[Definitive migration to France and family constitution]

Data from a survey of 383 individuals, either aliens or naturalized citizens, aged 45-69 residing in France in 1981 are used to examine the relationship between migration and the family life cycle. The results indicate that "marriage, which is an obstacle to migration for women born before 1915, actually favours migration in later generations. Furthermore, the [fertility] of naturalized citizens (2.64 children per woman) is shown to be markedly lower than that of foreigners (3.67) and approaches the national level of that period (2.60) in a few years only." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND SPA)

[Family structure, parental support, and leaving home among young Americans in the twentieth century]

"This paper examines the effects of childhood family structure on patterns of home leaving (route and timing). The analysis uses data from the [U.S.] National Survey of Families and Households.... Family disruption is linked with leaving home via all routes except college attendance.... We interpret the results as indicating the ways the parental home provides the resources needed for a successful launching into adult independence or prompts leaving home either too early, or to new living arrangements likely to make establishing a stable independent adult role set more difficult." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND SPA)

The contribution of existing sources to the dating of events: a survey in Mali's Bwa country

"We exploited the sources of information already existing in Mali's Bwa country in order to facilitate the dating of biographical events. Their contribution was multiple: they gave an exact date for a substantial number of births (25%), they provided dating landmarks within the biographies (in two thirds of birth histories, at least one birth could thus be pinpointed), and they made it possible to construct sets of dating references at the family level (lineage calendars). Based on the same principle of chronological classification as the historical calendar, the lineage calendar improves the method by replacing public events by family events with which the respondents are more familiar (births and deaths of kin)."

Residential mobility in France and in Paris since 1945: the history of a cohort

Using data from two retrospective surveys carried out in France in 1981 and 1986, the authors "reconstitute the residential history of a cohort and...measure the differences [in migration histories] between Paris and the whole of France.... We shall attempt to reconstruct the residential histories of these individuals, by analysing firstly the stage when they left their parents to set up their first independent home, and secondly mobility throughout their life course, paying particular attention to the extension of home ownership in this cohort."

Birth control and its determinants

"The article presents the results of the three family [sample] surveys [in Poland]: 'Newlyweds Survey 1985', 'Family Survey 1987'...and 'Determinants and Consequences of Divorces'.... The subject of this article is: the methods of birth control which were used during married life, their moral evaluation and opinions about abortion.... This article indicates the influence of an unhappy marriage and of different phases of family life on the attitudes and opinions about birth control."

Understanding the living arrangements of Latino immigrants: a life course approach

"Using data from the 1990 [U.S.] Panel Study of Income Dynamics Latino Sample, this study examines three competing hypotheses for understanding extended family living among Mexican, Puerto Rican and Cuban immigrants. The findings indicate no significant relationship between living with extended kin and cultural indicators--such as English fluency--or economic factors--such as employment and income. Rather, the data support a life course explanation. Extended family living arrangements among Latino immigrants represent a resource generating strategy for caring for young children and older adults."

Migration and marriage in the life course: a method for studying synchronized events

"On the basis of a West German sample of residence histories that is representative of three birth cohorts, of which the one born in 1939-41 is analysed, log-linear techniques were applied to separate the effects of being married, and of getting married, on migration rates. Results show that the dependence of short and long distance moves on age substantially [diminishes] if marriage is considered as a synchronization variable. Moreover, the common finding that married persons move less than the unmarried is reversed at short distances if marriage is taken into account as an event which influences the probability of another (event dependence)." (SUMMARY IN FRE)

The transformation of housing and household structures in France and Great Britain

"In France and Great Britain, the last 30 years have seen considerable evolution in the housing stock...and in household structure....This article describes the dynamic interaction of processes influencing the evolution of both households and dwellings. In the two countries, the life course of individuals has become more and more complex. This translates into an ever greater variety of housing needs, not only at different stages in family life, but also in relation to growing job insecurity regardless of family situation. At the same time, policies encouraging home-ownership seem to have reached their limits, because of the new demand for rented accommodation. The answer to sociological and economic evolution cannot be found in a ¿single' type of housing and tenure status, but rather in a wide range of dwellings and in the development of a more flexible housing market."

