Union formation, within-couple dynamics, and child well-being in global comparative perspective
Batyra, Ewa (Centre d'Estudis Demogràfics)
Pesando, Luca Maria (McGill University)
Castro-Torres, Andrés F. (Centre d'Estudis Demogràfics)
Furstenberg, Frank F. (University of Pennsylvania)
Kohler, Hans-Peter (University of Pennsylvania)

Imprint:	University of Pennsylvania Population Center 2022
Description:	32 pag.
Abstract:	Studies on global changes in families have greatly increased over the past decade, adopting both a country-specific and, more recently, a cross-national comparative perspective. While most studies are focused on the drivers of global changes in families, little comparative research has explored the implications of family processes for the health and well-being of children. This study aims to fill this gap and launch a new research agenda exploring the intergenerational implications of union-formation and within-couple dynamics for children's health and well-being across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), both globally, regionally, and by the stage of fertility transition. We do so by adopting a multi-axis conceptualization of children's outcomes - health at birth, health in later life, and schooling - and leveraging Demographic and Health Survey and World Bank data across 75 LMICs. Our results show that in settings where partnerships are characterized by more equal status between spouses - i. e. , where the age range between spouses and differences in years of schooling between partners are narrower - their offspring fare better on several outcomes. These associations are particularly strong in mid- and highfertility settings. Despite a series of regularities, our results also highlight a set of findings whereby, at a macro-level, the prevalence of marriage and divorce/separation are not invariably associated with children's outcomes, especially in LMICs where fertility is comparatively lower. We document little crossregional heterogeneity, primarily highlighting the centrality of demographic factors such as age vis-à-vis, for instance, region-specific characteristics that are more tied to the social fabric of specific societies.
Grants:	Agencia Estatal de Investigación RTI2018-096730-B-I00
Note:	Altres ajuts: Global Family Change (1729185) ; Juan de la Cierva (FJC2019-040652-I) ; Eunice Shriver Kennedy National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Population Research Infrastructure Program (NIH P2C HD044964) ; National Institute on Aging (NIH P30 AG012836)
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.
Language:	Anglès
Series:	Population Center Working Papers ; 84
Document:	Working paper
Subject:	Family change ; Union formation ; Gender dynamics ; Health and well-being ; Children ; LMICs

Adreça alternativa: https://repository.upenn.edu/psc_publications/84/

33 p, 1.7 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Social and Legal Sciences > Centre for Demographic Studies (CED-CERCA)
Research literature > Working papers