Informal Networks Social Capital of Fathers: What Does the Social Engagement Survey Tell Us?

Using the General Social Survey on Social Engagement conducted by Statistics Canada in 2003, this paper examines social capital derived from informal networks and its variation among men categorized as: (1) men with no children, and (2) men living with children in (a) intact, (b) step, and (c) lone parent families. The focus on men stems from a concern that their role in families has not been as extensively studied as that of women. The results show that married men living with children have higher social capital – measured in terms of the number of friends, relatives, and neighbors, and in their level of trust in them – than lone fathers or step fathers in cohabiting unions. Compared to child-free men, married fathers have higher social capital but also tend to have friends who are more similar to themselves in age, education, or income.     

Migrant women of Mindanao: a differential profile from the 1983 National Demographic Survey

Researchers analyzed 1983 data on 3644 ever married 15-49 year old women living in Mindanao, a traditionally Muslim dominated area, in the Philippines to look at differentials in socioeconomic and demographic factors between migrant and nonmigrant women. When they controlled for other variables, differentials existed only for place of residence, religion, and education. Women living in urban areas were more likely to be migrants than nonmigrants (26.9% vs. 18.6%; p.01). Christians also tended to be migrants (92.3% vs. 7.7%; p/01). Yet the coefficient of the interaction between place of residence and Christian was strongly negative (p.01). Thus the odds of an urban resident being a migrant was reduced from 1.46-1.15 when considering Christians. Among Christians, differences in education between migrants and nonmigrants was small. On the other hand, the more educated a Muslim woman was the less likely she was a migrant (p.05). Further all socioeconomic differentials were consistently significant at either the 1% or 5% level for women who migrated 2 times, but not for primary migrants or return migrants. Women who migrated 3 times and those who migrated back to where they had lived earlier, but not to place of birth, were different than nonmigrants in terms of occupation and education only. In the early 1970s, armed conflicts between Muslims and Christians and between government troops and Muslim groups resulted in considerable displacement of families. Yet this conflict could only account for differentials between the 2 religious groups before 1975, but these data could not infer other reasons for migration. Researchers should explore these reasons. These result indicated that policy makers should focus on religious and place of residence differentials rather than migrant/nonmigrant differentials to promote equality among groups of women.     

Measuring Social Cohesion: An Experiment using the Canadian National Survey of Giving,Volunteering, and Participating

Social cohesion is a concept difficult to define and to measure. As there can be many definitions, so there can be many measurements. The main problem, either in defining or measuring the concept, is its multilevel and multidimensional nature. At one extreme, country is the most commonly used level to view social cohesion but measurement at this level is of little use for any interventions. At the other extreme, community is the most useful level but it is a social construct for which data are difficult to get, given the administrative boundaries used in social surveys. As an initial attempt to measure social cohesion at a subcountry level, this study focuses on census metropolitan areas for which data on several dimensions of social cohesion are available. We use the information gathered by the National Survey on Giving, Volunteering and Participating (NSGVP) on three dimensions of social cohesion: political (voting and volunteering), economic (occupation, income, labour force participation) and social (social interactions, informal volunteering). Using statistical techniques including factor analysis and standardization, we create an overall index of social cohesion for each CMA. We point out use of this measure for further analysis of social dynamics.     

Determinants of adults’ solo living in Canada: a longitudinal perspective

We examine the demographic, socio-economic and socio-cultural factors that underlie solo-living at mid-adult ages. Both individual and community level factors are analysed. The analysis is based on the longitudinal panel data of the Canadian Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics in 1996–2001, 1999–2004, 2002–2008 and 2005–2010, and census data at the Census District level for 1996, 2001 and 2006. A two-level discrete-time survival model is used within a 6 year observational window for each panel. The analysis starts with persons aged 35–59 who were living alone at the outset of a given panel and follows their departure from this status over the following 6 years. For both men and women, the older respondents, those who have been living solo for a longer time, those who are not in the labour force, and those living in apartments, are more likely to continue living alone. Women are more likely to keep their initial one person household status compared to men in general. In particular, women with medium education (non-university post-secondary certification) are more likely to continue living alone, while for men it is those unemployed who are more likely to remain in the solo-living status. Moreover, persons with lower health status are more likely to continue living by themselves, in comparison to those with excellent health status.

     

Measuring Social Capital and Its Differentials by Family Structures

Social capital has often been invoked to explain differences in children’s well-being by family structure. That is, developmental outcome for children in lone or step parent family is not at par with that of children from intact family because parental investments on children may be lower not only in financial and human capital but also in social capital. This proposition has been difficult to examine in greater depth because of lack of conceptual clarity and of data to measure social capital. Using a definition of social capital as the “ability to secure benefits through membership in networks and other social structures”, we focus on the impact of family structures on social capital engendered by three types of networks: (a) informal ties with kin, families, friends, neighbours, and workmates; (b) generalized relationships with local people, people in civic groups, and people in general; and, (c) relationships through institutions. In particular, we examine differences in the measures of social capital among women living with no children in various marital arrangements, and women living with children in intact, step, and lone parent families. Data from the Canadian 2003 General Social Survey on Social Engagement confirm that social capital is indeed greater in intact families than in lone parent families. Mothers in intact families (especially married mothers) have larger informal networks, are members of more primordial and purposive organizations, have greater trust in people in the family, in the neighbourhood, and in people in general, and have greater confidence in government or business institutions. In general, social capital of mothers in step families is in between that of married mothers in intact families and lone mothers. Thus, the assumption in the literature that family structure can serve as a proxy for social capital may be justified. However, this study contributes a unique way of measuring social capital in terms of networks if and when data are available and a way of investigating the relationship between family structure and social capital; that is, the former as a determinant of the latter.     

Early Life Transitions of Canadian Women: A Cohort Analysis of Timing, Sequences, and Variations

This paper looks into the timing and sequences of early life transitions of Canadian women using data from the 1995 General Social Survey of Family. Six events occurring in early adulthood are examined: school completion, first job, home-leaving, first cohabitation, first marriage, and first birth. Our analysis of birth cohorts spanning 60 years shows that the biggest changes in timing occurred in school completion and start of work; that the trajectories involving work before marriage have gained popularity among later cohorts; and that education appreciably delays early life transitions.