1: Overview - theories, paradigms, and general trends

All of these readings describe dramatic changes in family behavior that have occurred over the past 30 years in industrialized societies (with particular emphasis on the U.S.). How likely is it that similar changes will be observed in settings that are now rapidly industrializing? Are there some changes that are more (less) likely to be observed elsewhere? Are certain regions (countries) more likely than others to experience the changes observed in the West? Why or why not?

2: Marriage trends and theories

What are the fundamental differences and similarities between the "economic" theory of marriage and the "sociological" theory of marriage? How might one go about trying to evaluate the relative "fit" of the two frameworks? Are there group (e.g., racial/ethnic), regional, or temporal differences in the extent to which one or the other is consistent the data? (No need to try to answer all of these questions - just providing some food for thought).

3: Marriage Markets, Assortative Mating

As we discussed on Monday, two key components of Oppenheimer's theory of changing marriage timing are (a) declines in the economic prospects of young men and (b) increasing economic resources enabling women to "raise the bar" for what constitutes an acceptable match. How helpful are the findings from this week's papers on marriage markets and assortative mating in evaluating the relevance of these mechanisms of change?

4: Cohabitation

Why do you think family demographers have invested so much effort in attempting to assess the differences and similarities between cohabitation and marriage? If you were to pursue a future research project on cohabitation, what would you most want to understand? That is, what is an interesting unanswered question about cohabitation in the U.S. context? In other contexts?

5: Divorce

Based on this week's readings (or other work on divorce with which you are familiar), what do you see as some of the more important linkages between trends in divorce and other forms of family change? For example, increasing cohabitation, later marriage, later and lower fertility, etc., etc., may all have implications for divorce patterns. What dimension(s) of family change do you see as particularly important for understanding recent trends (or projecting future trends) in divorce?

6: Remarriage and Stepfamilies

As discussed in the MacDonald and Demaris paper (and in an earlier class), remarriage and stepfamilies have been described as "incomplete institutions." Do this week's readings provide any evidence to suggest that remarriage/stepfamily has become a more "complete" insitution? That the institutionalization of remarriage and stepfamilies varies by country or by subpopulations within the U.S.?

7: Fertility - General Trends, Theories, and Explanations

It may be tempting to use TFR as a yardstick for evaluating where different countries stand in the "second demographic transition." What do you see as the potential theoretical or methodological problems in doing this? What might be some better ways of making international comparicons of fertility levels?

8: Fertility Preferences and Intentions, The Value of Children, Family Planning

What does the very high prevalence of unintended fertility described in this week's readings imply about the theoretical frameworks that social scientists typically use to model fertility in low-fertility settings? That is, how should we understand unintended fertility in the context of theoretical models predicated upon assumptions of some kind of rational calculus of costs and benefits? Is there a problem here? If so, what might we do about it? If not, why not?

9: Work and Family, Spousal Relations, Fathering

The readings describe gender asymmetry in the division of household labor and discuss research on relationships between division of labor and marital quality, psychogical well-being, children's well-being, etc. Studies of relationships between the gender division of household labor and various demographic outcomes we have considered are less common. Let's take a bit of a different approach this week - suggest some possible linkages between gender division of household labor and one of the outcomes we have considered (e.g., marriage, spouse selection, cohabitation, divorce, fertility, etc.) and briefly describe a research design that might allow you to evaluate such hypotheses.

10: Intergenerational influences

In her PAA presidential address, Sara McLanahan talked about socioeconomic differentials in family behaviors associated with the second demographic transition. Less desirable outcomes (e.g., nonmarital childbearing, divorce) are more prevalent among more disadvantaged groups whereas more desirable outcomes (e.g., later marriage, later childbearing) are more prevalent among more advantaged groups. How do this week's readings help us interpret these existing differentials as well as potential trends among subsequent cohorts?

11: Intergenerational Relations, Caregiving, Living Arrangements

As the baby boom cohorts reach older ages, the family structure of older men and women in the U.S. and many other countries will change significantly. Thinking ahead ten years or so, how do you anticipate that the issues addressed in this week's readings will change to reflect rapid population aging? What questions do you anticipate will become increasingly important?