Extended households are far from a rare phenomenon in Latin America and their prevalence does not seem to be in decline. In Chile, they accounted for about a quarter of all households over the 1990–2011 period. This persistence contrasts with the dramatic transformations that have taken place in other dimensions of family life, such as the fall in fertility and marriage rates, and the increase in cohabitation and out-of-wedlock births. Recent studies on extended living arrangements in the region have mainly understood household extension as a strategy to face economic deprivation, giving little attention to other factors affecting it, such as gender inequalities and changing needs for support over the life course. In this dissertation, I contribute to the understanding of extended households Chile through the analysis of adult women living in family units over the 1990–2011 period. Unlike most other studies, I recognise the unequal positions that individuals and families occupy within the extended household, by distinguishing between women that head an extended household and those that join it as subfamilies. Using quantitative methods, I analyse a nationally representative household survey: the CASEN survey. This is the most complete data source on demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the Chilean population. This dissertation offers a new assessment of the relationship between extended living arrangements and economic deprivation. Its findings only partially support the hypothesis of household extension as a family strategy to face economic hardship. Other key factors emerge when explaining extended living arrangements, including mothers’ full-time employment, the vulnerability of informal family structures, and other needs of support connected to the life course. There has been an increasing trend across 1990–2011 for young women who have started their family life to live in extended households. Multivariate analyses reveals that this increase was mainly influenced by the rising prevalence of cohabitation and single lone motherhood among younger generations, and to a lesser extent by the increase in young women’s full-time employment. These findings raise important theoretical issues for the Chilean context and show that patterns of social modernisation and family change in Chile have gone hand-in-hand with an increasing importance of the support provided by the extended family. This dissertation fills an important gap in the research on intra-household gender inequalities by analysing women’s economic dependence on extended household members. It shows that women in subfamilies are more likely to be economically dependent than those in head-families. Full-time employment, as well as marriage and cohabitation, emerge as highly protective factors against economic dependence. Special attention is paid to lone mothers, who are often excluded from research on women’s economic dependence. Lone mothers in subfamilies benefit economically from being in an extended household. Yet overall they have decreased their likelihood of being economically dependent over the 1990–2011 period. I argue that this reflects the increasing social protection towards lone mothers and recent legal reforms aimed at the equalisation of rights among couples and children irrespective of the marriage bond.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)

This quasi-experimental study compared family formation and perceived partner support among pregnant adolescents in a prenatal care program. Participants were assigned to either an intervention group utilizing centering pregnancy (CP) prenatal care and case management, or to a comparison group receiving case management only. Partners were invited to participate in CP group sessions. This study included 173 predominantly minority pregnant adolescents ages 15–18 years who were enrolled in a prenatal program and followed one month postpartum. Family formation included living and relationship arrangements. Perceived partner support included six domains of perceived social provisions. Data were collected through participants’ self-reports using computer-assisted self-interviews. Changes in family formation and perceptions of partner support from baseline to postpartum did not differ between intervention and comparison groups. Male partners who attended at least one CP session were perceived as more supportive at both the beginning and end of the program than partners who did not attend any sessions. After combining groups, pregnant adolescents reported a significant shift in family formation and increased monetary support from partners from baseline to postpartum. Partner support is important for ensuring positive pregnancy outcomes. Additional strategies are needed to engage young fathers who do not readily provide support during pregnancy.

This thesis examines family formation in Scotland, with a focus on having a first birth. I argue that fertility behaviour must be researched as part of a process of family formation across the life course and informed by the conceptual framework of the Theory of Planned Behaviour. Starting from geographical patterns in fertility rates, housing and partnership, I establish relationships between shared social attitudes, partnership, housing, and family formation behaviour. I use cross-sectional and panel data from the Scottish Social Attitude Survey, the Scottish Census, the Scottish Longitudinal Study and the British Household Panel Study. The methodological contribution lies in the use of a Latent Class Analysis to identify shared social attitudes groups, which are then incorporated in more generic models predicting fertility intentions and first birth outcomes. The findings indicate that social attitudes and norms are important for family formation. While the Second Demographic Transition Theory argued that social norms are being replaced by more independent choices, more recent fertility literature has called for more attention to social norms. The current thesis thus supports these recent calls by showing how social norms might be (indirectly) measured in quantitative research. A key focus is on relationships between housing and family formation, especially normative ideas of 'proper' family housing. I demonstrate that family housing is a significant predictor of first births, at least for women. The gendered nature of family formation is also demonstrated by the different indicators found to predict men's and women's fertility intentions and realisations. I conclude that improved understanding of fertility behaviour requires longitudinal research that goes beyond the usual fertility indicators such as partnership and recognises the importance of gender differences, housing, shared social attitudes, and, above all, the continuing relevance of social norms in the family formation process.

