Barriers to equality: why British fathers do not use parental leave

In 2011, the UK passed the Additional Paternity Leave (APL) policy, but less than 1% of eligible fathers took APL in its first year. This study investigates reasons for nonuse of APL. We find four main reasons: financial costs, gendered expectations, perceived workplace resistance, and policy restrictions. First, most fathers emphasized the role of finances in their leave decisions, sometimes taking annual leave for their second week because statutory pay was not enough. Second, both mothers and fathers largely assumed that mothers would take longer maternity leave due to gender differences in earnings and a greater emphasis on maternal over paternal bonding. Third, fathers felt that their workplaces would not be fully supportive of longer leave. Fourth, APL provides low pay and little flexibility. Gender plays a prominent role in each of the four themes. We discuss implications for Shared Parental Leave (SPL), which recently went into effect. Based on our findings, SPL is unlikely to be effective.     

Men's attitudes toward parenthood

In recent family literature, men are often characterized as deadbeat dads, with a focus on their lack of involvement, mainly financial but physical and emotional as well. At the same time, there has been little attention paid to how men feel about being parents. This paper examines men's attitudes toward parenthood using data from the National Survey of Families and Households. The results indicate (1) married men are significantly less likely than unmarried men to think that the stress of raising children, the ability to purchase goods, career time, leisure time, and old age security are important considerations in deciding whether or not to have a child; (2) men with higher education are more likely than less educated men to consider time for career and time for leisure and social activities important in making fertility decisions but are less likely to consider having someone to love important; and (3) black and Hispanic men are more likely to place importance on old age security than non-Hispanic white men.     

The relationship between apartment living and fertility for blacks,Mexican Americans,and other Americans in Racine,Wisconsin

Recently published data from a sample of Bogotá, Colombia public housing residents show that apartment dwellers, but not house dwellers, reduced their fertility in a tight housing market. We propose that the utilitycost theory of fertility accounts for this finding, and, using this theory, we predict that (a) apartment residents will not decrease their fertility in an open housing market and (b) higher fertility will be associated with larger dwellings. Longitudinal data from a sample of Midwest urban blacks, Mexican Americans, and other Americans support both predictions. The substantive implications are discussed.     

Promotion,Turnover, and Compensation in the Executive Labor Market

This paper develops a generalized Roy model with human capital accumulation, moral hazard, and career concerns. We identify and estimate the model with a large panel that matches data on publicly listed firms to information on their executives. The structural estimates obtained are used to decompose the firm‐size pay gap. We find that although total compensation and incentive pay increase with firm size, certainty‐equivalent pay decreases with firm size. In larger firms, and for more highly ranked executives, weaker signal quality about effort results in higher risk premiums. This risk premium accounts for roughly 80 percent of the firm‐size gap in total compensation. Larger firms are also willing to pay more than smaller ones to attract executives. Finally, the estimated coefficients on human capital accumulation from formal education and experience gained from different firms are individually significant, but their collective effect on firm‐size pay differentials nets out.     

The Effect of Religiosity and Campus Alcohol Culture on Collegiate Alcohol Consumption

Abstract

Religiosity and campus culture were examined in relationship to alcohol consumption among college students using reference group theory. Participants and Methods: College students (N = 530) at a religious college and at a state university complete questionnaires on alcohol use and religiosity. Statistical tests and logistic regression were utilized to examine alcohol use, religiosity, and campus environment. Results: Alcohol consumption was significantly higher among students at the university (M = 26.9 drinks) versus students at the religious college (M = 11.9 drinks). University students also had lower religiosity scores (M = 23.8) than students at the religious college (M = 26.5). Students who attend a secular university are 4 times more likely to be moderate or heavy drinkers compared to students attending a religiously affiliated college. Students with the least religiosity were 27 times more likely to be a heavy alcohol user and 9 times more likely to be a moderate alcohol user compared to students with greater religiosity.     

Myth versus Reality: Comparing the Depiction of Juvenile Delinquency in Metropolitan Newspapers with Arrest Data*

While the extant literature on the social construction of crime in the media is extensive, little literature exists on the media's construction of juvenile delinquency in newspapers, particularly in small cities. Even though smaller metropolitan areas have lower crime rates, how these newspapers construct delinquency undoubtedly impacts the attitudes, behaviors, and fears of residents, perhaps more so than in larger metropolitan areas. The purpose of this research is to assess how newspapers from five of the smallest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) socially construct juvenile delinquency, offenders and victims, and to assess whether or not these images perpetuate myths related to juvenile delinquency. An analysis of 231 articles indicates that small‐MSA newspapers construct an inaccurate image of juvenile offenders that significantly promotes the myth of juveniles as violent predators. Specifically, juvenile offenders are constructed as violent predators with innocent, random victims. In contrast, newspapers construct a more accurate picture of victims, with females represented as the most common juvenile victim, and sexual assault victimization as the most common of all juvenile violent crime victimization.     

“Renewed” “Older” Motherhood/Mothering: A Qualitative Exploration

This UK-based qualitative study explored multiparous women’s experiences of being “older” mothers. Respondents were “renewed mothers” who had a child/children relatively early in their reproductive careers and then again after 35 years of age. Key themes arising from the empirical data were: instrumental role of male partners in post-35 mothering, purported “renewal” of self in the face of menopause/diminution of mothering, caring for teenagers and babies/toddlers simultaneously, and subjection to criticisms of “wrong-aged” motherhood. Experiences of “renewed” “older” mothers suggest significant hard work is necessitated both in terms of mothering and presentation of self as an appropriate mother.     

The poverty of growth with interdependent utility functions

We argue that with interdependent utility functions growth can lead to a decline in total welfare of a society if the gains from growth are sufficiently unequally distributed in the presence of negative externalities in consumption, i.e. envy.