scholarly journals Childlessness Intentions and Ideals in Europe

2014 ◽  
Vol 49 ◽  
pp. 31-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anneli Miettinen ◽  
Ivett Szalma
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Low Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Low Socioeconomic ◽  
Personal Preference ◽  
Number Of Children ◽  
Ideal Family ◽  
Ideal Number ◽  
Intentional Childlessness ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Individual

Using data from Eurobarometer Surveys 2001–2011 we examine trends and correlates of childlessness intentions and ideals across Europe over the past decade. We distinguish childlessness as a personal preference (personal ideal number of children is zero) from intended childlessness (intention to have no children) as these reflect somewhat different dimensions of childlessness as a conscious decision. We find that, on average, childlessness as a personal preference is relatively rare in Europe, although in some western European countries a sizeable proportion of young adults express a desire to have no children. Intentional childlessness is slightly more common than ideal childlessness is, since about 11% of currently childless young adults aged 18 to 40 years in Europe intend to have no children. We analyse factors related to childlessness intentions and ideals on the individual and country levels. A weaker individual socioeconomic position influences the intention to remain childless through various channels, such as unemployment or low socioeconomic status. Associations between individual’s social position and ideal childlessness are less clear. Results also indicate that macro-economic conditions do not have a direct impact on intentional childlessness, whereas a higher prevalence of traditional family values in a country is related to a lower likelihood of individuals considering childlessness to be their ideal family form.

scholarly journals Voluntary or Involuntary Childlessness? Socio-Demographic Factors and Childlessness Intentions among Childless Finnish Men and Women aged 25-44

2010 ◽  
pp. 5-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anneli Miettinen
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Number Of Children ◽  
Voluntarily Childless ◽  
Voluntary Childlessness ◽  
Ideal Number ◽  
Intentional Childlessness ◽  
Socio Demographic Factors ◽  
Personal Accounts

Lifetime childlessness is expected to increase in the future. Recent research suggests that also voluntary childlessness in increasing among young adults. As childbearing decisions are increasingly based on individual preferences and choices it is believed that also those who do not favor family life with children can now more freely express their preferences. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of voluntary childlessness among Finnish young adults and factors associated with it. Data come from Finnish Social Relationships and Well-being Survey, conducted in 2008 among 25-44-year-old childless or one-child men and women. This study focuses on childless respondents (N=1244). Two types of intentional childlessness are distinguished. Persons are classified as voluntarily childless if they do not intend to have children and prefer life without children. Those, who also have no intentions to have children, but whose personal ideal number of children is above zero are defined as persons who have relinquished parenthood intentions. Childhood characteristics are found to predict voluntary childlessness more, while socioeconomic circumstances and lack of a suitable partner explain relinquished parenthood intentions. Respondents personal accounts on the reasons behind their childbearing choices support the findings from multivariate analyses.

scholarly journals Do Spousal Intimate Relationships Affect Fertility Intentions and Preferences?

2021 ◽  
pp. 0192513X2110160
Author(s):  
Amir Erfani ◽  
Roya Jahanbakhsh
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Relationships ◽  
Mate Selection ◽  
Risk Profile ◽  
Fertility Intentions ◽  
Low Fertility ◽  
Social Forces ◽  
Number Of Children ◽  
Ideal Number ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Relationship

The fertility influence of spousal intimate relationships is unknown. Drawing on the Giddens’s theory of transformation of intimacy, this study proposed a hypothesis that couples supporting egalitarian intimate relationships, with a greater risk profile attached to the relationship, and having less attachments to the external normative pressures shaping marital relations, are more likely to have low-fertility intentions and preferences. Using data from a self-administered pilot survey ( n = 375 prospective grooms and brides) designed by the authors, and employing multivariate regression models, we found that the lower attachment to external social forces in mate selection was associated with the lower ideal number of children, and those with a greater spousal relational egalitarianism and a higher risk profile attached to their relationships preferred lower number of children and were less likely to intend to have children after marriage. The study sheds new light on the determinants of low fertility.

scholarly journals Heterogeneous Impact of Geographic Barriers on Provider Choice Evidence from New York County’s Health Market

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 23-45
Author(s):  
Lee Jae Bok ◽  
Roh Chul-young ◽  
Woolley Jonathan A
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Low Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Health Informatics ◽  
Choice Model ◽  
New York State ◽  
Low Socioeconomic ◽  
Geographic Barriers ◽  
Health Market ◽  
York County ◽  
Using Data

Health services should be accessible regardless of citizens’ gender, age, race, or insurance type, and geographic barriers should not interfere with this access. This article aims to assess the heterogeneous impacts of geographic barriers on inpatients’ hospital choices and to examine whether they vary according inpatients’ socioeconomic or insurance status. Using data on providers and inpatients obtained from the New York State Bureau of Health Informatics Office of Quality and Patient Safety for New York County (New York City’s borough of Manhattan) for 2009, we employed a discrete choice model. Our findings reveal that geographic barriers limit inpatients’ choices of hospitals more when they are of low socioeconomic status.

