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Beyond Transmission: Intergenerational Patterns of Family Formation Among Middle-Class American Families

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  • Anette Fasang
  • Marcel Raab

Abstract

Research about parental effects on family behavior focuses on intergenerational transmission: that is, whether children show the same family behavior as their parents. This focus potentially overemphasizes similarity and obscures heterogeneity in parental effects on family behavior. In this study, we make two contributions. First, instead of focusing on isolated focal events, we conceptualize parents’ and their children’s family formation holistically as the process of union formation and childbearing between ages 15 and 40. We then discuss mechanisms likely to shape these intergenerational patterns. Second, beyond estimating average transmission effects, we innovatively apply multichannel sequence analysis to dyadic sequence data on middle-class American families from the Longitudinal Study of Generations (LSOG; N=461 parent-child dyads). The results show three salient intergenerational family formation patterns among this population: a strong transmission, a moderated transmission, and an intergenerational contrast pattern. We examine what determines parents’ and children’s likelihood to sort into a specific intergenerational pattern. For middle-class American families, educational upward mobility is a strong predictor of moderated intergenerational transmission, whereas close emotional bonds between parents and children foster strong intergenerational transmission. We conclude that intergenerational patterns of family formation are generated at the intersection of macro-structural change and family internal psychological dynamics. Copyright Population Association of America 2014

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  • Anette Fasang & Marcel Raab, 2014. "Beyond Transmission: Intergenerational Patterns of Family Formation Among Middle-Class American Families," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(5), pages 1703-1728, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:51:y:2014:i:5:p:1703-1728
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-014-0322-9
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    7. Flagship, INVEST & Kailaheimo-Lönnqvist, Sanna & Fasang, Anette & Jalovaara, Marika & Struffolino, Emanuela, 2020. "Parental divorce homogamy and its effect on separation from cohabitation and marriage," SocArXiv p6rea, Center for Open Science.
    8. Marcel Raab & Anette Fasang & Aleksi Karhula & Jani Erola, 2014. "Sibling Similarity in Family Formation," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(6), pages 2127-2154, December.
    9. Van Winkle, Zachary, 2018. "Family Trajectories Across Time and Space: Increasing Complexity in Family Life Courses in Europe?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 55(1), pages 135-164.
    10. Liao, Tim F. & Bolano, Danilo & Brzinsky-Fay, Christian & Cornwell, Benjamin & Fasang, Anette Eva & Helske, Satu & Piccarreta, Raffaella & Raab, Marcel & Ritschard, Gilbert & Struffolino, Emanuela & S, 2022. "Sequence analysis: Its past, present, and future," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 107, pages 1-1.
    11. Mariska van der Horst & David Lain & Sarah Vickerstaff & Charlotte Clark & Ben Baumberg Geiger, 2017. "Gender Roles and Employment Pathways of Older Women and Men in England," SAGE Open, , vol. 7(4), pages 21582440177, November.
    12. Piccarreta, Raffaella & Struffolino, Emanuela, 2019. "An Integrated Heuristic for Validation in Sequence Analysis," SocArXiv v7mj8, Center for Open Science.
    13. Zafer Buyukkececi, 2021. "Does Re-Partnering Behavior Spread Among Former Spouses?," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 37(4), pages 799-824, November.
    14. Kathrin Morosow & Martin Kolk, 2020. "How Does Birth Order and Number of Siblings Affect Fertility? A Within-Family Comparison Using Swedish Register Data," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 36(2), pages 197-233, April.
    15. Salma E. T. El-Amin & Jaana M. Kinnunen & Hanna Ollila & Mika Helminen & Joana Alves & Pirjo Lindfors & Arja H. Rimpelä, 2015. "Transmission of Smoking across Three Generations in Finland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-15, December.
    16. Borgna, Camilla & Struffolino, Emanuela, 2018. "Unpacking Configurational Dynamics: Sequence Analysis and Qualitative Comparative Analysis as a Mixed-Method Design," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, pages 167-184.
    17. Fasang, Anette Eva, 2015. "Comment: What’s the Added Value?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 45(1), pages 56-70.

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