No description available.

Utbildning, karriär och idealt partnerskap. Detta är tre faktorer som anses avgörande för när universitetsstudenter i Sverige vill bilda familj. Att det finns en senareläggning av familjebildning bland studenter i Sverige är ett faktum och dessa tre faktorer har en inverkan på fenomenet. Syftet med denna kandidatuppsats är därför att undersöka varför svenska universitetsstudenter utgör den grupp i samhället, inom vilken familjebildning vanligtvis senareläggs. Syftet är även att undersöka vad som anses vara grundläggande förutsättningar för att vilja skaffa barn och hur dessa varierar mellan olika sociokulturella faktorer. Genom att använda kvantitativ metod, konstruerade vi en enkät som publicerades på olika universitets Facebookgrupper. Anledningen till att använda denna metod va att nå ut till så många studenter som möjligt. Vårt mål var att få svar som gav en övergripande och omfattande bild, med hög svarsfrekvens, snarare än några fåtal svar med djupare förståelse. Teorierna som används i denna uppsats är främst Anthony Giddens teori kring ontologisk trygghet, rutinisering och identitet, men även Martha McMahon’s teori om kvinnlig identitet. Vi har även analyserat våra resultat utifrån en självkonstruerad definition av konceptet stabilitet. Våra respondenter ville främst skaffa 1-2 barn och de flesta uppskattade att detta skulle ske inom sju år. Studenterna i studien värderade utbildning och karriärmöjligheter högt, vilket visade att en senareläggning av barnafödande kunde vara nödvändigt för att hinna bygga en stadigt fundament i sitt yrkesliv innan de ingick i föräldraskap. Stabilitet i partnerskap och ekonomisk stabilitet hade inte någon signifikant inverkan på senareläggning av barnafödande, vilket innebar att dessa faktorer inte var lika  avgörande för när våra respondenter ville skaffa barn. / Education, career and the ideal partnership. These are three factors that tend to be crucial for when university students in Sweden wants to form a family. The postponement of childbirth among students in Sweden is a fact, and these three factors tend to have an impact of the phenomenon. By using a quantitative method, we constructed a survey which we published in different university groups on Facebook. We chose this method since our aim was to reach out to as many students as possible. We sought for comprehensive answers with a high response rate, rather than a few ones with a deeper understanding. The purpose of this bachelor thesis is to explore why Swedish university students constitute the group in society that postpone family formation and childbirth the furthest. We also want to examine which factors students consider as important to achieve before entering parenthood and if it differs depending on socio-cultural factors. The theories used in this thesis are primarily Anthony Giddens interpretation of ontological security, routine and identity, but also Martha McMahon´s theory of female identity. We have also theorized our results through a selfconstructed definition of the concept stability. Our respondents mainly wished for 1-2 children and most of them expected this to happen in about seven years. The students in this study valued education and career opportunities highly, which showed that a postponement of childbirth could be relevant for them to establish a solid foundation in their profession before entering parenthood. Stability in partnership and economics did not turn out statistic significant, which tells us that these factors are not crucial for if and when our respondents want to have children.

La familia, es el núcleo de la sociedad, donde los cónyuges se encuentran en armonía par formar adecuadamente a los hijos; pero en la actualidad se observa la aparición de concepciones erróneas de la familia y formas de vida que no se enfocan en un amor conyugal sino en la búsqueda de momentos hedonistas. La presente investigación tiene como objetivo principal: Elaborar un programa formativo siguiendo los lineamientos de la Exhortación Apostólica Amoris Laetitia para fortalecer el amor conyugal en padres de familia de la I.E. Juan XXIII. La investigación es de tipo cuantitativa, de nivel descriptivo y estuvo conformada por una muestra de 76 padres de familia, a quienes se les aplicó el instrumento denominado “Encuesta sobre el amor conyugal” en la cual se consideraron 25 ítems orientados a medir 6 dimensiones: Sacrificio, respeto, comunicación, atención, espiritualidad, tolerancia en situaciones conflictivas. El instrumento utilizado fue validado y contextualizado a la muestra de estudio. Luego de analizar los resultados, se obtuvo que el 3.95% de los participantes se encuentran en un nivel muy malo, el 7.89% en un nivel malo, el 40.79% son indiferentes y el 47.37% en un nivel bueno. Es por ello que, ante las problemáticas encontradas, se planteó un programa formativo dirigido a fortalecer el amor conyugal, siguiendo los lineamientos de Amoris Laetitia y el cual consiste en 10 sesiones de aprendizaje. / The family is the nucleus of society, where spouses are in harmony to properly educate their children; But currently it is observed that people are assuming erroneous conceptions of the meaning of family since they no longer focus on conjugal love but, on the contrary, only on the search for hedonistic moments. The main objective of this research is: To develop a training program following the guidelines of the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia to strengthen conjugal love in parents of the I.E. John XXIII. The research is quantitative, descriptive level and was made up of a sample of 76 parents, to whom the instrument called “Survey on conjugal love” was applied, of which 25 items were considered aimed at measuring 6 dimensions: Sacrifice, respect, communication, attention, spirituality, tolerance in conflictive situations. The instrument used was validated and contextualized to the study sample. After analyzing the results, it was found that 3.95% of the participants are at a very bad level, 7.89% at a bad level, 40.79% are indifferent and 47.37% at a good level. That is why, given the problems encountered, a training program was proposed aimed at strengthening conjugal love, following the guidelines of Amoris Laetitia and which consists of 10 learning sessions.

