scholarly journals Late, But Not Too Late? Postponement of First Birth Among Highly Educated US Women

Author(s):  
Natalie Nitsche ◽  
Hannah Brückner

AbstractWe examine the link between the postponement of parenthood and fertility outcomes among highly educated women in the USA born in 1920–1986, using data from the CPS June Supplement 1979–2016. We argue that the postponement–low fertility nexus noted in demographic and biomedical research is especially relevant for women who pursue postgraduate education because of the potential overlap of education completion, early career stages, and family formation. The results show that women with postgraduate education differ from women with college education in terms of the timing of the first birth, childlessness, and completed fertility. While the postponement trend, which began with the cohorts born in the 1940s, has continued among highly educated women in the USA, its associations with childlessness and completed parity have changed considerably over subsequent cohorts. We delineate five distinct postponement phases over the 80-year observation window, consistent with variation over time in the prevalence of strategies for combining tertiary education and employment with family formation.

2020 ◽  
pp. 019791832092335
Author(s):  
David P. Lindstrom ◽  
Anairis Hernandez-Jabalera ◽  
Silvia Giorguli Saucedo

In many low- and medium-income countries that are the traditional sources of international migrants, total fertility rates have dropped to levels at or near replacement. In this context of low fertility, we expect migration’s effects on fertility to operate primarily through marital timing and marital stability. We examine the effects of international migration on age at first marriage, union dissolution, timing of first birth, and completed fertility, using retrospective life-history data collected in Mexico and eight other Latin American countries by the Mexican Migration Project (MMP) and the Latin American Migration Project (LAMP). Using discrete-time hazards and Poisson regression models, we find clear evidence that early migration experience results in delayed marriage, delayed first birth, and a higher rate of marital dissolution. We also find evidence among women that cumulative international migration experience is associated with fewer births and that the estimated effects of migration experience are attenuated after taking into account age at union formation and husbands’ prior union experiences. As fertility levels in migrant origin and destination countries continue on their path toward convergence, migrant fertility below native fertility may become more common due to migration’s disruptive effects on marital timing and marital stability and the selection of divorced or separated adults into migration.


2019 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathías Nathan ◽  
Ignacio Pardo

Previous studies have documented an increasing heterogeneity in first-birth timing in countries experiencing the postponement transition. Sobotka (2004), for instance, showed a rising dispersion in age at first birth in developed countries, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States, where the timing polarisation between more and less advantaged women is most evident. However, these studies have included few countries outside Europe and North America, and lack a thorough interpretation of the rising dispersion in first births. Our aim is to compare the evolution of dispersion in age at first birth in countries in Europe, East Asia, North America and South America. Using data from the Human Fertility Database and the Human Fertility Collection, we describe the evolution of the period mean age at first birth and its variance for 21 countries since 1970. In line with previous studies, our results show a widespread pattern of increasing heterogeneity in age at first birth after the onset of the postponement transition, although with marked differences among regions and countries. The greatest heterogeneity can be found in countries where timing of family formation varies greatly among women with different socioeconomic status. Chile and Uruguay, in particular, exhibit the highest heterogeneity even though they are at the beginning of the postponement transition. There is no general explanation of why dispersion increased as the mean age at first birth rose. Further studies in this area should investigate causes and interpretations of this trend, and develop measures for studying heterogeneity in fertility timing.


Author(s):  
Judith C. Koops

AbstractPrevious research has shown that parental as well as own socio-economic status (SES) influence nonmarital fertility. This chapter examines to what extent the effect of parental SES on partner status at first birth is mediated through own SES. Data from the Generations and Gender Survey, British Understanding Society Survey, Dutch Survey on Family Formation, American National Survey on Family Growth, and Canadian General Social Survey are used to examine 16 national contexts. In the majority of countries, the effect of parental SES on the likelihood of having a first birth in cohabitation and in marriage is partly explained by the intergenerational transmission of SES. A direct effect of parental SES is found in Canada, USA, Norway, Bulgaria, Estonia, Georgia, and Romania. The effect of parental SES on the likelihood of having a first birth while being single and in marriage is partly explained by the intergenerational transmission of SES. In the USA, Austria, and Norway, a direct effect of parental SES was also found. The results suggest that in addition to the intergenerational transmission of SES, differences in family aid may influence the transition to adulthood. It is also possible that parental SES influences the motivation and ability to prevent pregnancies.


Genus ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne H. Gauthier ◽  
Petra W. de Jong

AbstractWhile the literature has documented a general increase in parental investment in children, both in terms of financial and time investment, the motives for this increase remain unclear. This paper aims at shedding light on these motives by examining parents’ own narratives of their parenting experiences from the vantage point of three theoretical perspectives. In doing so, the paper brings side-by-side the goal of providing children with human and social capital to improve their future labour market prospects, the pressures on parents to conform to new societal standards of good and intensive parenting, and the experience of parenting as part of self-development. The data come from a qualitative study of middle-income parents in Canada and the USA. The results provide some support for each of these perspectives, while also revealing how they jointly help explain parents’ large investment in their children as well as the tensions and contradictions that come with it.


