Trends in child support agreements in the US, 1993-2018
What are the trends in the prevalence of child support agreements in the US? Apparently declining, based on frequently used stock data, but in fact stable or even on the … Read more
Couples
Does culture influence the gender division of housework and childcare?
Gender inequality in the division of housework persists. Elisa Brini, Anna Zamberlan and Paolo Barbieri investigate if cultural heritage is resistant to changes in socioeconomic and institutional environment by studying … Read more
Cohabitation matters when studying breakups of couples with different migrant backgrounds
Endogamy (partners of the same geographical origin) is said to lower the risk of marriage dissolution. However, once cohabitation is included in the analysis of Belgian (register) data, Layla Van … Read more
More equitable sharing of housework facilitates childbearing among dual-income couples
As female labour force participation continues to rise in Taiwan, more women are faced with the dual burden of employment and household responsibilities. Jolene Tan highlights the impact of a … Read more
Gravitas Plus: The world’s fertility rate is falling. Here’s why
Is motherhood a moral imperative for women? Today, couples around the world are choosing to stay child-free. Fertility rates have dropped. Governments are offering inducements to couples to have children. … Read more
Children of same-sex parents: an educational success story
Challenging claims of disadvantage in same-sex parented families, Jan Kabátek and Francisco Perales find that same-sex-parented children actually outperform their peers in many areas of academic achievement. Over the last … Read more
Gender-asymmetric time allocation and divorce. A US-West Germany comparison
Examining couples in both the United States and western Germany, Daniela Bellani and Gøsta Esping-Andersen find lower divorce risks when the division of unpaid work is more balanced. This suggests … Read more
Legalizing same-sex marriages improves subjective well-being (in England and Wales)
Legalizing same-sex marriage is as an important step toward reducing differences in well-being based on sexual orientation. For example, the subjective well-being of individuals in same-sex couples increased following legalizationin … Read more
In Sweden, women move to their partner’s home at union formation
Women tend to adapt to their male spouse when families move. Maria Brandén and Karen Haandrikman examine whether this is also true for the moves couples make when forming a … Read more
Fertility in the time of economic crisis
When uncertain about the stability of their present or future earnings or jobs, individuals postpone life-changing decisions. Scientific research confirms conventional wisdom and shows that the Great Recession that started … Read more
Non-cohabiting relationships: mainly a transitional situation
Formerly synonymous with marriage, cohabitation has become a lasting form of union in France and this country is now among those where the practice is most widespread (Prioux 2009).Moreover, the … Read more
Innovations in register data: the value of linkages to prescription databases illustrated by an analysis of underuse of medication among the unmarried
Data from registers that cover entire national populations have been extensively used in demography, other social sciences, and epidemiology over the last three decades.The Nordic countries in particular have very valuable … Read more
The changing meaning of cohabitation in Europe and North America. Signs of convergence?
The diffusion of cohabitation during the last decades is one of the most striking aspects of wider social changes that have taken place throughout the industrialized world. Over time, the meaning … Read more