How enduring were the inequalities among European immigrant groups in the United States?

A long-standing and unresolved issue in the study of racial and ethnic groups concerns the persistence of initial inequalities among groups. Recently it has surfaced again in the study of U.S. immigrant groups, in George Borjas's (1994) claim that the human capital differences among early-twentieth-century immigrant groups are reflected in the relative socioeconomic achievements of their third generations. Reexamining this claim, we find that Borjas's analysis hinges on a series of problematic decisions, such as his inclusion of non-European groups as well as his failure to take ethnically mixed ancestry into account and to compensate for the weak correspondence in eastern Europe between ethnic ancestry and the national frontiers of the early 1900s. We replicate a portion of his analysis, correcting for these problems. Our results reveal no correspondence between the literacy of the first generation and the educational attainment of the third among European groups. Borjas's analysis seems to go farthest astray in including non-Europeans, especially Mexicans, because of the more systematic legal and social liabilities suffered by these groups.     

Immigrant skills and ethnic spillovers

This paper investigates the hypothesis that ethnicity has spillover effects on the human capital accumulation process. It extends previous research by documenting the extent to which the relative importance of parental inputs and ethnic spillovers in the intergenerational transmission of skills differs both within and across immigrant and U.S.-born ethnic groups. Using data drawn from the General Social Surveys, the study documents that the second and third generations (i.e., the children and grandchildren of immigrants) experience relatively more rapid economic advancement than do other generations, and that ethnic spillovers play a stronger role in households which are at the extremes of the skill distribution.Professor of Economics, University of California at San Diego, and Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research. This research was supported by grants from the Russell Sage Foundation and the National Science Foundation (Grant no. SES-9121538).     

More Evidence for Trends in the Intergenerational Transmission of Divorce: A Completed Cohort Approach Using Data From the General Social Survey

Many studies have demonstrated that the children of divorce are disproportionately likely to end their own marriages. In previous work, I showed that the transmission of divorce between generations weakened substantially for General Social Survey (GSS) respondents interviewed between 1973 and 1996 (Wolfinger 1999); Li and Wu (2006, 2008) contended that my finding is a methodological artifact of the GSS’s lack of marriage duration data. This article presents a completed-cohort approach to studying divorce using the GSS. The results confirm a decline in the probability of divorce transmission that cannot be explained by the right-censoring bias alleged by Li and Wu. This finding contributes to an ongoing debate about trends in the negative consequences of parental divorce, as well as demonstrating a useful approach to right-censored phenomena when event history data are not available.     

What can child care do for human capital?

This study reviews the evidence on the possible contribution that a publicly supported child care program could make to the stock of human capital that future generations will bring into the nation's labor force, focusing on the development of children most at risk of future poverty and dependency.The analysis first discusses the potential benefits to individuals, and to society at large, of increased human capital investment. Next, evidence is reviewed on how pre-school programs have affected educational attainment. The link between educational attainment and earning capacity is then examined using evidence drawn from census surveys as well as a limited amount from longitudinal studies of pre-school alumni. In conclusion the evidence supports the claim that investment in child care, incorporating tested developmental components, can yield net benefits to society by enhancing the human capital of upcoming generations.     

Do smart parents raise smart children? The intergenerational transmission of cognitive abilities

Complementing prior research on income and educational mobility, we examine the intergenerational transmission of cognitive abilities. We find that individuals’ cognitive skills are positively related to their parents’ abilities, despite controlling for educational attainment and family background. Differentiating between mothers’ and fathers’ IQ transmission, we find different effects on the cognition of sons and daughters. Cognitive skills that are based on past learning are more strongly transmitted between generations than skills that are related to innate abilities. Our findings are not compatible with a pure genetic model but rather point to the importance of parental investments for children’s cognitive outcomes.     

Urbanization and the fertility transition in Ghana

This paper examines the way in which migration and urban residence operate to alter fertility outcomes. While urban-rural fertility differentials have long been established for most developing societies, the nature of these differences among migrants and between migrants and those of succeeding generations is not well understood. The evidence presented here suggests that rural-urban migration and urbanization may contribute positively to processes of fertility transition. Using data from the 1998 Kumasi Peri-Urban Survey, which included a 5-year retrospective monthly calendar of childbearing, we suggest that migrants adapt quickly to an urban environment. Our results also reveal generational differences in recent and cumulative fertility. While migrants exhibit higher cumulative fertility than urban residents of the second and third generation, their fertility is significantly lower than rural averages in Ghana. Children of migrants exhibit childbearing patterns quite similar to those in higher-order generations. Most noteworthy is the nature of the disparities in childbearing patterns between migrants and the succeeding generations. Migrant women have higher lifetime fertility than urban natives. Migrant women also exhibit higher fertility over the last 5 years than second generation or high-order urban natives. But these first generation women exhibit lower fertility (vs. urban natives) for the year immediately prior to the survey. These patterns lend support to an interpretation that combines rather than opposes theories of selectivity, disruption, adaptation and socialization. We conclude by discussing mechanisms that might explain these interrelated processes of fertility adjustment and suggest that policies discouraging rural-urban migration need to be revisited.     

