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How does the demographic transition affect kinship networks?

Author

Listed:
  • Sha Jiang

    (Stanford University)

  • Wenyun Zuo

    (Stanford University)

  • Zhen Guo

    (Huazhong University of Science and Technology)

  • Hal Caswell

    (Universiteit van Amsterdam)

  • Shripad Tuljapurkar

    (Stanford University)

Abstract

Background: Kinship groups can have considerable importance (e.g., generational support, inheritance, and information for key life events). During demographic transitions, kinship networks are reshaped by changes in mortality and fertility rates. Objective: This paper analyzes consanguineous and female kin and explores the effect on the size and structure of living kin before and after a demographic transition. We compute the kinship network of a female individual with average demographic traits (here called the Focal) at all ages but focus on only demographically dense ages (age 15 to 39). Methods: The analysis uses a time-invariant model (Caswell 2019) to calculate the expected number of living kin using fertility and mortality rates. We use three examples (China, India, and Japan) with fertility and mortality from World Population Prospect 2019, based on empirical data. Conclusions: We highlight two key results. First, at a demographically dense age of the Focal, the maximum expected number of living aunts, sisters, or daughters is approximately the net reproductive rate R0 (linear), while the number of living cousins is approximately R02 (quadratic). Second, such effects on kinship size depend on the magnitude of fertility change and on the age-pattern of changes in mortality. And the effects of fertility and mortality on the number of kin are not additive. Contribution: This paper shows a simple relationship between demographic transition and kinship size, which makes it possible to estimate kinship size based on the net reproductive rate. The quadratic relationship between the number of certain kin (e.g., cousins, nieces) and the net reproductive rate is informative but not a priori obvious.

Suggested Citation

  • Sha Jiang & Wenyun Zuo & Zhen Guo & Hal Caswell & Shripad Tuljapurkar, 2023. "How does the demographic transition affect kinship networks?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 48(32), pages 899-930.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:48:y:2023:i:32
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2023.48.32
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thomas Pullum, 1982. "The Eventual Frequencies of Kin in a Stable Population," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 19(4), pages 549-565, November.
    2. Hal Caswell, 2022. "The formal demography of kinship IV: Two-sex models and their approximations," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 47(13), pages 359-396.
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    9. Ashton M. Verdery & Emily Smith-Greenaway & Rachel Margolis & Jonathan Daw, 2020. "Tracking the reach of COVID-19 kin loss with a bereavement multiplier applied to the United States," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 117(30), pages 17695-17701, July.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    demographic transition; demographically dense ages; kinship network; net reproductive rate; time-invariant model;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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