Sociology of Family Final Flashcards

the idea that marriage is primarily about an intense emotional connection between two people that should last only so long as that connection remains happy, fulfilling, lifegiving to the self

• less stability and less happiness

more divorce

yes, it is not a feeling

those who see their marriage as an opportunity to decide to serve others are happier than those who see marriage as a vehicle to feel happy

1 in 3

it hit a records low at 1.64 babies per woman

1 in 4

• family first
• education
• for the kids' future
• romance is not the first priority in marriage

economic foundations:

• good-paying, stable jobs

cultural foundations

• marriage- focused familism

• communion
• children
• commitment
• cash
• community
• hybrid of institutional and soulmate features

1960s/1970s

marriage quality and stability

marriage has classically aimed to fulfill a range of functions in US

• stable relation between two persons
• emotional, sexual, practical, and financial support for adults
• maximize investments in kids

common norms and practices -> roles of husband/wife

• free choice of partner - based on love
• oriented to lifelong commitment
• maturity, adulthood
• fidelity (sexual faithfulness)

• ritual signals acceptance of martial norms
• they are assumed to be mature, committed, faithful, etc. and willing o abide by marital norms

more commitment means:

• a greater willingness to endure tough times together in the present in the name of a past and future
• a greater investment in a common financial future
• a greater willingness to specialize, knowing that one's spouse can be counted on to perform his/her obligations

• more order than alternatives
• clearer norms/practices/roles because its institutionalized
• two key functions better than alternatives

1. stable mutual aid and solidarity for 2 adults
2. stable care of children

• range of norms, practices, roles in service of these functions

yes, very different

• mortality rates 250% higher among unmarried men; 50% higher among umarried women
• marriage adds about 9 years to men's lives

60%

• people who are stably single do just fine
• many people have no wish to marry
• the kinds of people who select into stable marriage have other traits that explain their happiness

children

$40,000

married couples save at higher rates, get more wealth from families benefit from economics of scale

less autonomy and fewer choices

higher housework burden

men: health, income

women: wealth

both: sex, mental health

marriage

• more commitment -> security and satisfaction
• more devotion -> opportunities to learn about your partner, focus your investment, fewer worries about infidelity

married

many good outcomes

• childless married woman get a marriage bonus of about 5%
• women's wage penalty isn't marriage, it is children
• contra bloomberg, married moms rare the richest

• 10-20% higher income
• half of the effect is selection
• rest is better job search, longer hours and better work
• they depend on you

marriage is most likely to benefit men and especially women when they enjoy moderate/hi-quality marriages

• evidence suggests gender revolution of last half of 220th century indeed stalled

no one strategy for juggling work and family

stalled revolution since the 1990s

• 32% prefer to stay at home and 30% actual to stay at home
• 40% prefer to be employed part time and 26% actually work part time
• 28% prefer work full time and 45% actually work full time

different women want different things when it comes to combining work and family

gender specialization leads to stress, dissatisfaction, and inequality for women

formal equality, 50-50 division of work inside and outside home

• substantive equality - both spouses devote similar total effort to work inside and outside home
• typically divided along gender lines
• husband focuses more on breadwinning
• wife focuses more on childbearing/home

more egalitarian marriages should be happier

the approach is consistent with a commitment to a formal 50-50 model of equality

mechanisms:

• role sharing -> solidarity
• elimination of difference
• egalitarian-minded men

• men and women are invested in "doing gender"
• acting in stereotypical masculine and feminine ways
• even when they hold egalitarian gender attitudes

in marriage:

• men more comfortable providing and protecting their wives
• women are more comfortable when husband is a good provider
• 50-50 model recipe for conflict

work full time

"both feminism and faith give family men a clear: they are supposed to play a big role in their kid's lives. Devoted dad are de rigueur in these two communities. And it shows: both culturally progressive and conservative fathers report high levels of parental engagement

found upon 5 pilar:

