Economic Independence and Union Formation in Sweden

Although sociologists, demographers, and economists are generally agreed that economic independence enhances the likelihood that men will marry, there is disagreement concerning its effect on women. The view that economic independence weakens women's incentive to marry has probably been the most influential, although it has been subjected to few rigorous empirical tests with individual-level data. In the present paper we examine the predictors of forming a first cohabiting union, of progressing from this union to marriage, and of marrying without previously cohabiting by applying hazard regression to event-history data from the 1992 Swedish Family Survey, supplemented by earnings data extracted from the national taxation register. We test a battery of measures that reflect people's past, current, and potential attachment to the labour market. We find that the correlates of union formation for women are largely indistinguishable from the correlates of union formation for men, and that far from being less likely than other women to cohabit or to marry, women with a greater degree of economic self-sufficiency are more likely to do so.     

Reply to Allen et al.

Allen et al.’s results depend on their inclusion of children whose family at the time of their grade retention is unknown, plus adopted and foster children whose selection process into families is unknown. Children whose family has been through upheavals or transitions are less likely to make good progress in school than children from stable families. Children raised by stable same-sex couples do remarkably well in school.     

Demographic transition in sub-Saharan Africa: How big will the economic dividend be?

In mid-demographic-transition, many Asian countries enjoyed a large demographic ‘dividend’: extra economic growth owing to falling dependant/workforce ratios, or slower natural increase, or both. We estimate the dividend, 1985–2025, in sub-Saharan Africa and its populous countries. Dependency and natural increase peaked around 1985, 20 years after Asia. The UN projects an acceleration of the subsequent slow falls but disregards slowish declines in young-age mortality and thus, we argue, overestimates future fertility decline. Even if one accepts their projection, arithmetical and econometric evidence suggests an annual, if not total, dividend well below Asia's. The dividend arises more from falling dependency than reduced natural increase, and could be increased by accelerating the fertility decline (e.g., by reducing young-age mortality) or by employing a larger workforce productively. Any dividend from transition apart, low saving in much of Africa (unlike Asia) means that, given likely natural increase, current consumption per person is unsustainable because it depletes capital per person.     

Assisted Living and the Aging Trajectory

ABSTRACT

Assisted living (AL) is a caregiving option between independent living and nursing home placement. This study explores women residents' experience of AL in four Midwestern facilities, using interview and field research methods. We found that most residents wanted to stay in AL rather than move to a nursing home; they looked backward nostalgically toward home, and complied with staff rules and directives in order to remain in place. In contrast to nursing homes, AL allows residents to experience continuities with self and home: a private room, some of their own belongings, and access to relationships and activities associated with self and home. Given the expanded lifespan and growing popularity of AL, it is becoming a new stage in the trajectory of women's aging.     

The differential contributions of teen drinking homophily to new and existing friendships: An empirical assessment of assortative and proximity selection mechanisms

Alcohol use is pervasive in adolescence. Though most research is concerned with how friends influence drinking, alcohol is also important for connecting teens to one another. Prior studies have not distinguished between new friendship creation, and existing friendship durability, however. We argue that accounting for distinctions in creation–durability processes is critical for understanding the selection mechanisms drawing drinkers into homophilous friendships, and the social integration that results. In order to address these issues, we applied stochastic actor based models of network dynamics to National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health data. Adolescents only modestly prefer new friendships with others who drinker similarly, but greatly prefer friends who indirectly connect them to homophilous drinkers. These indirect homophilous drinker relationships are shorter lived, however, and suggest that drinking is a social focus that connects adolescents via proximity, rather than assortativity. These findings suggest that drinking leads to more situational and superficial social integration.     

Comparing characteristics of voluntarily childless men and women

Voluntary childlessness among women has been well researched, but the theories derived from that work may not apply to men. In this paper, we test whether or not female-derived explanations of voluntary childlessness are applicable to voluntarily childless men. We use US data from the National Survey of Family Growth to compare voluntarily childless men to other men and to voluntarily childless women in an effort to determine the distinctions between groups. We examine four long-held explanations of female voluntary childlessness and test their application to men: demographic, socialization, economic, and attitudinal differences. We find that demographic and socialization variables predict voluntary childlessness in both men and women similarly. Traditional sex role belief decreases the probability of being voluntarily childless for both men and women, though the effect is slightly stronger for women. However, variables associated with economic theory do not predict voluntary childlessness for men. Most importantly, education is not a significant predictor of voluntary childlessness for men, while it greatly increases the chances of being voluntarily childless among women. We conclude that new theories of voluntary childlessness need to be developed or existing theories refined to take into account the gendered routes to childlessness—especially theories explaining the different effect of education on men’s and women’s childlessness.     

Shattered Spaces. Encountering Jewish Ruins in Postwar Germany and Poland

David P. Henige, The Chronology of Oral Tradition: Quest for a Chimera (1974), x+265 (Clarendon Press, Oxford, no price).

Georges Dupeux, French Society 1789‐1870 (1976), ix+294 (Methuen, £7.50, paperback £3.90).

Jürgen Schlumbohm, Freiheit ‐ Die Anfänge der bürgerlichen Emanzipationsbewegung in Deutschland im Spiegel ihres Leitwortes (ca. 1760‐ca. 1800) (1975), 299 (Schwann, Dusseldorf, 38 DM). (Freedom ‐ The beginnings of the movement for the emancipation of the bourgeoisie in Germany in the changing light of its watchword.)

Jens Engberg, Dansk Guldalder, eller opr?ret i tugt‐ rasp‐ og forbedringshuset (1973), 190 (Rhodos, Copenhagen, D.kr. 52). (Danish Golden Age: disturbances in the penitentiary and houses of correction.)

Richard D. Altick, Victorian People and Ideas (1974), xii+338 (Dent, £4.50).

P. N. Backstrom, Christian Socialism and Cooperation in Victorian England (1974), vii+238 (Croom Helm, £5.95).

W. Hamish Fraser, Trade Unions and Society: The Struggle for Acceptance, 1850–1880 (1974), 292 (George Allen &; Unwin, £5.95).

Nancy J. Weiss, The National Urban League, 1910–1940 (1974), xiv+402 (Oxford University Press, New York, £7.25).

Arthur Marwick, War and Social Change in the Twentieth Century (1974), x+258 (Macmillan, £5.00, paperback £2.50).