Three-generation Households Research Articles

Gender morality and emotion work in Taiwanese immigrant in-law relations

This study examines major social, economic, and cultural factors that sustain in-law inequality in Taiwanese transnational families. Data are based on life-history interviews with 16 Taiwanese immigrant women and ethnographic observations in a Midwest urban area. Findings suggest that middle-class immigrants’ abilities to host in-laws for lengthy periods and parents-in-law’s financial support for immigrant couples lead to the living arrangement of three-generation households in many immigrant families. Daughters-in-law in these households experience enormous stress because their mothers-in-law demand obedience. Traditional gender norms become moralized when the women’s husbands, mothers, and fellow immigrants reinforce Confucian cultural values of filial piety and respect for the elderly. Considering the importance of securing a stable family and children’s well-being, the women hesitate to challenge the power imbalance in their in-law relations. In a single ethnic household and a private domestic space, no competing gender ideology is available to contest Confucian culture. As a result, the women are compelled to fulfil their gender role expectations as submissive daughters-in-law. To cope with this home environment, they conduct varying degrees of emotion work and silence their voices, which results in the persistence of in-law patriarchy in these transnational households.

The wall for mothers with first graders: availability of afterschool childcare and continuity of maternal labor supply in Japan

In Japan, the availability of afterschool childcare for young school children is quite limited, although many preschool children attend daycare centers. As a result, parents experience a sudden lack of formal childcare when their child starts school. This dearth of childcare services is notorious, and has been referred to as the “Wall for Mothers with First Graders”. To illustrate the quantitative impacts of the Wall, I compare the maternal labor supply between nuclear and three-generation households at the time of the firstborn child’s school entry. Since mothers from three-generation households generally substitute formal afterschool childcare with informal childcare provided by the grandparents, I hypothesize that the first child’s school entry mainly affects the labor supply of mothers from nuclear households. Using the Japanese Panel Survey of Consumers, a difference-in-differences/event-study analysis is applied to the sample of mothers whose firstborn child was in daycare as a preschooler. The overall findings are generally consistent with my hypothesis. First, the baseline result shows that the labor market participation rate decreases by 10.9 percentage points at the time of their firstborn child’s school entry among mothers from nuclear households compared with those from three-generation households. Second, the firstborn child’s school entry decreases his/her mother’s daily paid work by about half an hour and increases time allocated to housework and childcare by the same amount. Taken together, this study shows that the shortage of afterschool childcare among nuclear households interrupts maternal labor supply.

Educational test scores among adolescents in three-generational households in 20 countries

Grandparental presence is often found to associate with improved grandchild wellbeing. However, studies have shown that the effect is not always positive. This could be explained by the fact that in some circumstances grandparents compete with grandchildren over parental time resources. We studied the assumption using data from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) from 20 Western countries (n=73,346 children at age 15). According to the results grandparental presence was associated with lower levels of parental involvement and decreased educational test scores among adolescents. Moreover, the results indicate that when the parental involvement is lower at the first place the grandparental presence tends to be associated with even weaker child outcomes. Finally, we found support that grandparental co-residence is a mediator of the association between parental involvement and child outcomes. These results are discussed with reference to the local resource competition model.

The Wall for Mothers with First Graders: Availability of Afterschool Childcare and Maternal Labor Supply in Japan

In Japan, the availability of afterschool childcare for young school children is quite limited, although many preschool children attend daycare centers. As a result, parents experience a sudden lack of formal childcare when their child starts school. This dearth of childcare services is notorious, and has been referred to as the “Wall for Mothers with First Graders. To illustrate the quantitative impacts of the wall, I compare the maternal labor supply between nuclear and three-generation households at the time of the firstborn child’s school entry. Since mothers from three-generation households generally substitute formal afterschool childcare with informal childcare provided by the grandparents, I hypothesize that the first child’s school entry mainly affects the labor supply of mothers from nuclear households. Using the Japanese Panel Survey of Consumers, a difference-in-differences analysis is applied to the sample of mothers whose firstborn child was in daycare as a preschooler. The overall findings are generally consistent with my hypothesis. First, the baseline result shows that the labor market participation rate decreases by 10.9 percentage points at the time of their firstborn child’s school entry among mothers from nuclear households compared with those from three-generation households. Second, the firstborn child’s school entry decreases his/her mother’s daily paid work by 0.65 hours and increases time allocated to housework and childcare by 0.68 hours. Taken together, this study shows that the shortage of afterschool childcare among nuclear households discourages maternal labor supply.

