Transcript Families_lec03_demtrends_02_01_11

Changing Demographic
Trends & Families in the
U.S.
Lecture 2
Introduction to Family Studies
The Sociological Approach
Macro Level
Micro Level
4/4/2016
The Sociological Approach –
The Macro Level
 Family sociologists examine how these social institutions
interact and how they influence behaviors, attitudes, and
opportunities in families
Economy
Education
Government
Families
Religion
Healthcare
4/4/2016
Social Institutions in Society
 A social Institution is any institution in a society that
works to socialize the groups or people in it
 All social institutions follow a set of roles and behaviors
 For example: Families socialize the next generation of
children who will become workers
 Religion is an institution that gives meaning to life and
helps instill morals and values
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
 Families have fewer children
due to lower fertility
 On average, women have 2
children…but
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 (living together)
 Sex outside of marriage
 Childbirth outside of marriage
Changing Demographic Trends &
Families in the U.S.
 Changes in marriage
 For the first time, more American women are living without a
husband than with one
 In 2005, 51 percent of women said they were living without a
spouse
 Up from 35 percent in 1950 and 49 percent in 2000.
 Percent of the population who is “never married” has also increased
 Average age of marriage has increased
 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/16/us/16census.html?ei=5090&en=8b61820a
6c4712e5&ex=1326603600&pagewanted=print
Changing Demographic Trends & Families in
the U.S.
Carrie
Miranda
Charlotte
Samantha
Changing Roles of Women
 More women are adopting the “Sex and the City”
lifestyle
 For example:
 Women are seeking more education
 They are entering careers and focusing on moving up in
their jobs
 They are living increasingly in urban areas
 All these behaviors result in women postponing
marriage
http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/hh-fam/tabMS-2.pdf
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?
 What percentage of Americans over age 25 have a
college degree?
 Only 25%
 Women are more likely to graduate from college
than men
 Data like these can be found on the U.S. Census
website www.census.gov
 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 women had ever
cohabited prior to marriage?
 45%
 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 Gallup Poll retrieved on 09/09/10 from
http://www.gallup.com/poll/11272/how-many-teens-cool-
Source: Bumpass & Sweet, 1989.
8-2
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, 1948 -1998
Ages
6 - 17
Under
age 6
Changing Demographic Trends &
Families in the U.S.
 In 2008:
 77 % of all mothers with school-age children
are in the labor force
 64 % of mothers with preschool-age children
are working for pay
 In general women are more independent
financially – thus less dependent on marriage
Source: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/famee.pdf
Changing Demographic Trends &
Families in the U.S.
 Of all married couples, 62% are dual-earner
couples
 Dual-earner = both husband and wife in the
labor force
 So the majority of married couples today – both
wife AND husband have paid jobs.
 This percent is expected to rise over the next
decade

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statisticshttp://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/famee.pdf
Divorce
 What is the divorce rate?
Annual Divorce Rate per 1,000 Marriages
United States 1860 - 2002
Sources: for 1860-1988, Cherlin [1992]; for 1989-1996, 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 (chance) of divorce is
much lower!
For example, in 2008 about 35 out of 1,000 people
(U.S. population) got divorced
In other words, 3.5 percent of all people in the U.S.
received a divorce in 2008
BUT……
Source: NCHS, retrieved on 09/10/10 from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/divorce.htm
Divorce rates
 How should we calculate the divorce rate?
 Think about the old high school fraction math class
 Numerator/Denominator
 For every individual who divorces….per…
Number of divorces
Number of people in U.S.
What is wrong with this calculation?????
Remarriage
X2
Although the high divorce rate has been
interpreted as a rejection of the institution
of marriage,
75% of men and 66% of women eventually
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
Remarriage
 Remarriage rates have decreased over time
 More people are cohabiting after they divorce
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
Percent of Children Living in Two-parent Families by
Race/Ethnicity
90
80
77
70
63
60
50
35
40
30
20
10
0
White
African American
Hispanic/Latino
To find demographic data on
New Jersey
 http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/34000.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