Family and household profiles: comparing the 1958 and 1970 Birth Cohorts

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to provide an introduction to the information provided by the British Birth Cohort Studies and to demonstrate the potential for longitudinal analyses and cross cohort comparisons. More specifically, it provides a comparison of the household and family structures of members of the 1958 British Birth Cohort at age 33 in 1991 and members of the 1970 British Birth Cohort at age 34 in 2004. In addition, it examines how these household and family structures for members of the 1958 cohort have changed between ages 33 and 46. Results suggest that, in line with other research, members of the 1970 cohort are more likely to be cohabiting and less likely to be married at age 34 in 2004 than members of the 1991 cohort at age 33 in 1991. The cohorts were also found to be different in terms of the timing of becoming parents. In 1991, 70% of 33 year olds had given birth or fathered at least one child, but by 2004, this proportion had dropped to 62% (of 34 year olds), showing that childbearing had been delayed. Increases in divorce rates and the separation of cohabiting couples have led to an increase in the percentage of cohort members who are step-parents or lone parents; the percentage of men who are stepfathers has increased from 6% in the 1958 cohort at age 33 to 9% of the 1970 cohort at age 34, while the percentage of 33–34-year-old women who were lone parents increased from 9% in 1991 to 12% in 2004.