Family structure and dependency: early transitions to female household headship.
This article looks at the intergenerational effects of family structure on family formation and economic dependency. Three explanations are examined: the economic-deprivation, socialization, and family-stress hypotheses. Daughters living in single-parent families at some point during adolescence are more likely to become household heads and to go on welfare than offspring of two-parent families. Differences in the incomes of one- and two-parent families can account for up to 25 percent of the difference in offspring behaviors. None of the hypotheses, however, provides a complete explanation of family structure effects. The analysis is based on data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and uses event-history analysis to estimate transitions into female headship and economic dependence.
McLanahan
S S
SS
Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin, Madison 53706.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003858:Dependency, Psychological; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D007062:Identification, Psychological; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D010551:Personality; D015406:Single Parent / Q000523:psychology*; D012946:Social Welfare; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States