1. communion: date nights/money
2. children: involved dads
3. commitment: fidelity
4. cash: decent income
5. community: religious

emotional dimension

• his emotional engagement
• today's best marriages have some soulmate features

financial dimension

• shared bank accounts linked to markedly higher marital quality

the individualism of today

• "shared" care positively linked to her happiness
• doing chores together as a family too

• till death them part - value permanence
• forsaking all others - value fidelity
• the most reliable relationship variable perceived partner commitment in a major new study of marital quality

• wives happier when husbands earn about same amount or more than them. least happy when they earn more
• older ideals about breadwinning still hold, especially when kids in home

• shared faith casts a sacred canopy over their marriage
• shared values, shared rituals, shared friends

73% of wives are very happy in marriage and 79% of husbands are very happy in marriage

men who are unemployed are 33% more likely to divorce and women's unemployment has no effect

• men work harder, smarter and more successfully
• spend less time with friends, more with kin
• attend bars less, church more

• men more likely to engage in risky behavior
• marriage engenders a sense of familial responsibility
• monogamy
• norm of male breadwinning
• men benefit from counsel and support of wife

• means that less educated men are especially likely to be steering clear of marriage
• their kids, especially their boys, are less likely to enjoy the benefits of intact, two-parent family

1/3 of decline in male employment and play especially big role in less-educated men's detachment from work is linked to 11/3 growth in family income inequality and stagnating family income in the US

boys "born into low-income, single parent headed households-which in the vast majority of cases are female-headed households- appear to fare particularly poorly on numerous social and educational outcomes. A vicious cycle may ensue

men's eroding connection to marriage and work

• fewer men, especially from working class and poor communities, experience the transformative power of marriage and work
• serious economic and social costs (From economic inequality to mass incarceration)

• welfare policy shouldn't penalize marriages
• increase support for vocational education and apprenticeships
• boost low income wages and child tax credit
• cultural campaign to rehabilitate marriage in the eyes of men

20% in 1960 and 39% now

• less time
• less moral authority
• few social and economic functions
• competing alternatives

• shift from industrial to sevice/information economy tilts economy more in direction of women
• wome's labor force participation rose dramatically throughout 2960s and 1970s
• women's wages and educations also rose dramatically
• starting in 1970s, men's real wages stalled

• nearly half of divorce surge can be attributed to consequences of the contraceptive revolution
• stronger work focus and more economic independence
• easier to have sex outside of marriage
• both spouses more likely to see marriage as oriented to their emotional happiness, not kids

• decline in affiliation and attendance
• men and women less likely to grant institutional religion a major say in their thinking about sexual and familial ethics
• follow their own desires

the women's movement meant that:

• domestic violence increasingly unacceptable
• women were less likely to remain in an unhappy relationship
• women expected more out of marriage

• used to be: a good husband and wife
• affluence and education foster turn towards self and feelings and fulfillment: expressive individualism
• if marriage wasn't fulfilling, better to serve self by getting out of the relationship

in the 1970s

• men and women tend to imitate models of behavior in the social world (family, friends, and coworkers)
• divorce as a mechanism for dealing with marital trouble

as norms change in certain sectors of population, often influence society as a whole

1 in 2 in 1980 and 29% now

• industrial to service economy
• changing economic/social position of women vis-a-vis men

• psychological revolution
• sexual revolution
• secularization
• feminism

• stonewalling (men)
• defensiveness (men)
• criticism/nagging (women)
• contempt (women)

• more distal sociological factors

socioeconomic status

• economic stresss
• assets/debt
• men's sable employment

gender issues

• equity

sexual issues

• multiple partners, infidelity

other factors

• age
• intergenerational patterns
• religion
• expressive individualism

three times

89%

institutional model

structurally

• less stably employed men
• economic stress
• fewer assets
• friends/family less stably married

culturally

• weaker commitment to marriage mindset
• more infidelity/relationship drama
• move fast into sex/childbearing

• about 37% of first marriages end in divorce
• about 1 million marriages end in divorce every year
• about one million children see their parents divorce every year

545%

66%

33%

50%

• provide: ambitious, confident, responsible
• protect: physically and emotionally strong
• pay attention: practically and emotionally in the life of the family