Selection for divergent emigration rates in laboratory populations ofMusca domestica

Summary High and low emigration rates through a laboratory system were selected for in populations of house flies (Musca domestica L.). Emigration consisted of movement of flies from on plastic box to another by way of a connecting tube. Selection was carried out by first dividing a wild population of flies into two lines and then selecting for movement from the box in one line and against movement from the box in the other line. The selection experiment was performed twice. In both experiments a statistically significant difference between the two strains was obtained in three to four generations of selection. In the second experiment, after 5 genrations the mean number of high emigration rate flies emigrating in 1 hour was 4.37 times the mean number of low emigration rate flies and in 24 hours was 2.81 times the number of low emigration rate flies. The second experiment was terminated after 6 generations, but the first experiment was continued for 35 generations. In this case, divergence ceased in roughly 15 generations. The possible relevance of the findings to laboratory population experiments in which spatial discontinuities are included is discussed. This study was supported by a research grant of the National Science Foundation (Environmental Biology GB 4567) to Prof. DavidPimentel. The author wishes to thank Prof.Pimentel for his aid and encouragement.     

Accumulation and Persistence of Welfare Problems over Time

This paper uses longitudinal Swedish data and investigates the accumulation and persistence of welfare problems over time. The data set was compiled in a first wave in 1979, a second wave in 1986–1987, a third wave in 1994–1995, and a fourth wave in 2002–2003 (N = 7,967). First, the results demonstrate that all welfare problems have a tendency to become persistent. For example, the probability of suffering from the lack of a close friend in the fourth wave was 57.1 % if the individual suffered from this welfare problem in the third wave. Second, economic problems constituted the welfare problem with the most associations with other welfare problems. Third, the accumulation of welfare problems significantly differed between different categories of individuals. For example, the accumulation of welfare problems was higher in men compared with women, immigrants compared with native Swedes, single individuals compared with individuals in couples, and poorly educated individuals compared with highly educated individuals. Finally, longitudinal analyses indicated individuals in certain categories have experienced cumulative disadvantages in welfare even during periods when individuals in other categories have experienced a positive trend in welfare. One such example is single parents during the period between 1979 and 1986–1987.     

From Childhood Deprivation to Adult Social Exclusion: Evidence from the 1970 British Cohort Study

This paper analyses the common trajectories leading to adult social exclusion that children from disadvantaged backgrounds experience during their life courses. Moreover, it provides an assessment of whether education is effective in breaking the vicious circle of disadvantages both across and within generations. Using data from the 1970 British Cohort Study, this empirical analysis is based on structural equation modelling techniques and proceeds in three steps. The measurement model is first tested to validate three groups of theoretical constructs (childhood disadvantages, adolescent deprivations and a multi-dimensional measure of social exclusion) and their indicators. Next, a path analysis is conducted for describing the trajectories linking childhood disadvantages to social exclusion. In the third step, the multi-faceted role of education is established by measuring the extent to which deprivations in the educational domain directly or indirectly affect all the relevant social exclusion dimensions.     

Midwifery students’ evaluation of team-based academic assignments involving peer-marking

BackgroundMidwives should be skilled team workers in maternity units and in group practices. Poor teamwork skills are a significant cause of adverse maternity care outcomes. Despite Australian and International regulatory requirements that all midwifery graduates are competent in teamwork, the systematic teaching and assessment of teamwork skills is lacking in higher education.QuestionHow do midwifery students evaluate participation in team-based academic assignments, which include giving and receiving peer feedback?ParticipantsFirst and third year Bachelor of Midwifery students who volunteered (24 of 56 students).MethodsParticipatory Action Research with data collection via anonymous online surveys.Key findingsThere was general agreement that team based assignments; (i) should have peer-marking, (ii) help clarify what is meant by teamwork, (iii) develop communication skills, (iv) promote student-to-student learning. Third year students strongly agreed that teams: (i) are valuable preparation for teamwork in practice, (ii) help meet Australian midwifery competency 8, and (iii) were enjoyable. The majority of third year students agreed with statements that their teams were effectively coordinated and team members shared responsibility for work equally; first year students strongly disagreed with these statements. Students’ qualitative comments substantiated and expanded on these findings. The majority of students valued teacher feedback on well-developed drafts of the team's assignment prior to marking.ConclusionBased on these findings we changed practice and created more clearly structured team-based assignments with specific marking criteria. We are developing supporting lessons to teach specific teamwork skills: together these resources are called “TeamUP”. TeamUP should be implemented in all pre-registration Midwifery courses to foster students’ teamwork skills and readiness for practice.     

