Sex Ratio and Family Structure in the Nonmetropolitan United States |
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| Authors: | Carol Mulford Albrecht |
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| Institution: | Completed her Ph.D. from Texas A &M University in 1996. Since that time, she has been teaching and running the internship program for the sociology department at Texas A &M. Her research interests focus on race and gender inequality. |
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| Abstract: | The sex ratio hypothesis maintains that the ratio of marriageable men to marriageable women can have major implications for family formation and structure. Despite extensive research attention, the sex ratio hypothesis has yet to be tested on general nonmetropolitan populations. This study of nonmetropolitan counties in the United States found strong support for the sex ratio hypothesis. Counties with low sex ratios (shortage of men) had lower proportions of married couple households and a corresponding higher proportion of female-headed households. These low sex ratio counties also had fewer adults married, and a lower proportion of their children living in married couple households with a higher proportion of children living in female-headed households. |
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