self-efficacy, or self-esteem and excessive gestational weight gain.ConclusionThe relationship between psychosocial factors and weight gain in pregnancy is complex; however depression, body dissatisfaction and social support appear to have a direct relationship with excessive gestational weight gain. Further research is needed to identify how screening for, and responding to, psychosocial risk factors for excessive gestational weight gain can be successfully incorporated into current antenatal care.     

Psychosocial adversities at work are associated with poorer quality marriage-like relationships

The characteristics of work have an impact on individuals?? personal lives, including on health and close personal relationships. Previous research into the negative spillover effects from work to marital quality has predominantly examined structural job characteristics, such as job hours and shift work. This study used data from a large representative community sample of midlife (aged 40?C44 at baseline) employed persons in marriage-like relationships (n?=?2,054) to investigate the relationship between psychosocial job characteristics and relationship quality. Data from three waves of the Personality and Total Health (PATH) Through Life Survey were analysed. The results show that all psychosocial job adversities (high job demands, low job control, and job insecurity) were independently associated with lower levels of positive support from partners for both men and women. In addition, there was a linear relationship between the number of psychosocial adversities reported and lower levels of positive support from partners. These findings are relevant to policy makers in the areas of employment and family services. They identify the potential broader social costs of adverse psychosocial characteristics at work. This study sets the scene for further longitudinal research to examine the causal links between psychosocial job quality and relationship quality.     

Fertility decisions when infant survival is endogenous

There is evidence that fertility is positively correlated with infant mortality, and that a child‘s chance of surviving to maturity increases with the level of nutrition, medical care, etc. received in the early stages of life. By modelling parental decisions as a problem of choice under uncertainty, the paper shows that fertility and infant mortality are most likely to move in opposite directions if, as implicitly assumed by existing economic theories, parents believe that there is nothing they can do to improve the survival chances of their own children. By contrast, if parents realize that those chances improve with the amount they spend for the health, nutrition, etc. of each child that they put into the world, then fertility and infant mortality may move in the same direction. Under such an assumption, the model has the strong policy implication that directly death-reducing public expenditures are most effective, but stimulate population growth, at low levels of development. By contrast, at high levels of development, such expenditures tend to crowd out parental expenditures, and are a factor in fertility decline. Received: 14 October 1996 / Accepted: 28 July 1997     

Parents’ economic support of young-adult children: do socioeconomic circumstances matter?

We assess how the support parents provide to young adults as they leave school and begin working is related to their family’s socioeconomic circumstances. We do this using an innovative Australian data set which merges survey and administrative data. The survey data inform us about intergenerational co-residence and financial gifts and the administrative data about the family’s welfare receipt history. We find that disadvantaged young people are more likely to be economically independent of their parents than are their more advantaged peers. This disparity is larger for financial gifts than for co-residence and increases with age. Moreover, there is a complex relationship between parental support and participation in study and work. We find no evidence, however, that a lack of parental support is the source of the socioeconomic gradient in either studying or employment. These results are important in eliminating one potential pathway through which socioeconomic disadvantage limits young people’s outcomes.     

The influence of first generation fertility and economic status on second generation fertility

This paper examines the impact of parental economic status and family size on the actual and expected fertility of adult children using longitudinal data from two generations of families participating in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. There was a modest positive relationship between first generation family size and second generation fertility. More importantly, the ideal family size of the parental family was more closely related to fertility behavior and plans in the second generation than was actual parental family size. In addition, the data revealed the hypothesized negative correlation between parental financial status and second generation fertility behavior and plans. Several mechanisms which could produce the correlation between parental characteristics and the fertility of their children are explored.The analysis reported in this paper was supported by Contract NO1-HD-42856 from the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, Center for Population Research. Dr. Thornton is affiliated with the Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Requests for reprints should be directed to him.     

Strategic transfers, redistributive fiscal policies, and family bonds: a micro-economic analysis

This paper presents a micro-economic model to analyze intergenerational exchange in which the utility maximizing decisions of “selfish” children on family services, labor market activities, and leisure are determined endogenously. We show that altruistic parents’ financial transfers have a disincentive effect on the labor supply of their children and that the children’s equilibrium income is positively correlated with parental income. Based on the theoretical model, we find that redistributing US$1 from children to their parents increases parental transfers by less than US$1, implying that intergenerational public transfers are Ricardian non-neutral. However, the non-neutral redistributive transfers may enhance intergenerational family bonds because the equilibrium levels of services rendered by children to their parents increase.