Area-Level and Individual-Level Factors for Teenage Motherhood: A Multilevel Analysis in Japan.

BackgroundTeenage motherhood is strongly associated with a range of disadvantages for both the mother and the child. No epidemiological studies have examined related factors for teenage motherhood at both area and individual levels among Japanese women. Therefore, we performed a multilevel analysis of nationwide data in Japan to explore the association of area- and individual-level factors with teenage motherhood.MethodsThe study population comprised 21,177 mothers living in 47 prefectures who had their first, singleton baby between 10 and 17 January or between 10 and 17 July, 2001. Information on the prefecture in which the mothers resided was linked to prefecture-level variables. Primary outcomes were area-level characteristics (single-mother households, three-generation households, college enrollment, abortions, juvenile crime, and per capita income) and individual-level characteristics, and divided into tertiles or quintiles based on their variable distributions. Multilevel logistic regression analysis was then performed.ResultsThere were 440 teenage mothers (2.1%) in this study. In addition to individual low level of education [adjusted odds ratio (OR), 7.40; 95% confidence interval (CI), 5.59–9.78], low income [4.23 (2.95–6.08)], and smoking [1.65 (1.31–2.07)], high proportions of single-mother households [1.72 (1.05–2.80)] and three-generation household [1.81 (1.17–2.78)], and per capita income [2.19 (1.06–3.81)] at an area level were positively associated, and high level of college enrollment [0.46 (0.25–0.83)] and lower crime rate [0.62 (0.40–0.98)] at area level were inversely associated with teenage motherhood compared with the corresponding women living in prefectures with the lowest levels of these variables.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that encouraging the completion of higher education and reducing the number of single-mother household at an area level may be important public health strategies to reduce teenage motherhood.

The impact of living arrangements on quality of life among Korean elderly: findings from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (2006-2012).

To investigate the impact of different living arrangements on quality of life (QoL) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in the elderly. We used data from the first to fourth wave of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging. Using the first wave as a baseline, the data included 5050 individuals aged 60years and older with at least one living child. QoL and HRQoL were measured using a visual analogue scale developed by the Korean Labor Institute that bears similarity to the EQ-VAS. Living arrangements were categorized based on household composition (single household, one-generation household, two-generation household, and three-generation household) and the marital status of a cohabiting adult child. A generalized estimating equation was used to examine the association between living arrangements and QoL/HRQoL. Compared to elderly individuals living in three-generation families with a married child, those in a single household (QoL: β=-2.67 [P=0.001]; HRQoL: β=-2.24 [P=0.007]), those living in a three-generation family with an unmarried adult child (QoL: β=-5.19 [P<0.0001]; HRQoL: β=-3.41 [P<0.0001]), and those living in a two-generation family with an unmarried adult child (QoL: β=-2.88 [P<0.0001]; HRQoL: β=-2.80 [P<0.0001]) were more likely to have lower QoL and HRQoL. These associations were particularly strong for women and individuals in the lowest equivalent household income group. It is necessary to devise government programs not only for elderly individuals living alone, but also for those living with an unmarried adult child; elderly persons who are female and part of the lowest equivalent household income group must receive particular attention.