This thesis sheds light on several aspects of the economics of marital formation, dissolution, and bargaining. The first chapter focuses on the relationship between divorce law and family wellbeing, and shows that lowering the cost of divorce can reduce spousal conflict. The second chapter analyzes the effects of property division laws upon divorce on marital instability and female labor supply. Results suggest that a redistribution of property rights over family assets in case of divorce towards the financially weaker spouse, usually the wife, may increase marital instability and reduce female labor supply. The third chapter examines the role of sex ratios in college in explaining family formation patterns of young adults. Empirical evidence suggests that individuals who are exposed to a larger fraction of opposite-sex school mates are more likely to be married or residing with a partner from the same field of study shortly after finishing school. / Esta tesis arroja luz sobre algunos aspectos de la economía de la formación, disolución y negociación familiar. El primer capítulo se centra en la relación entre la regulación sobre el divorcio y el bienestar de la familia, y muestra que una disminución del coste del divorcio puede reducir el nivel de conflicto entre esposos. El segundo capítulo analiza los efectos de las leyes de división de activos en caso de divorcio sobre la inestabilidad matrimonial y la oferta de trabajo de las mujeres. Los resultados sugieren que una redistribución de los derechos de propiedad sobre los activos familiares en caso de divorcio en favor de la parte financieramente más débil, habitualmente la mujer, puede aumentar la inestabilidad matrimonial y reducir la oferta de trabajo de las mujeres. El tercer capítulo examina el papel de la ratio de sexos en la universidad en explicar el patrón de formación familiar de adultos jóvenes. La evidencia empírica sugiere que los individuos que están expuestos a una mayor proporción de compañeros del sexo opuesto durante la universidad tienen más probabilidad de estar casados o residiendo con una pareja de la misma carrera, poco después de finalizar los estudios.

Föreliggande arbete är en kvalitativ studie som behandlar valet att bli förälder. Det som undersöks är svenska unga vuxnas samtal kring när tiden är rätt för att bli förälder, livet som förälder kontra livet utan barn, det ideala livet, det goda föräldraskapet och en bra barndom. Studien är ett bidrag till den västerländska debatten om sjunkande födelsetal och uppskjutet barnafödande. De empiriska analyserna i arbetet är baserade på fokusgrupper med sammanlagt 35 individer mellan 24 och 39 år. Deltagarna har olika bakgrunder sett till utbildning, arbete och bostadsort. 15 var förstagångsföräldrar eller väntade sitt första barn. Resterande 20 hade inte barn. När är tiden rätt för barn? Varför har medelåldern för förstagångsföräldrar ökat? Vilka föreställningar finns kring livet som förälder jämfört med livet utan barn? Dessa var de övergripande frågorna som diskuterades i grupperna. Användandet av fokusgrupper och den diskursiva analysen visade sig vara fruktbara i studiet av ideal och föreställningar kring föräldraskap och övergången till föräldraskap. Resultatet av studien belyser komplexiteten kring valet att bli eller att vänta med att bli förälder; det visar på hur människors liv och förståelse av sig själva påverkas av många motstridiga föreställningar och ideal. Föräldraskap, familj, släktskap, vänskap, kärlek, ålder, biologi, och den oberoende individen är några av de fenomen som framstår som diskurser i fokusgruppsdeltagarnas diskussioner kring tiden för föräldraskap. Denna studie visar hur olika individer förhåller sig till olika diskurser och subjektspositioner, och hur olika individer på olika sätt löser dilemman som motstridiga ideal resulterar i. I avhandlingen undersöks och belyses diskursiva, kulturella strukturer och individers aktiva positionerande gentemot dessa. / The present thesis is a qualitative study of reproductive decision-making. It explores ways in which Swedish young adults talk about the timing of parenthood, the ideal life, good parenthood and the auspicious childhood. The work contributes to the debate on why fertility rates are declining and why the transition to parenthood is being postponed in the contemporary Western world. The empirical analysis is based on focus group data including in total 35 participants, between 24 and 39 years of age, with varying educational, occupational, and geographical backgrounds. The participants were new first-time parents, a few who were expecting their first child and some who were childless. The broad guiding questions of the focus group discussions were the timing of parenthood, the general postponement of parenthood, and the childless life contra life as a parent. The focus group method proved to be very useful in exploring ideas and ideals related to the timing of parenthood, as did the discourse analytical approach that was applied. The study illuminates the complexity of reproductive decision-making; it is an exploration of a range of notions and discourses that impact on people’s lives and ways of understanding the world, such as discourses on kin, family, friendship, the romantic relationship, parenthood, age, biology, and the independent, individualized individual. It is also a study of individual positioning towards different, often contradictory ideals, and individual strategies when trying to solve the pertinent dilemmas caused by contrasting notions. Thus, the study is an exploration of general, cultural discursive structures as well as of the different ways in which the subject actively draws upon them.

