Kin Count(s): Educational and Racial Differences in Extended Kinship in the United States

Abstract

Kinship networks are important but remain understudied in contemporary developed societies. Because hazards of vital events such as marriage, fertility, and mortality vary demographically, it is likely that average numbers of extended kin also vary meaningfully by education and race, but researchers have not addressed this topic. Existing research on kinship in developed societies focuses on group-level differences in multiplex kin networks such as those comprising household co-residence, instrumental and emotional support, and frequency of contact. By contrast, we provide the first population-based estimates of group-level differences in living kin in the contemporary United States. We estimate, by race, educational attainment, and age, average numbers of living parents, children, spouse/partner, full and half siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, aunt/uncles, nieces/nephews, and cousins, and test whether group differences in average kin counts are attributable to group differences in kin mortality and other processes.

Projections of white and black older adults without living kin in the United States, 2015 to 2060

“…The third group, group C, includes the remaining causes of being without a partner or biological children, such as those whose partner and children died. Group C is small and there is little change in it over time, although we note that it is larger for blacks than for whites, consistent with mortality explaining a small but meaningful amount of racial disparities in kinlessness (14,42). We also examined the demographic and social factors leading to increases in the population percentage of individuals without a living partner, biological children, siblings, or parents for all race and sex groups (kinless 2; SI Appendix, Fig.…”

“…We find that increases in those who never had siblings account for a larger share of the increase for whites (32% for white men, 43% for white women) than for blacks (16% among black men and 15% among black women). Examining race differences in lacking all close kin highlights the complex ways that historical fertility patterns interact with racial disparities in mortality (14,42) to produce kinlessness.…”

“…Recent research finds large racial differences in the existence of kin of different types using survey data and that these differences are growing in more recent birth cohorts (14). For example, among those aged 45 to 54 in 2011, whites were almost twice as likely to have living spouses as blacks (64% vs. 36%) but slightly less likely to have living children (73% vs. 78%).…”

“…For example, among those aged 45 to 54 in 2011, whites were almost twice as likely to have living spouses as blacks (64% vs. 36%) but slightly less likely to have living children (73% vs. 78%). A portion of these complex patterns is determined by the different ages at which whites and blacks experience kin mortality (14,42). For instance, by age 60, blacks are twice as likely as whites to have lost a spouse (10.5% vs. 4.9%) and a child (1.0% vs. 0.5%) (42).…”

“…Because kin make up the dominant share of most Americans' close confidante networks (11), it is no surprise that loneliness is most prevalent among the never married, widowed, and divorced as well as the childless and those without partners (12,13). Of course, not all close kin are in contact, geographically proximate, emotionally intimate, or willing or able to exchange resources, but the availability of kin is a necessary condition for their provision of such functions (14). For these reasons, it is important to examine the population dynamics of those who lack close kin (15).…”