[The employment of married women in Taiwan: its patterns and causes]

"This research attempts to explore the modes of women's job careers in Taiwan. Using the 1991 wave of 'Taiwanese Social Change Surveys' data, we adopt the information regarding married female respondents' job history since their marriage and found four major modes of job careers in terms of family life cycles: never-stop, stop-after-marriage, stop-after-birth, and never on job.... We further explore the explanatory factors (including individuals' traits, family background factors, and current family statuses) with multi-nominal logistic models." (SUMMARY IN ENG)

Micro-history and the macro-models of the European demographic system in pre-industrial times: life course patterns in the Parish of Belm (Northwest Germany), seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries

"Current models of the European demo-economic system in pre-industrial times are based on strong assumptions about the predominant patterns of individual life courses. Now recent micro-studies of individual communities make it possible to check whether the actual patterns of life fit these assumptions. The findings for Belm present an amazing blend of confirmations and contradictions. In particular, the connection between marriage and the formation of a new self-supporting household is subject to doubt. Together with the findings of other micro-studies, the evidence for Belm suggests that the assumptions about mechanisms linking marriage to economic resources should be reconsidered, and that there is need for a dialogue between macro-theories and micro-history."

[From the transformation of age groups to the evolution of social relationships]

"In Western societies, change in family behaviour patterns, increased life expectancy, transformations in the socioeconomic environment and in culture have effected important modifications in the 'age pyramid', the significance of which has fed the debate between experts who have recorded them and who have anticipated their foreseeable consequences. These consequences are examined here in the light of some of their effects on social ties, inside the family and on the community level: the recomposition of the deviations between generations, the appearance of a pre-adult stage, the growth of concomitant responsibilities in relation to ascendants and descendants within family networks, potential concurrent intergenerational conflicts, and the aging of the social fabric [at] the community level. These phenomena in full evolution are a particular incentive to reinforcing the dialogue between demography and sociology." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND SPA)

[Nuclear families by family life cycle category, January 1, 1992]

"In this article, family life-cycle categories [in the Netherlands] are defined by the ages of the youngest and the eldest child. The figures are from an enumeration from automated municipal population registers. For each inhabitant sex, year of birth, marital status, country of birth, family relationship and a number of other characteristics were obtained. The family relationship shows whether or not a person lives in a nuclear family and if so, what position they have therein (e.g. spouse, parent, child). On the basis of these data three types of nuclear families were defined...." (SUMMARY IN ENG)

[Changes in the demographic life course]

"The decision to live alone after leaving the parental home, to cohabit, to marry, or to become [a] mother for the first time, as well as the ages at which these decisions occur, characterize the individual demographic life-course. Based on the first results of the 1993 [Netherlands] Family and Fertility Survey it is shown that the kind of transitions made and the age at which these occur change.... The ages at which transitions in the demographic life-course are made, are compared for generations born after 1950. The results point to a continuous change. The only exception is the tendency to stay at the parents home, which changed direction towards a longer stay for those born since the mid 1960s." (SUMMARY IN ENG)

Divorce in the family life cycle

"We present the results of [a] study conducted in the years 1986-1988 in three big cities in Poland.... The sample population consisted of persons who divorced in the years 1983-1984....[The focus is on] a detailed evaluation of the sources of divorce and a discussion of the determinants, in relation to the family life cycle. The paper constitutes an attempt at an interdisciplinary approach to the phenomenon of divorce; the approach combines demographic and sociological perspectives."

[[The method for projecting households by family type in terms of headship cohort change--Part 2. Projecting marital status and headship rates by family type in household formation stage]]

"This article is Part 2 of the study on the method for projecting households [in Japan] by family type.... Part 1 was on modelling the transition process among different family types of households headed by [persons] over 35 years old, and on the method for projecting households by family type using the transition model.... Part 2 focuses on the method for projecting households in the formation stage headed by [those] under 34 years old.... Among projection outcomes, the proportion never married of males aged 30-34 goes up from 32.8 per cent to 37.3 per cent between 1990 and 2010, and the proportion never married of females aged 25-29 from 40.4 per cent to 47.1 per cent. [The] tendency of late marriage will continue to the beginning of the twenty-first century." (SUMMARY IN ENG)

Predictors of stress in adolescents: an exploratory study of pregnant and of parenting females

This study compared level of stress in pregnant and in parenting adolescentfemales and identified the strongest predictors of overall stress and of various sources of stress. Questionnaire datafrom 60 pregnant and 92 parenting females enrolled in 15 programs for pregnant and parenting adolescents were used. No differences were found in overall stress orsources of stress between the two groups. For pregnant adolescents, esteem was a significant predictor of overall stress, stress from deviant behaviors, and stress from "general distress." Frequent use of coping strategies and age also were significant predictors of stressfrom autonomyfor pregnant adolescents. For parenting adolescents, satisfaction with social support was the sole predictor of overall stress and stress stemmingfrom autonomy. The findings are discussed and recommendations for programs to address the unique needs of pregnant and of parenting adolescents are emphasized.