农民“养儿防老”观念的代际差异及转变趋向

文章基于2009年全国10个省份千户农民的调查数据,利用逐步回归技术和交互分析方法,实证分析农民"养儿防老"观念的代际差异及其转变趋向。结果显示,农民"养儿防老"观念表现出显著的代际差异,并且随着时代的发展,农民"养儿防老"观念呈现出明显的弱化趋势,而"养女防老"观念正在农村悄然兴起。农民"养儿防老"观念受多种因素影响,并且代际差异明显。"养儿防老"观念重点转向"依靠自己",但"依靠子女"和"依靠社保"也成为农民应对老年生活风险的重要策略,农民养老保障策略的"三足鼎立之势"已经显现,即以"依靠自己"为主,以"依靠子女"为基础,以"依靠社保"为补充的福利三角框架。     

Can Increased Educational Attainment Among Lower-Educated Mothers Reduce Inequalities in Children’s Skill Development?

A rich tradition of stratification research has established a robust link between mothers’ education and the skills in children that forecast children’s own mobility. Yet, this research has failed to consider that many U.S. women are now completing their education after having children. Such a trend raises questions about whether increases in mothers’ educational attainment can improve their children’s skill development and whether these gains are enough to reduce inequalities in skills compared with children whose mothers completed the same degree before they were born. To answer these questions, we draw on a nationally representative sample of mothers and children participating in the National Longitudinal Surveys (NLSY79 and CNLY), random- and fixed-effects techniques, and repeated measures of children’s cognitive and noncognitive skills. Contrary to existing research and theory, our results reveal that educational attainment obtained after children’s births is not associated with an improvement in children’s skills. Such findings offer substantial refinement to a long-standing model of intergenerational mobility by suggesting that the intergenerational returns to mother’s education are weaker when education is acquired after children are born. Results also highlight the limits of two-generation policy approaches to reducing inequality in future generations.     

(Home-)Schools of Democracy? On the Intergenerational Transmission of Civic Engagement

Where do individuals learn civic engagement? While voluntary associations are often seen as the breeding grounds for democratic skills and virtues, many preferences are learned by children in their family and thus passed on between generations. The present paper uses data from the British Household Panel Survey (1991–2008) for the UK to analyze the intergenerational transmission of civic engagement and political participation preferences. It finds that both voluntary associational count variables as well as frequency and strength measures of doing volunteer work and political party support are correlated between parents and their grown up children (i.e. after leaving the parental household), even when controlling for resources like socio-economic background. The intergenerational transmission is more pronounced with regard to triggering filial civic engagement, but frequency of parental engagement is less strongly transmitted. A robustness analysis suggests that peer influences (as measured by regional levels of civic engagement) do not drive the intergenerational transmission of civic engagement.

     

Does time preference change with age?

This study looks at compensating differentials in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) to derive estimates of the levels of time preference for labor force participants in each of 15 waves of data from 1979 to 1994. With these estimates the evolution of time preference over the life course is described. Future utility among labor force participants appears to be valued more highly by subjects who are older, more schooled, white, or male. Controlling for schooling level, a higher IQ is associated with a preference for more immediate rewards.If social rates of time preference are correlated with individual rates of time preference then population aging could create intergenerational asymmetries in the social rate of time preference.This phenomenon could make the optimal investments of young populations appear selfish to future generations that are older.Support from Hopkins Population Center (R24) is gratefully acknowledged. I am thankful for helpful comments received from Jim Burgess, Mike Grossman, Bruce Hamilton, Fritz Laux, Athanasios Orphanides, Katie Roche, and Eric Slade. All errors are my own. Responsible editor: Alessandro Cigno.     

Kuaering queer theory: my autocritography and a race-conscious, womanist, transnational turn

Critiquing queer theory's omissions in race and class, E. Patrick Johnson (2001) suggests "quare" studies, a turn similar to that being made from feminism to womanism. I fully embrace Johnson's theorizing. But to make relevant the worlds lying beyond the pale of North America, Europe, and the English language to the study of sexualities and other dimensions of systematic discrimination, I use kuaer theory to make another turn. One that is at once race-conscious, womanist and transnational. I travel through three awakenings, and look into nu nu (female-female) words in Taiwanese and Chinese lesbian existence in different historical periods. I also ofter a rhetorical analysis of the title of Ai Bao, the first officially registered Taiwanese lesbian magazine, exploring its persuasiveness via wordplay and multiple entendre. In addition, from jin lan hui to nu tongzhi, from T/puo and lazi to kuer, I provide sketches of heterogeneous and complex Taiwanese and Chinese nu nu worlds. As I get deeper into my autocritography, these women become my women and I learn to utter my own words in a language that is little pre-packaged. My crossing marks a daring but humble beginning. If nothing else, there is at least more space for bringing up race and transnational complicity queerly.     