BMJ Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. e017828 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Andrew Lauer ◽  
Andrew J Houtenville

ObjectiveA national priority for disability research in the USA is the standardised identification of people with disabilities in surveillance efforts. Mandated by federal statute, six dichotomous difficulty-focused questions were implemented in national surveys to identify people with disabilities. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence, demographic characteristics and social factors among people with disabilities based on these six questions using multiple national surveys in the USA.SettingAmerican Community Survey (ACS), Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS-ASEC), National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP).ParticipantsCivilian, non-institutionalised US residents aged 18 and over from the 2009 to 2014 ACS, 2009 to 2014 CPS-ASEC, 2009 to 2014 NHIS and 2008 SIPP waves 3, 7 and 10.Primary and secondary outcome measuresDisability was assessed using six standardised questions asking people about hearing, vision, cognition, ambulatory, self-care and independent living disabilities. Social factors were assessed with questions asking people to report their education, employment status, family size, health and marital status, health insurance and income.ResultsRisk ratios and demographic distributions for people with disabilities were consistent across survey. People with disabilities were at decreased risk of having college education, employment, families with three or more people, excellent or very good self-reported health and a spouse. People with disabilities were also consistently at greater risk of having health insurance and living below the poverty line. Estimates of disability prevalence varied between surveys from 2009 to 2014 (range 11.76%–17.08%).ConclusionReplicating the existing literature, we found the estimation of disparities and inequity people with disabilities experience to be consistent across survey. Although there was a range of prevalence estimates, demographic factors for people with disabilities were consistent across surveys. Variations in prevalence estimates can be explained by survey context effects.


1995 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 43-67
Author(s):  
Bartholomew Armah

Using input-output data for 1987 and 1990, this study identifies the demographic characteristics of trade-affected workers in U.S. manufacturing and service industries. Trade-affected workers are defined as employees in industries that experienced a change (positive or negative) in net total (direct and indirect) trade-related employment between 1987 and 1990. For the period 1987–1990, three industry categories were examined: (a) industries that experienced an increase in positive net trade-related employment; (b) industries that experienced a decline in positive net trade-related employment; and (c) industries that suffered net trade-related employment losses in both years yet experienced an improvement over the period. The study finds that, while manufacturing industry workers in the most favorably affected industry group (i.e., group “a”) were more likely to be highly skilled (i.e., scientists & engineers), highly educated (i.e., over four years of college education), unionized, married and white males, corresponding service sector workers were predominantly unskilled (laborers), less educated, non-unionized, young (i.e., aged 16–24) and male (black and white). Furthermore, the service sector was associated with greater mean trade-related employment and output gains and lower mean employment and output losses than was the manufacturing sector.


BMJ Open ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. e014787 ◽  
Author(s):  
Søren Toksvig Klitkou ◽  
Knut R Wangen

BackgroundAlthough there is a broad societal interest in socioeconomic differences in survival after an acute myocardial infarction, only a few studies have investigated how such differences relate to the survival in general population groups. We aimed to investigate education-specific survival after acute myocardial infarction and to compare this with the survival of corresponding groups in the general population.MethodsOur study included the entire population of Norwegian patients admitted to hospitals for acute myocardial infarction during 2008–2010, with a 6- year follow-up period. Patient survival was measured relative to the expected survival in the general population for three educational groups: primary, secondary and tertiary. Education, sex, age and calendar year-specific expected survival were obtained from population life tables and adjusted for the presence of infarction-related mortality.ResultsSix-year patient survivals were 56.3% (55.3–57.2) and 65.5% (65.6–69.3) for the primary and tertiary educational groups (95% CIs), respectively. Also 6-year relative survival was markedly lower for the primary educational group: 70.2% (68.6–71.8) versus 81.2% (77.4–84.4). Throughout the follow-up period, patient survival tended to remain lower than the survival in the general population with the same educational background.ConclusionBoth patient survival and relative survival after acute myocardial infarction are positively associated with educational level. Our findings may suggest that secondary prevention has been more effective for the highly educated.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Alice Scahill

<p>Emotion is an integral aspect of organisational life and this thesis examines the emotional demands that academics experience in their workplace and the consequences this has for them. At a more specific level, the thesis examines the strategies that academics use to cope with these emotional demands, and how these strategies develop and change over the duration of their career. Using data collected from interviews with academics from business schools across the New Zealand tertiary education sector, findings are presented which demonstrate how academics develop coping strategies and how the organisation provides support. The implications from these findings could have significant effects for organisational practice. Firstly, these findings illustrate that academics experiences emotion in relation to personal, interpersonal, and systemic factors. Secondly, academics adopt a wide array of coping strategies, which have been personally developed by each individual over time. They are not given any organisational training or support for their development of these strategies. In addition, academics use coping strategies both in the workplace and at home in order to attempt to mitigate the negative impacts of the emotional demands of their roles. Finally, academics in their early career lack adequate coping strategies, and appear to have the lowest levels of organisational commitment.</p>


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