Changing Demographic Trends & Families in the U.S. Lecture 2 Family Sociology

10/25/2015 The Sociological Approach – Social Institutions  Family sociologists examine how social institutions interact and how they influence behaviors, attitudes, and opportunities in families Economy Families Government Education Religion Healthcare

How does the government or the economy influence families?  How has the Obama administration affected families?  Can the values of a president be translated to families or individuals?  How does the economy affect families  New research shows the bad economy has influenced the birth rate!  How has it affected your family?

Changing Demographic Trends & Families in the U.S. ?What are the trends in fertility & mortality ?What are the trends in marriage & divorce, and cohabitation? ? How have changing trends transformed families? ? How have these trends affected the living situation of children?

How have families changed ?  They differ in size and composition  Families have fewer children due to lower fertility  On average, women have 2 children

How have families changed ?  They differ in size and composition  Today, more women in their 40s are childless  Only 1 in 10 were childless in 1976; while in 2004, it was about 1 in 5.  Source: National Marriage Project, 2006

Families are having fewer children  The downturn in the economy has caused families to have fewer children  All families’ and individuals’ choices are influenced by the larger society in which they live

Fertility – age at first births varies by racial and ethnic group

Changing Demographic Trends & Families in the U.S.  Mortality & Life Expectancy  What is the average life expectancy for women and for men in the U.S. ?  Average life expectancy for women is 78  Average life expectancy for men is 71  As people are living longer, this increases their “risk” for divorce  Increases likelihood that women will spend some of their “golden” years as widows

How have families changed ?  The reasons people marry have changed with marital expectations  Changes in demographics of families  Age at marriage has increased  Cohabitation rates are rising  Higher likelihood that children will spend some time in a single parent family

Changing Demographic Trends & Families in the U.S.  Weakening of marriage  Even though nearly 90 percent of whites and 67% of African Americans are projected to EVENTUALLY marry, the power of marriage to regulate individuals personal life has decreased  This is due to:  Increased cohabitation  Sex outside of marriage  Childbirth outside of marriage

Changing Demographic Trends & Families in the U.S.  More women are pursuing a college education  Single and married women’s labor force participation rates have increased increased  This leads to postponing marriage

Why are we postponing marriage? WWWWhat percentage of Americans over age 25 have a college degree? OOOOnly 25% WWWWomen are more likely to graduate from college than men DDDData like these can be found on the U.S. Census website w w w w w wwww wwww.... cccc eeee nnnn ssss uuuu ssss.... gggg oooo vvvv CCCClick American Fact Finder

Changing Demographic Trends & Families in the U.S.  More couples cohabit prior to marriage  This increases the average age at which people get married  In other words you don’t have to marry once you fall in love, you can live together and marry at a later age

Changing Demographic Trends & Families in the U.S.  What percentage of marriages are preceded by cohabitation?  67%  As behavior becomes more common, attitudes change as well  According to the 2003 Gallup Youth Survey 7 in 10 teens say they approve of couples living together before they get married  30% disapprove. (Source: Kennedy & Bumpass, 2007 U of Wisc working paper & Gallup Poll)

Source: Bumpass & Sweet,

Cohabitation varies by race/ethnicity  African Americans are most likely to cohabit – 16.9 % of coupled households  Asian Americans have lowest rate – 4.7%  African Americans are 4 times as likely to cohabit as Asian Americans

Changing Demographic Trends & Families in the U.S.  Lessened economic dependence of women  Decline in homemaker role  Movement of women into the labor market (esp. married, middle-class mothers)  Remember – women probably had less economic independence in the 1950s than 50 years BEFORE

Labor Force Participation Rates of Married Women with Children by Age of Youngest Child, Under age 6 Ages

Changing Demographic Trends & Families in the U.S.  In 2004:  76 percent of all married women with school-age children are in the labor force  59 % of women with preschool-age children are working for pay  In general women are more independent financially – thus less dependent on marriage

Changing Demographic Trends & Families in the U.S.  Of all married couples, 59% are dual earner couples  This means both the husband and wife have paid jobs.  This percent is expected to rise over the next decade  Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Divorce WWWWhat is the divorce rate? IIIIt depends on how you calculate it

Annual Divorce Rate per 1,000 Marriages United States Sources: for , Cherlin [1992]; for , U.S. National Center for Health Statistics [1993, 1995, 1997].

What is the Divorce Rate?  50 percent of first marriages for men age 45 and under will EVENTUALLY end in divorce – but remember that is over the lifetime of a marriage!

Divorce  What is the divorce rate?  In a given year your risk of divorce is much lower!  For example, in 2001 about 20 out of 1,000 married women got divorced  In other words, 2 percent received a divorce in 2001

Remarriage Although the high divorce rate has been interpreted as a rejection of the institution of marriage, 54% of women (age 15-44) remarry within 5 years and % of men will remarry This suggests: people are rejecting specific marital partners, but most are not rejecting the institution of marriage itself Source: Hetherington, et al.1998 X 2

Remarriage  Remarriage rates have decreased over time  More people are cohabiting after they divorce  And women are more financially independent, thus less pressure to remarry

Changing Demographic Trends & Families in the U.S.  How have these trends affected the living situation of children?  In 1999:  68 percent of American children lived with two parents, down from 77 percent in 1980  SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau, March Current Population Survey.

Changing Demographic Trends & Families in the U.S.  How have these trends affected the living situation of children?  In 1999:  31 percent of children live with one or neither parent:  23 percent of children live with only their mothers  4 percent lived with only their fathers  4 percent lived with neither of their parents  SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau, March Current Population Survey.

Changing Demographic Trends & Families in the U.S.  How have these trends affected the living situation of children?  % of births to unmarried mothers has increased number of children growing up in single parent families

To find demographic data on New Jersey  html

Changing Demographic Trends & Families in the U.S.  Summary  Men and especially women are postponing marriage  Rates of cohabitation are four times higher now then in 1974  Married mothers have high rates of labor force participation  Divorce rates increased steadily over the 20th century and have leveled off  Children are more likely to spend some part of their childhood in a single-parent home increasing their likelihood of living in poverty