Föreliggande arbete är en kvalitativ studie som behandlar valet att bli förälder. Det som undersöks är svenska unga vuxnas samtal kring när tiden är rätt för att bli förälder, livet som förälder kontra livet utan barn, det ideala livet, det goda föräldraskapet och en bra barndom. Studien är ett bidrag till den västerländska debatten om sjunkande födelsetal och uppskjutet barnafödande. De empiriska analyserna i arbetet är baserade på fokusgrupper med sammanlagt 35 individer mellan 24 och 39 år. Deltagarna har olika bakgrunder sett till utbildning, arbete och bostadsort. 15 var förstagångsföräldrar eller väntade sitt första barn. Resterande 20 hade inte barn. När är tiden rätt för barn? Varför har medelåldern för förstagångsföräldrar ökat? Vilka föreställningar finns kring livet som förälder jämfört med livet utan barn? Dessa var de övergripande frågorna som diskuterades i grupperna. Användandet av fokusgrupper och den diskursiva analysen visade sig vara fruktbara i studiet av ideal och föreställningar kring föräldraskap och övergången till föräldraskap. Resultatet av studien belyser komplexiteten kring valet att bli eller att vänta med att bli förälder; det visar på hur människors liv och förståelse av sig själva påverkas av många motstridiga föreställningar och ideal. Föräldraskap, familj, släktskap, vänskap, kärlek, ålder, biologi, och den oberoende individen är några av de fenomen som framstår som diskurser i fokusgruppsdeltagarnas diskussioner kring tiden för föräldraskap. Denna studie visar hur olika individer förhåller sig till olika diskurser och subjektspositioner, och hur olika individer på olika sätt löser dilemman som motstridiga ideal resulterar i. I avhandlingen undersöks och belyses diskursiva, kulturella strukturer och individers aktiva positionerande gentemot dessa. / The present thesis is a qualitative study of reproductive decision-making. It explores ways in which Swedish young adults talk about the timing of parenthood, the ideal life, good parenthood and the auspicious childhood. The work contributes to the debate on why fertility rates are declining and why the transition to parenthood is being postponed in the contemporary Western world. The empirical analysis is based on focus group data including in total 35 participants, between 24 and 39 years of age, with varying educational, occupational, and geographical backgrounds. The participants were new first-time parents, a few who were expecting their first child and some who were childless. The broad guiding questions of the focus group discussions were the timing of parenthood, the general postponement of parenthood, and the childless life contra life as a parent. The focus group method proved to be very useful in exploring ideas and ideals related to the timing of parenthood, as did the discourse analytical approach that was applied. The study illuminates the complexity of reproductive decision-making; it is an exploration of a range of notions and discourses that impact on people’s lives and ways of understanding the world, such as discourses on kin, family, friendship, the romantic relationship, parenthood, age, biology, and the independent, individualized individual. It is also a study of individual positioning towards different, often contradictory ideals, and individual strategies when trying to solve the pertinent dilemmas caused by contrasting notions. Thus, the study is an exploration of general, cultural discursive structures as well as of the different ways in which the subject actively draws upon them.