What Narrows the Stepgap? Closeness Between Parents and Adult (Step)Children in Germany

Using data from the German Family Panel (pairfam) based on 11,746 intergenerational family relationships, the present study examined differences in parental closeness across relations with multiple, coresidential, and non‐coresidential adolescent and adult children. Replicating previous research in a multilevel analysis across families, the authors found a strong positive effect of biological descent on closeness in comparison to adoptive and steprelations; this parental favoritism toward biological offspring was partly explained by selection via parental resources and attitudes. Supplemental within‐parent fixed effect analyses suggested that the relative disadvantage of stepchildren was offset by longer duration of the stepparent–stepchild relationship, lower household income, fewer children in the household, and high parental affirmation of familism.     

Variations in Natural Fertility: The Effect of Lactation and Other Determinants

The analysis focuses on average waiting times to a fertile conception, as derived from non-contraceptive exposure in second and higher-order birth intervals. Life-table estimates are derived from exposure in the two-year periods preceding the survey, for 20 surveys in Africa, Asia and Latin America undertaken as part of the WFS programme. Differences in the waiting time to conception are examined as a function of the duration of lactation and post partum abstinence. In addition, the extent to which variations in waiting times are produced by country and regional effects, and effects due to age, duration of marriage and parity are examined. The analysis points out the dangers of deriving estimates of natural fertility from the sub-group of women who never breastfed.     

Work shifts of full-time dual-earner couples: Patterns and contrasts by sex of spouse

Work shifts of full-time dual-earner couples are analyzed with data from the May 1980 U.S. Current Population Survey. Over 20 percent of husbands and about 12 percent of wives work other than a regular day shift. Variations in shift work status by sex of spouse are examined according to job, race, and life-cycle characteristics. A multivariate analysis indicates that a different composite offactors affects the shift work status of husbands and wives. Given the wide variation in the prevalence of non-day employment within major groups and the sex segregation of the labor force, we look at detailed occupations and industries to the extent possible.     

Demographic change and response: Social context and the practice of birth control in six countries

This paper expands on Kingsley Davis’s demographic thesis of change and response. Specifically, we consider the social context that accounts for the primacy of particular birth control methods that bring about fertility change during specific time periods. We examine the relevance of state policy (including national family planning programs), the international population establishment, the medical profession, organized religion, and women’s groups using case studies from Japan, Russia, Puerto Rico, China, India, and Cameroon. Some of these countries are undergoing the second demographic transition, others the first. Despite variations in context, heavy reliance on sterilization and/or, abortion as a means of birth control is a major response in most of these countries. The key roles of the medical profession and state policy are discussed, along with the general lack of influence of religion and of women’s groups in these countries.     

Nonstandard Work Schedules and Marital Instability

Based on subsample of 3,476 married couples drawn from two waves of the National Survey of Families and Household, this study examines the extent to which working evening, night, or rotating schedules and weekends affects the likelihood of marriages ending in separation or divorce within approximately 5 years. Logistic regression analysis revealed that this relationship depends on the presence of children and is specific to the type of nonstandard schedule, the gender of the spouse, and the duration of marriage. Among men with children, married less than 5 years at Wave 1, working fixed nights made separation or divorce some six times more likely relative to working days. Among women with children, married more than 5 years at Wave 1, working fixed nights increased the odds by three times, and might have had an effect during the earlier years of marriage as well (although not statistically significant). These findings are evident when controlling for the number of hours worked as well as for demographic variables, and when considering, in addition, the husband's and wife's gender ideologies and the extent to which couples spent time alone together. The question of whether spouses in troubled marriages are more likely to move into night or rotating shifts was explored, but this did not seem to be the case.     

How Tautological Are Interspecies Correlations of Carcinogenic Potencies?

Crouch and Wilson demonstrated a strong correlation between carcinogenic potencies in rats and mice, supporting the extrapolation from mouse to man. Bernstein et al. , however, show that the observed correlation is mainly a statistical artifact of bioassay design. Crouch et al. have a comeback. This paper will review the arguments and present some new data. The correlation is largely (but not totally) tautological, confirming results in Bernstein et al.