• kind
• open to physical intimacy
• engage practically and emotionally in the life of the family

• educational
• emotional
• criminal
• abuse
• athletic

• love and money, not marriage, make a family
• all types of families are equally good for children
• affection and attention are what matter, not marriage
• so long as families have enough money

• expressive individualism: Me before We
• the only obstacle to individuals realizing deepest family desires is money (structure)
• breaking with "older, archaic traditions" is always moral progress

in response to family breakdown young men externalize while women internalize

533%

60%

• families are incompletely institutionalized
• less of a history
• fewer norms guiding stepparent
• more attenuated parental tie

adaptive parents have higher SES but kids more social and emotional difficulties

resilient and do just fine

love

• attention and affection
• consistent discipline
• stable attached to caregivers

Money

• 2 incomes
• economies of scale
• economic stability

children raised in stable, married families are more likely to get the love and have the money they need to thrive in an increasingly competitive world

• expensive
• no partner
• no desire

secular progressives

• workism
• individualism
• don't prioritize marriage

Chinese workforce will decline by 21%

social isolation

married

expensive, conflict, and less "me" time

meaning

oxycotin

married fathers

pushing their children to embrace challenges, difficulties, outside world

strength, size, voice telegraph toughness

significantly more likely to be sexually active and become pregnant as teenagers

used to be that Americans got married in early 20s

most americans get married in late 20s early 30s

"Evidence suggests that these differing styles of maternal and paternal interaction may provide unique opportunities to learn different kinds of skills that are important for children's intellectual and social competence."

providing, play, challenging children, discipline

69%

$80,000 and $67,000

yes

• breastfeeding
• understanding children communicating with children
• nurturing children

• nurture - cultural factors (i.e. socialization)
• nature - biological factors (i.e. Oxytocin, estrogen)

recommends infants be breastfeed exclusively until 6 months

• they use more words, use them more precisely
• better at interpreting tone and content of children's words
• more likely to remember content of conversations

• women have more estrogen
• women have more oxytocin, especially in the wake of birth and while breastfeeding
• both hormones promote nurturing behavior

work is primary source of meaning and key source of financial well-being

state playing a larger role in care of young children, rather than families

• brought more mothers into labor force
• family income rose

a strong and secure attachment to mother gives child

"cohorts with increased child care access subsequently had worse health, lower life, satisfaction, and higher crime rates later in life. The impacts on criminal activity are concentrated in boys."

Black families disproportionately affected by retreat from marriage of last half century

poverty and wealth

• with regard to the black-white poverty gap, differences in family structure, age, and educational attainment play the largest roles in explaining the gap

mass incarceration

there is a culture of gender distrust and trouble rooted in large part in slavery and jim crows

more likely (redlining, hiring discrimination polciing)

marriageable men

• will marry
• have their children in a committed relationship
• enjoy a high-quality relationship
• value marriage

African American

• more marriage
• happier relationship

conservative religious traditions, such as evangelical Protestantism, that advance traditional ideas about sex and gender are particularly harmful

highly religious and highly secular can the best marriage quality while mixed religious have lower

people who attend church weekly had more people report have sex weekly compared to people who never attend

people who attend church weekly reported more often being happy with sex compared to people who never attend

those who sacralize sex tend to enjoy better sex

yes

• rituals and discourse (endow family norms with sacred character)
• social networks (social support and social control for men and women)
• sacred canopy (buffers against stress)

reduces of too much physical or electronic pleasure

• pastoral focus on men's responsibilities
• distinctive male roles

work outside of the home

extend to couples and families who do not share a common religious identity

less likely

• religious faith endows the norms and practices associated with a more family centered way of life with a sacred significance and social status
• stands in tension with contemporary ways of life that blur gender differences, minimize sexual boundaries, and exalt individualism

economic security

• economic safety net in an increasingly unequal, turbulent economy

emotional solidarity

• in person solidarity in a word marked by growing distrust, and isolation to electronic opiates
• family pushes you to socialize

married with children