Fertility norms and son preference in Morocco and Tunisia: does women's status matter?

1996 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla Makhlouf Obermeyer
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Health Surveys ◽  
Women's Status ◽  
Son Preference ◽  
Demographic And Health Surveys ◽  
Number Of Children ◽  
Women’S Status ◽  
Ideal Number ◽  
Using Data

SummaryThis paper investigates the normative and behavioural dimensions of son preference in Morocco and Tunisia, using data from the Demographic and Health Surveys of the two countries. It considers three measures of son preference: (1) mothers' ideal number of children, and any preference for having more sons than daughters; (2) the desire for additional children, given their existing family; (3) reported use of contraception in relation to the existing number of children of each sex. The analyses indicate a moderate preference for sons in both countries, and suggest that this preference is somewhat stronger in Tunisia. These findings are interpreted within the cultural context of the two countries, and in particular societal notions of women's status.

scholarly journals Sociolinguistic Diversity Can Boost Cognitive Functions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yin Jue Chang
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Low Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Cognitive Functions ◽  
Flanker Task ◽  
Set Shifting ◽  
Low Socioeconomic ◽  
Societal Level ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Mixing Costs ◽  
Set Shifting Task

This study investigates the link between sociolinguistic diversity and executive functions. 127 healthy adults from Malaysia were recruited to complete three cognitive tasks and the Contextual Linguistic Profile Questionnaire (CLiP-Q). A sociolinguistic diversity score was derived for each participant, with a higher score reflecting a greater exposure and use of diverse languages both at the individual and the societal level. The results demonstrated a sociolinguistic diversity advantage in cognitive functions. Higher sociolinguistic diversity scores were associated with lesser interference in the Flanker task and better accuracy in the 2-back task. Additionally, a significant interaction between sociolinguistic diversity and socioeconomic status was found for the set-shifting task, showing that sociolinguistic diversity could reduce mixing costs and improve set-shifting task accuracy for low socioeconomic status participants who are usually disadvantaged in cognitive control. Thus, it is important for research in the multilingualism field to take sociolinguistic diversity context into account.

Early Marriage in Taiwan: Evidence From Panel Data

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (14) ◽  
pp. 1989-2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tsui-o Tai ◽  
Chin-Chun Yi ◽  
Chia-Hua Liu
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Low Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Early Marriage ◽  
Low Socioeconomic ◽  
Never Married ◽  
Career Trajectories ◽  
Lower Socioeconomic ◽  
Taiwanese People ◽  
To Come ◽  
Using Data

Using data from the TYP (Taiwan Youth Project) panel survey, we examine factors associated with early marriages in Taiwan and the subsequent risks for negative outcomes in family life and career trajectories. About 7% of Taiwanese people marry early, that is, before the age of 28 years. Among those who marry early, more than 60% report the birth of a child within the first 8 months of marriage (i.e., they form postconception “shotgun” marriages). Compared with the never married respondents, individuals in both preconception and postconception early marriages are likely to come from families of low socioeconomic status. Nonworking young adults and those experiencing parental divorce or parental death during adolescence are at higher risk of entering postconception marriages than those remaining single. Particularly for nonemployed young people and those from lower socioeconomic status background, early marriage means taking on adult responsibilities in a disadvantaged state.

scholarly journals Heart Rate Variability Reactivity Moderates the Indirect Link Between Child Maltreatment and Young Adult Alcohol Use Problems via Depressive Symptoms - Preprint

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sihong Liu ◽  
Assaf Oshri ◽  
Erinn Duprey
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Heart Rate Variability ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Low Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Low Socioeconomic