Migration and the life course

The importance of migration as a biographic event within the life course is asserted, using data for the former Federal Republic of Germany. "The migration process can be described by...various factors like the frequency of moves, the age when changing residence, the distance, the direction, [and] the motives.... Each change of residence has both a retrospective and prospective aspect. Additionally, changes in other biographic processes like marriage or births of children in the familial career or changes in the occupational career directly influence migration decisions. But there are also effects in the opposite direction: the migration process can influence the further development of other biographic processes. Thus, there exist a very complex structure of strong interdependent relationships between the several biographic careers." (SUMMARY IN FRE)

Influence of birth interval and child labour on family energy requirements and dependency ratios in two traditional subsistence economies in Africa

The consequences of different birth intervals on dietary energy requirements and dependency ratios at different stages of the family lifecycle are modelled for Gambian agriculturalists and !Kung hunter-gatherers. Energy requirements reach a peak at between 20 and 30 years after starting a family for the Gambians, and between 15 and 20 years for the !Kung. For the Gambians, shorter birth interval confers no economic advantage over the traditional birth interval of 30 months. For the !Kung, the lack of participation in subsistence activities by children gives an output:input ratio in excess of that reported in other studies, suggesting that they are in a state of chronic energy deficiency.

Another look at heredity and environment as shapers of the person: a proximal-distal framework for consideration

"An important psychological question addressed by population researchers pertains to what causes us to be what we are--what might predict reliably to intelligence, interpersonal style, or other aspects of the psycho-social being. The goal of this paper is not to propose or rule out various causal factors, but rather to offer a developmental perspective that may provide a greater understanding of the ways in which distal and proximal factors might influence such processes throughout the life span. We will begin by reviewing some major approaches and will then attempt to meld these into a developmental perspective.... We offer some inferences we have derived from a review of literature pertaining to four stages of development: infancy and early childhood; pre-school and kindergarten; first through sixth grades; and sixth grade through high school."

Impact of mortality decline on marital duration and length of post-dissolution life at different divorce levels

"The effects of changing life span on certain life cycle measures of post-marital life are examined with the help of numerically computed values of such measures under various mortality and divorce levels. The results show that in the absence of divorce the increase in mean marital duration effected by a mortality decline is even greater than the increase in total post-marriage life. Thus, in such populations, the expected length of widowhood actually declines in spite of the fact that a greater proportion of women face widowhood as mortality falls. But this is not true for populations with moderate or high divorce levels, which would experience relatively smaller improvements in mean marital durations and consequently the length of post-dissolution life increases through a mortality decline in such populations." (SUMMARY IN FRE AND ITA)

[A method for collecting data on kinship in demographic surveys: a compromise with the anthropological method]

"We present herein a solution to operationalize the concept of kinship using the experience of the IFAN-ORSTOM survey carried out in Dakar [Senegal]. Our results confirm the increased dependence of the younger generation on older generations [during life cycle changes or demographic crises]. The urban way of life does not seem to disorganize family structures in Dhaka. At present, it is through family solidarity that the shock of the crisis is absorbed." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND SPA)

[Unmarried, pre-nuptial and marital fertility: the family in process of change. An empirical analysis of Austrian women giving birth to their first child, 1950-1990]

"This analysis provides an outline of the changes in family formation behaviour in Austria in the years 1950 to 1990. Using vital statistical data and retrospective data of the 1981 census all women with their first confinement in the years 1950 to 1990 were classified into three distinct groups according to their form of family formation behaviour: 1. Mother is unmarried at date of birth...,2. mother marries during pregnancy, 3. mother is married at time of conception. Changes in family formation behaviour over time are discussed in detail, focussing on different age groups and on regional differences." (SUMMARY IN ENG)

An examination of family and migration career correlation--an application of the non-parametric analysis methods to the results of the retrospective study--life course (Family Occupational and Migratory Biography), 1988

The authors analyze the relationships between family life cycle events and migration using data for Poland. "Two main questions have been asked....1. how does migration influence the future family career of [an] individual? 2. how does an event in [the] family career, e.g., birth [of] a child, influence migration options? Two methods of non-parametric analysis were taken into consideration...a method of standardization and [a] method based on the theory of dependent competing risks. Conclusions following from the application of the competing risks model correspond to those drawn from the method of standardization."

