Ties that bind: A case study of the link between employers, families, and health benefits

Most US residents receive health benefits from their employer. Groups of employees and their families are therefore the basis for health care financing. Health care costs rose dramatically during the 1980s and employers looked for ways to control them. One approach is to control the size of the group provided health benefits by an employer. This paper uses a demographic perspective to explore the determinants of change in an employer's group. It examines the linkages among employer policies, employee turnover, and family dynamics. How much control does an employer have over group size? We identify the relative contributions of employment and demographic processes to changing group size. We use a decomposition technique based on matching individual records between consecutive years. We apply this technique to a case study of the health benefits group consisting of General Motors salaried employees and their families. We find that employers face limits to the control that they can exert over the size of the health benefits group associated with their active workforce. Demographic processes unrelated to employee turnover or transfers to layoff or retirement accounted for a large portion of the population change in the case study.     

The effect of homemaker's employment status on children's time allocation in single- and two-parent families

This study compares the effect of homemaker's employment status on children's time allocation in single- and two-parent families. Specifically under investigation is the effect of living in a family in which the mother is employed professionally, employed non-professionally, or not employed outside the home on older child's time allocated to household work, school work, and recreation in single- and two-parent families. Age and sex of older children and constraints on their time, such as school attendance, are controlled for in the analysis. The data are from a California study. A two-step multiple regression procedure is used. The effect of homemaker's employment status on older child's time allocated to household work, school work, and recreation is not found to differ by family structure. Homemaker's employment status does not explain a significant amount of variance in older child's time allocation.Rosemary J. Key is Assistant Professor, Department of Consumer Economics and Housing, Cornell University, 103 Martha Van Rensselaer Hall, Ithaca, New York 14850. Her research interests include substitutability between family members' time in household production, and sequencing techniques used in household production activities. She received her Ph.D. from The Ohio State University.Margaret Mietus Sanik is Associate Professor, Department of Family Resource Management, The Ohio State University, 1787 Neil Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43210. Her research interests include time use among family members and household production. She received her Ph.D. from Cornell University.     

流动民工家庭跨域抚育策略研究

基于对34个流动民工家庭的质性研究,从制度、结构和家庭三个层面探讨了留守儿童的形成;并分析了流动民工家庭如何从经济方面、情感方面、心理方面、照顾安排方面能动地对留守儿童进行跨域抚育。研究发现,尽管面临与留守子女空间上的分隔,但外出父母仍能通过各种策略性安排进行跨域抚育。     

Chronic and Proximate Depression Among Mothers: Implications for Child Well‐Being

This article uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Well‐Being Survey (N = 2,427) to examine the association between the chronicity and timing of maternal depression and child well‐being. Maternal depression, particularly chronic depression, is linked to internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors in children, and children have worse behaviors when mothers report proximate depression. Children of depressed and nondepressed mothers have similar cognitive outcomes. Results also suggest that boys are more vulnerable to maternal depression than girls and that socioeconomic advantage does not buffer children from the consequences of maternal depression. Given that impairments in early childhood may place children on disadvantaged life‐course trajectories, early intervention and treatment of depressed mothers may help ameliorate social disparities.     

Getting with the (evidence-based) program: An evaluation of the Incredible Years Parenting Training Program in child welfare

This study evaluates four group sessions of the Incredible Years (IY) Parenting Training Program used for the first-time in two child welfare agencies in New York State. Few studies have examined process and evaluation outcomes of evidence-based parenting programs in child welfare. Qualitative staff interviews and surveys on parenting behaviors were used to examine program processes, improvements in parenting behaviors, and participant satisfaction. Program participation was associated with less parental distress, defensive responding, dysfunctional parent-child interactions, child difficulty, total stress, and greater empathy and social support. The effectiveness of this evidence-based, parent education program in the context of a child welfare population, as well as implementation challenges and recommendations, are discussed.     

休宁金氏宗族社会地位构建简

徽州是典型的宗族社会,等级门第观念较严格,社会地位高低是宗族能否立足的重要凭证,因此,提高宗族的社会地位是宗族赋予族众的使命。休宁金氏宗族传承千年,世代以忠孝显名。通过对《休宁金氏族谱》进行研究可知,金氏宗族构建社会地位的方式主要有进行宗族管理、获得社会认同和官府认同等三方面。     

《广东省农村部分计划生育家庭奖励办法》实施的意义

为解除农村计划生育家庭的后顾之忧 ,促进人口与计划生育事业的进一步发展 ,稳定低生育水平 ,广东省发出了《广东省农村部分计划生育家庭奖励办法》。本文介绍了《奖励办法》的主要内容和特点 ,以及制定和实施《奖励办法》的意义。     

从《隋书·经籍志》之经部看南朝经学与士族家门的关系

《隋书·经籍志》之经部记载了南朝大量的经学著述,南朝一代,经术并没有荒废。超过三分之一的南朝经学著作是几个特定家族的成员所作,凸显了南朝经学依托于士族家门的特点。士族子弟对于累世经学的继承和发展,正是他们维持家门不堕的主要原因之一。     

Evidence of the Effectiveness of Child Support and Visitation: Examining Food Insecurity among Children with Nonresident Fathers

Over six million children who reside with a single mother and have a father who lives elsewhere are food insecure. This study examines the effectiveness of two aspects of nonresident father involvement, in-person visitation and financial contributions, in reducing food acquisition problems using data from the National Survey of America’s Families. We find that frequent visits by nonresident fathers are related to a reduced likelihood that the resident mother’s household will experience indicators of food insecurity. The effects of child support receipt on reducing food acquisition problems, however, are less consistent. Our results support policies designed to recognize and encourage nonresidential parents to make both monetary and nonmonetary contributions to the lives of their children.

Coparenting and Nonresident Fathers' Monetary Contributions to Their Children

The percentage of children in the United States living apart from their biological father has increased, while public assistance for single mothers has diminished. This has resulted in a need to better understand and promote nonresident fathers' economic support of their children. In the present study the author used data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 1,752) to examine how coparenting—the degree to which parents are mutually supportive and cooperative in raising their child—is related to nonresident fathers' monetary contributions. Results from pooled regression and fixed effects models indicate that coparenting is positively associated with fathers' likelihood of paying formal and informal child support and the amount of these payments. Findings from cross‐lagged structural equation models suggest that the association between coparenting and fathers' payments is reciprocal but that coparenting has a stronger effect on fathers' payments than fathers' payments do on coparenting.