Background and Objectives. Young adults with childhood maltreatment (CM) histories are particularly vulnerable to depressive symptoms and alcohol use problems. Research suggest that maltreated youth may misuse alcohol in part to alleviate depressive symptoms. However, many youths with depressive symptoms exercise self-control and abstain from heavy alcohol use. The present study aimed to examine the influence of heart rate variability reactivity (HRV-R), a psychophysiological biomarker of self-regulation, in the indirect link between CM and alcohol use problems via depressive symptoms among low socioeconomic-status rural young adults. Methods. Two waves of data were collected from a community sample of 225 low socioeconomic-status non-metropolitan young adults (Mage = 21.56, 52.9% female). HRV data were obtained with an electrocardiogram during a social stress task. CM was assessed through the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Alcohol use problems were measured using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. Results. The indirect effect of CM on alcohol use problems via elevated depressive symptoms was positive and significant (α*β = .159, p < .001). Self-regulation indicated by high HRV-R (i.e., vagal withdrawal) was found to significantly buffer the link between depressive symptoms and alcohol use problems (β = .193, p = .022). Discussion and Conclusions. Adequate self-regulation capacities can protect maltreated youths from self-medicating alcohol use problems. Scientific Significance. This study will advance researchers’ understanding of the development of alcohol use problems through unwrapping the risk and protective mechanisms underlying the association between young adults’ early life stress and alcohol use behaviors.

scholarly journals Fertility Preferences in Saharsa District (Bihar): A Geographical Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-163
Author(s):  
Nitin Kumar Mishra ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Family Size ◽  
Ideal Family Size ◽  
Human Welfare ◽  
Fertility Preferences ◽  
Number Of Children ◽  
Ideal Family ◽  
Future Fertility ◽  
The Future ◽  
Ideal Number ◽  
The Mean

Fertility preferences in India, expressed in terms of ideal family size and the desire to have additional children, can predict future fertility, with women who have attained or surpassed their ideal family size, or who have explicitly expressed a desire to stop childbearing, less likely than other women to give birth in the future. women will have an unwanted birth is much higher if they have a son than otherwise and as son preference declines, the value of the indicators in predicting the future fertility behaviour of women improves. This paper an attempt to analyze the preferences for family size, sex and the ideal number of the children in population and to suggest some remedial measures to reduce the fertility in general and to enhance human welfare in particular. This study is based on primary data collected through personal survey with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire and interview schedule. The mean ideal number of children varies across the demographic, socio-economic and cultural groups. The mean ideal number of children for the women of 15-19 years is 2 children (1.97 per cent) while it is 3 children (3.05 per cent) for 40-44 years of age. The preference of sons against the daughters is higher in each age group.

scholarly journals What causes the word gap? Financial concerns may systematically suppress child-directed speech

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica E Ellwood-Lowe ◽  
Ruthe Foushee ◽  
Mahesh Srinivasan
Keyword(s):  
Low Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Structural Constraints ◽  
Life Outcomes ◽  
Low Socioeconomic ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Word Gap

Parents with fewer educational and economic resources (low socioeconomic-status, SES) tend to speak less to their children, with consequences for children’s later life outcomes. Despite this well-established and highly popularized link, surprisingly little research addresses why the SES “word gap” exists. Moreover, existing research focuses on individual-level explanations with little attention to structural constraints with which parents must contend. In two pre-registered studies, we test whether experiencing financial scarcity itself can suppress caregivers’ speech to their children. Study 1 suggests that caregivers who are prompted to reflect on scarcity—particularly those who reflect on financial scarcity—speak to their 3-year-olds less than a control group in a subsequent play session. Study 2 finds that caregivers speak less to their children at the end of the month—when they are more likely to be experiencing financial hardship—than the rest of the month. Thus, above and beyond the individual characteristics of parents, structural constraints may affect how much parents speak to their children.

Constructing construction careers: the case for the building trades

2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 201-213
Author(s):  
Gerard Callanan ◽  
David Perri
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Building Trades ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Individual

PurposeThis paper discusses the well-publicized labor shortages in the building trades, reviews the causes for the deficiencies, and presents prescriptions for how career counselors and schools can play a critical role in encouraging young adults to consider construction occupations.Design/methodology/approachUsing data from government agencies, trade organizations, and scholarly publications, this paper describes the categories of the building trades as well as their employment trends and compensation prospects. It also reviews the personal and environmental factors that could lead to the “construction of a construction career.”FindingsThis article documents the reasons for the labor shortages in the construction industry and then offers recommendation on how younger adults could be encouraged to consider the building trades as viable career alternatives.Social implicationsLabor shortages in the construction industry have a direct and indirect deleterious effect on the economic well-being of every country. This article provides suggestions on how to inspire young adults to consider the building trades as worthwhile career pursuits.Originality/valueThere is a limited amount of scholarly attention given to career decision making related to occupations that do not require a college degree, including the building trades. This paper attempts to fill this gap in the literature by focusing on the individual characteristics and environmental factors that might prompt consideration of a career in the building trades. It also describes the educational, governmental, and corporate initiatives that work to encourage individuals, working in conjunction with their career counselors, to consider careers in the construction industry.

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