Thai family demography: a review and research prospects

"This paper attempts to give an overview of demographic knowledge on the Thai family and to suggest directions for future research." Aspects considered include marriage, marital disruption, household size and structure, headship, flexibility of Thai family structure, the family life cycle and inheritance patterns, and the impact of social change. (SUMMARY IN THA)

The family histories of Australian women

"This paper exploits retrospective life-history data to examine changing age-specific patterns of co-residence of Australian women between the ages of 20 and 59 years at interview in 1986. Overlaying histories of leaving home, marital unions and childbearing, we identify cohort changes in the time spent before leaving the parental home, in transition between leaving home and forming a conjugal union, in times spent in union and times spent with children. Our analyses show that, despite massive recent declines in fertility and nuptiality, and a greater diversity in living arrangements, the nuclear family of couple and children remains the most common household unit and is unlikely to lose its pre-eminence in the near future." (SUMMARY IN FRE)

[[A treatise on sex ratio in population by marital status: marriage squeeze and widowhood]]

"This study deals with imbalances of sex ratio in population by marital status, particularly focussing on two important demographic problems in Japan...the first relating to an excess of male population in marriageable ages and the second relating to an excess of [single, widowed, or divorced women] in the middle and old ages.... Population ageing [of] unmarried women, whether never married, widowed or divorced, [is examined]....Tables of [the] family life cycle have been constructed for Japanese couples for the periods 1920 to 1985, particularly specifying lengths of widowhood and widowerhood." (SUMMARY IN ENG)

Patterns of domestic life in colonial Mexico: views from the households

The author proposes new directions for the study of family life in colonial Mexico. "The goal was to present an alternative perspective for discussing patterns of domestic life in colonial Latin America and to illustrate how use of the life-course perspective improves on the more static, conventional Laslett approach.... Statistically based examinations of domestic life-course patterns, when combined with information about the economic, legal, and emotive aspects of families, can bring us closer to understanding social dynamics and everyday life in Mexico's past."

Family formation and urbanization

"This article will deal with two stages in the family life course: formation of the couple through marriage, and the birth of successive children.... We shall investigate whether migration into or out of a metropolitan area modifies the formation of the family, and conversely whether the different stages in family formation modify migration behaviour....First, using a nonparametric approach, we shall consider the sequence of events throughout an individual's life-course, and thereby demonstrate how the occurrence of one life-event alters the probability of the occurrence of others." Next, a semiparametric approach is used to analyze the impact of variables such as educational level, occupational level, and social class on marriage, fertility, and migration. The geographic focus is on France.

[The expansion of the educational system and the birth decline in the Federal Republic of Germany: a cohort-based simulation on the impact of the changing educational structure on reproductive behavior]

"Demographic studies on cohort fertility have revealed that the birth decline in the [Federal Republic of Germany] was accompanied or even brought about by a considerable postponement in parenthood. By means of event history analysis and micro-simulation this article shows that the postponement of motherhood can be attributed to the expansion of the educational system that took place in the 60s and early 70s. Furthermore, changes in educational structure have contributed markedly to increased childlessness in the younger generation, whereas there is no relation between the reduction in family size and the structural changes in education. The impact of increased education on the family life-cycle can be explained by labour market theories, whereas traditional theories have neglected biographic aspects of fertility." (SUMMARY IN ENG)

Examining the relationship between age at first marriage, education and the timing of marital dissolution in Ghana

"This study utilizes the family-life course perspective with survival tables and proportional hazard rate analysis to examine the timing patterns of marital dissolution in Ghana at various durations of marriage. Using data from the Ghana Fertility Survey (GFS) 1979/1980, this study has found evidence to support research from western industrial countries that young age at marriage compared to the cultural norm increases the probability of divorce.... It is found that for those with no education, divorce rates are not affected by age at marriage, while for those with some education, later marriage leads to lower dissolution rates."

A life-cycle model of repeat migration

"This paper develops a theoretical model which analyzes the impact of the spatial distribution of a family's stock of human capital on its migration decision. This stock of human capital is composed of location-specific and non-specific human capital. The distribution of location-specific capital is a function of the residential and employment history of the family, while non-specific capital is distributed evenly over space. An empirical specification of the model is derived and estimated with a [U.S.] data set consisting of a number of cases from the Michigan Panel Study of Income Dynamics."