Married with Children: Protest and the Timing of Family Life Course Events

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to compare the family life course transitions of activist and nonactivist youth who were first surveyed in 1971. Is it true, as other studies have suggested, that activists from the 1960s were likely to delay marriage and childbearing compared to their nonactivist age peers? If this was so, was it because the values, attitudes, and commitments expressed in the movements of the New Left influenced young adults to reconsider traditional family roles? PREVIOUS RESEARCH Previous research has shown that activists' family and occupational life is different from that of their peers. For example, research has shown that activists tend to remain single or have fewer children (Fendrich, 1977; Whalen & Flacks, 1984). In an intensive study of the life course of former activists from Santa Barbara who were arrested for the burning of the Bank of America, Whalen and Flacks (1989) found that political values and commitments of the New Left continued to guide occupational as well as political choices. Although some studies have suggested similar conclusions (Braungart, 1977; Fendrich, 1977), most were not designed to examine the effects of activism on other areas of life and did not include detailed information on activists' subsequent family or career histories. Also, most of the investigations were conducted over a relatively short time period, allowing too small a time for activists to have completed transitions to marriage and parenthood. Another neglected aspect of activists' lives has been social class. Because activists were most likely to come from middle-class, professional families (Flacks, 1970), differences in the timing of family transitions may be due to social class differences rather than to the experience of protest itself. Working-class and blue-collar young adults tend to marry earlier (Elder, 1978) and are already burdened with competing role obligations. They are less likely to attend college and are more likely to marry immediately after high school (McLaughlin et al., 1988; Rubin, 1976); therefore, they are less likely to be exposed to political activism. Working-class young adults do not have the time and resources to protest, they do not participate in the social world where protest is salient, nor are they socialized to those values that promote protest. Most studies have not made comparisons between class experiences but rather have confined their analyses to comparisons of middle-class college students (Fendrich & Tarleau, 1973; Whalen, 1980). There is evidence that attitudes, especially gender role attitudes, also affect family events timing decisions (Mott & Mott, 1984). Women who have less traditional gender role attitudes have more successful contraception and men who have less traditional gender role ideology are more likely to use contraception themselves (Hedin-Poureghasian, 1977). Timing decisions are also related to the amount of power a woman has to control her own fertility. One factor that limits a woman's power in the family is the presence of small children (Blood & Wolfe, 1960). Women who are political activists, and are likely to desire more social power and independence, would be expected to maximize their advantage by having fewer children. SAMPLE AND METHODS Data for these analyses are taken from a longitudinal study of 2,044 members of three-generation California families (for a detailed description of the study, see Bengtson, 1975). The individuals used in this research are a subset of young adult grandchildren (G3s) who participated in the 1971 and the 1985 waves of data collection. Individuals who were active in demonstrations (n = 193 in 1971 and n = 143 in 1985) were compared with other G3s in the sample (n = 341 in 1985). This was a generation of young adults in 1971 who ranged in age from 15 to 29 (mean age 19 in 1971 and 33 in 1985). There were 50 individuals who were active in demonstrations in 1971 but did not participate in the 1985 survey. …