Kinship and social networks in modern societies: a cross-cultural comparison among seven nations

Höllinger, Franz; Haller, Max

doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.esr.a036553

Cited by 251 publications

(163 citation statements)

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“…As higher values of both indicators reflect networks that are more family-centred, our results confirm other research findings of strong family bonds in the Mediterranean and weak family ties in the Nordic countries (Höllinger & Haller 1990;Reher 1998). As well as our main explanatory variables, we include several control variables in our analysis (see Table 2).…”

supporting

confidence: 83%

“…Important variations and changes in family systems in and between European countries have been observed (Höllinger & Haller 1990;Reher 1998;Micheli 2005;Santarelli & Cottone 2009;Viazzo & Zanotelli 2010, 75;Isengard 2013). In Italy, for instance, it has been found that traditional co-residence of parents and children has steadily changed towards parents and children living in close proximity (Viazzo & Zanotelli 2010, 73-75).…”

Section: Theoretical Background Family Systems Households and Socialmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In strong family regions, family members are more likely to share the same family norms and values and be able to enforce them more easily, which results in more commonly agreed upon family organization principles. In weak family regions, social networks contain a greater variety of relationships with both kin and non-kin (Höllinger & Haller 1990;Mönkediek & Bras 2014) and a greater spatial dispersion between kin is observed (Viazzo 2010b, 147). This greater dispersion is often connected with a more generous welfare state, which allows for greater intergenerational transfers of resources and reduces the need for kin co-residence (Albertini & Kohli 2013).…”

Section: Regional Family Systems and Variance In Social Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Interplay of Family Systems, Social Networks and Fertility in Europe Cohorts Born Between 1920 and 1960

Mönkediek¹,

Bras²

2016

Economic History of Developing Regions

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Despite important variations in regional family systems, little research has been done to assess the effects of these differences on fertility and thus on families' economic status. Even less attention has been paid to the effects of deviating from these regionally embedded norms in terms of network compositions. People's social networks may not conform to the region's view of the ideal family, while this could have important implications for their fertility behaviour. To fill this knowledge 136 gap, this paper aims to answer two questions: to what extent do family systems shape family size, and to what extent do deviations from regional family system norms in terms of social network composition result in differences in completed fertility? To answer these questions, we use the first two waves of the 'Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement' and derive indicators describing regional family systems and people's social networks. We test the influence of these covariates on the completed fertility of cohorts born between 1920 and 1960 in 13 European countries. Our results show that family system norms, and deviations from them in terms of specific social networks, play an important role in determining family size.

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supporting

confidence: 83%

Section: Theoretical Background Family Systems Households and Socialmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Regional Family Systems and Variance In Social Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Interplay of Family Systems, Social Networks and Fertility in Europe Cohorts Born Between 1920 and 1960

Mönkediek¹,

Bras²

2016

Economic History of Developing Regions

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“…Compounding this problem, those without kin are often disadvantaged, and they may be more likely to be in institutionalized care and thereby omitted from the sampling frame of many major surveys. Older adults have lived within dense kin networks for most of human history and the kinless have been a small subpopulation in the modern demographic era (61). However, recent declines in marriage, increases in gray divorce, and fertility decline are leading to larger numbers of older adults with no close family members.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Verdery

Margolis

2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Close kin provide many important functions as adults age, affecting health, financial well-being, and happiness. Those without kin report higher rates of loneliness and experience elevated risks of chronic illness and nursing facility placement. Historical racial differences and recent shifts in core demographic rates suggest that white and black older adults in the United States may have unequal availability of close kin and that this gap in availability will widen in the coming decades. Whereas prior work explores the changing composition and size of the childless population or those without spouses, here we consider the kinless population of older adults with no living close family members and how this burden is changing for different race and sex groups. Using demographic microsimulation and the United States Census Bureau's recent national projections of core demographic rates by race, we examine two definitions of kinlessness: those without a partner or living children, and those without a partner, children, siblings, or parents. Our results suggest dramatic growth in the size of the kinless population as well as increasing racial disparities in percentages kinless. These conclusions are driven by declines in marriage and are robust to different assumptions about the future trajectory of divorce rates or growth in nonmarital partnerships. Our findings draw attention to the potential expansion of older adult loneliness, which is increasingly considered a threat to population health, and the unequal burden kinlessness may place on black Americans.O lder adults without kin are some of the most disadvantaged and isolated members of society (1, 2), because close kin are vital sources of social support that affect social, economic, and physical well-being (3, 4). The availability of kin is repeatedly implicated in studies of healthy aging (5, 6), and lacking kin is among the social factors most positively associated with nursing facility placement and quality of care (7, 8). Loneliness appears to be increasing among older adults (9) and is more strongly associated with early mortality than smoking and excessive alcohol consumption (10). 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). In the American kinship system (16), demographic events determine the availability of kin, with marriage and fertility producing kin and death and divorce reducing them. The clear links between demographic processes and kinship networks (17, 18) imply that ongoing demographic changes in American society ...

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“…In individualistic countries, independent constructions of self are prevalent, and definitions of intimacy emphasize "disclosure of personal experience and feelings" (Adams et al 2004: 324-325). The more interdependent cultural values are typical of Southern and Eastern Europe, whereas the more independent cultural values are typical of Western and Northern Europe (see also Höllinger and Haller 1990;Viazzo 2010). In Eastern Europe, relationships with adult children are driven by more binding mutual obligations, and older adults expect to continue to care for their offspring, if possible, and to be cared for by their offspring, in case of need.…”

Section: Intergenerational Support and Lonelinessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Living arrangements, intergenerational support types and older adult loneliness in Eastern and Western Europe

Gierveld

Dykstra

Schenk³

2012

DemRes

167

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Kinship and social networks in modern societies: a cross-cultural comparison among seven nations

Cited by 251 publications

References 0 publications

The Interplay of Family Systems, Social Networks and Fertility in Europe Cohorts Born Between 1920 and 1960

The Interplay of Family Systems, Social Networks and Fertility in Europe Cohorts Born Between 1920 and 1960

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

Living arrangements, intergenerational support types and older adult loneliness in Eastern and Western Europe

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