Intergenerational reliance on social assistance: Evidence from Canada

This paper provides the first analysis of the intergenerational transmission of participation in a Canadian social assistance program. Two sources of intergenerational transmission are taken into account: one that is due to a possible causal link between parents' and children's participation, and one that is due to a correlation between individual and environment specific characteristics across generations. The basic data come from the Québec government's administrative records and cover 17,203 young people who were 18 years old in 1990 and whose parents were recipients of social assistance during at least one month between 1979 and 1990. The results reveal that, on average, a one-percentage unit increase in parental participation during the youth's pre-adult years (age 7–17) raises the youth's participation rate by 0.29 percentage unit during early adulthood (age 18–21). This impact is stronger during the early stages of childhood (age 7–9) and during late adolescence (age 16–17).     

Skills Heterogeneity Among Graduate Workers: Real and Apparent Overeducation in the Spanish Labor Market

This paper takes account of skills heterogeneity among workers with a higher education degree and proposes a new measure to differentiate between real and apparent overeducation based on the level of cognitive skills actually achieved by the individuals. This proposal is applied to the study of the wage effects of overeducation in the Spanish labor market using data from PIAAC. The results suggest that between a quarter and a half of the graduate workers who appear to be overeducated in the Spanish labor market could be considered as being only apparently overeducated since they show a lower level of skills than that corresponding to their educational level or, alternatively, a level of cognitive skills which is commensurate with their job. Different returns are found for each group of overeducated individuals both when compared with adequately educated peers within a similar level of education (with greater wage penalties for apparently overeducated workers) and when the comparison is done with well-matched co-workers doing a similar job (with a wage premium for real overeducation but no significant returns for apparently overeducated workers). These different returns by skill levels beyond what overeducation measures implies that the market distinguishes between education and skills and that educational attainment per se does not perfectly align with acquired skills, meaning that traditional measures of overeducation would overstate the actual level of skills mismatch in the labor market.     

Labor Mismatches: Effects on Wages and on Job Satisfaction in 17 OECD Countries

This study analyzes the effects of labor mismatches on wages and on job satisfaction in seventeen OECD countries by distinguishing between educational mismatch and skills mismatch. Using data from PIAAC, the results suggest that whereas educational mismatch shows greater effects on wages, the effects of labor mismatch on job satisfaction are generally better explained by skills mismatches. Both phenomena appear to be relevant for understanding the economic effects of labor mismatch and suggest that educational mismatch is not an accurate proxy for skills mismatch, mainly when the non-monetary effects of labor mismatch are addressed.     

Contraception,attitude-practice,and fertility differentials among US Hispanic,African–American and white women

Hispanic fertility (primarily among nationals from Mexico, Central and South America in the US) is higher today than it is in Mexico and the other nations of origin (Frank and Heuveline 2005). It persists into the second and third generations, with only moderate signs of declining to replacement. Meanwhile, the fertility rates of African–Americans, American Indians Cubans, and Puerto Ricans have all declined to replacement, only slightly above the non-Hispanic white population. This study attempts to clarify the question why African–American fertility has declined to replacement, but Hispanic fertility has not. The data used are from Cycle 6 of the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) of 2002. Differences in physiological or marital-status factors are found not to explain these fertility differences; however, there are significant differences in the practice of contraception during early childbearing years. Slightly less effective methods if contraception is used, and less recourse to abortion if a pregnancy is undesired, all imply higher fertility for Hispanic women. Underlying contraceptive behaviour are sets of attitudes and motives that favour, permit, or seek childbearing. A much higher percentage of Hispanic than African–American women report that they wanted their last birth and intend to have another in the future. Hispanic women of all socio-economic statuses are considerably more pronatal in their attitudes, particularly with respect to the births of first and second children.     

Maternal Reading Skills and Child Mortality in Nigeria: A Reassessment of Why Education Matters

Mother’s formal schooling—even at the primary level—is associated with lower risk of child mortality, although the reasons why remain unclear. This study examines whether mother’s reading skills help to explain the association in Nigeria. Using data from the Demographic and Health Survey, the analysis demonstrates that women’s reading skills increase linearly with years of primary school; however, many women with several years of formal school are unable to read at all. The results further show that mother’s reading skills help to explain the relationship between mother’s formal schooling and child mortality, and that mother’s reading skills are highly associated with child mortality. The study highlights the need for more data on literacy and for more research on whether and how mother’s reading skills lower child mortality in other contexts.