Household structure and the tempo of family formation in comparative perspective

Summary

Previous research on the relationship between extended family residence and fertility has produced conflicting findings. In the present paper, we avoid a major shortcoming of past work by focusing on residence and fertility at a given stage of the life-cycle, i.e. the stage following first marriage. Results show that residence with husband's parents reduces age at marriage. Residence with wife's parents shows no such consistent effect. No evidence was found to support the claim that extended family residence consistently affects the length of the interval between marriage and the first birth. These findings are consistent across four cultural/ethnic groups

This work has been supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (SOC-7906960), by a grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD-15169), by a training grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD-07168), by a Centers grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD-5798), and by the Twelfth Summer Seminar in Population, East-West Population Institute. We thank the National Family Planning Board of Malaysia and the Department of Statistics of Malaysia for permission to use the Malaysian data; the Korean National Bureau of Statistics for permission to use the Korean data; and Beverley Rowe of the World Fertility Survey for assistance with the Korean data. Thanks also to Charles Hirschman, Peter Smith, J. Richard Udry, Allan Parnell, Paul Cheung, and Paul Frenzen for comments on this work while in progress.

This work has been supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (SOC-7906960), by a grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD-15169), by a training grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD-07168), by a Centers grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD-5798), and by the Twelfth Summer Seminar in Population, East-West Population Institute. We thank the National Family Planning Board of Malaysia and the Department of Statistics of Malaysia for permission to use the Malaysian data; the Korean National Bureau of Statistics for permission to use the Korean data; and Beverley Rowe of the World Fertility Survey for assistance with the Korean data. Thanks also to Charles Hirschman, Peter Smith, J. Richard Udry, Allan Parnell, Paul Cheung, and Paul Frenzen for comments on this work while in progress.

Notes

This work has been supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (SOC-7906960), by a grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD-15169), by a training grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD-07168), by a Centers grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD-5798), and by the Twelfth Summer Seminar in Population, East-West Population Institute. We thank the National Family Planning Board of Malaysia and the Department of Statistics of Malaysia for permission to use the Malaysian data; the Korean National Bureau of Statistics for permission to use the Korean data; and Beverley Rowe of the World Fertility Survey for assistance with the Korean data. Thanks also to Charles Hirschman, Peter Smith, J. Richard Udry, Allan Parnell, Paul Cheung, and Paul Frenzen for comments on this work while in progress.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

S. P. Morgan

S. P. Morgan is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia. R. R. Rindfuss is an Associate Professor of Sociology and a Fellow of the Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.