Coresidence with elderly parents and female labor supply in China

(ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.)1.IntroductionThree decades of virtually uninterrupted economic hyper-growth since 1980 have propelled China into the ranks of upper-middle-income countries. However, female labor force participation, as one of the major contributors to economic development, has experienced a steep decline in the post-reform period. Women's employment was almost universal in the planned economy through the state-imposed full-employment policy (Zuo and Bian 2001). Between 1990 and 2010, female labor force participation rate at prime working ages (25-49) significantly decreased from 91% to 83%, while male labor force participation at the same ages only dropped by 2 percentage points. 4 Existing literature mostly attributes the faster decline in female employment to market-oriented reforms and the massive privatization of state-owned enterprises. As the power of the state eroded, both as an employer and advocate of women's rights, discrimination against female workers in hiring and layoffs increased (Bian 2002; Dong and Pandey 2012; Li and Li 2008; Yao and Tan 2005). However, supply-side factors, particularly changes in living arrangements which may affect women's decision to work, have remained largely neglected.Coresidence of aging parents with their married children has been a prevalent living arrangement in China for centuries. Since the market-oriented economic reforms and enforcement of a one-child policy in the early 1980s, a series of dramatic social and cultural changes such as rising living standards, sustained low fertility, rapid urbanization, and weakening traditional norms has largely undermined the tradition of intergenerational coresidence (Chen 2005; Chu, Xie, and Yu 2011). Single-generation households have been increasing notably and elderly persons are less likely to live in extended households.5 For example, the share of elders aged 65 and over coresiding with children and grandchildren (three-generation households) declined from 47.4% in 1990 to 41.4% in 2000, and had further reduced to 32.8% by 2010. By contrast, the share of independent-living elders rose sharply from 26.7% to 41.7% over the same period (Hu and Peng 2014).6Given the frequent time and monetary transfers in multi-generational households, researchers have increasingly paid attention to the impact of coresidence with elderly parents on female labor supply in Japan (Ogawa and Ermisch 1996; Sasaki 2002), South Korea (Chun, Kim, and Lee 2009), the United States (Kolodinsky and Shirey 2000; Compton and Pollak 2014) and Europe (Pagani and Marenzi 2008). The few articles touching upon the subject in China have revealed that grandparents in multi-generational households undertake a tremendous amount of grandchild care, which significantly reduces a mother's involvement in childcare (Chen, Liu, and Mair 2011; Chen, Short, and Entwisle 2000). However, little research has directly examined the outcome of coresidence with aging parents on women's labor market.To gain a better understanding of the recent steep decline in female labor force participation in China, our study draws on a unique paired sample of married women and their parents to cast a fresh light on the importance of living arrangement for female employment. We first identify the causal impacts of coresidence and nearby residence with elderly parents on female labor force participation and hours of work, taking into account the endogeneity of living arrangement. We then explore whether the impacts are heterogeneous in urban and rural areas, given the huge differences between urban and rural employment in flexibility and accessibility. Finally, we examine whether women in extended households do receive time transfers from parents and are less involved in domestic work - an important mechanism through which coresidence affects female labor supply.The rest of the paper is organized as follows. Section 2 summarizes the existing literature and how our study expands upon previous work. …

Association Between Grandparental Co-Residence and Early Childhood Injury in the UK

In contemporary Western societies, accidents and injuries are the most common cause of death in early childhood. This makes them a major social and health policy issue and an important child well-being indicator. Here we compared the risk of home injuries between children who co-reside in three-generational households with grandparents and children who do not co-reside with grandparents. Moreover, we investigate whether grandparental presence is associated with decreased injuries in different risk situations, measured by family- and child-related factors. Using the British Millennium Cohort Study (n = 12,319 children between the ages of 9 months and 3 years), we found that children who co-reside with grandparents had a lower probability of home injuries than children who do not co-reside with grandparents. In addition, grandparental co-residence was associated with a decreased risk of injuries more strongly in boys than girls. The results are discussed with reference to older adults’ beneficial role of supporting their offspring.

HOUSEHOLD STRUCTURE, LEFT-BEHIND ELDERLY, AND RURAL MIGRATION IN CHINA

AbstractThe influence of household demographic composition on rural migration in China has received limited attention. With data from a household survey in China's Sichuan and Hubei Provinces, this paper uses Probit models to explore the influence of household structure on migration decisions. It suggests that the three-generation household encourages out-migration, with the elderly playing an important role in supporting the migration of younger members by caring for their children. In contrast with earlier findings, the serious illness of an elderly member did not encourage the return of young migrants or discourage migration decisions unless the household included young children.

Resisting linguistic and ethnic marginalization: voices of Southeast Asian marriage-migrant women in Korea

ABSTRACTThis study explores linguistic and ethnic marginalization faced by Southeast Asian marriage-migrant women in a rural city of Korea and the ways in which they resist and negotiate the identities imposed on them by others. The findings show that the women were marginalized and had limited meaningful contact and intercultural communication with Koreans in various interethnic contexts. They were stigmatized for their linguistic and cultural backgrounds; the nature of their marriage/migration; and their class, gender, and race. The three-generation households in which they lived were sites of oppression where they were pressured to strictly adhere to traditional Korean linguistic and cultural norms. In the workplace, they were positioned as incompetent second-language (L2) speakers on account of their regional dialects and lack of sociolinguistic competence. Additionally, they experienced racial discrimination in the larger community, based on their language and ethnicity. Despite various types of marginalization, the participants resisted their families’ impositions and stereotypes from mainstream society. They sought to gain legitimacy through enhancing their linguistic capital valued in professional settings. The study suggests that narratives can be a powerful means to reveal processes of marginalization and the impact of marginalization on L2 learning and identity.

Sociodemographic Factors Influence Cultural Values

The gross generalization that East is collectivistic and West is individualistic overlooks the within-group variability among East Asians in the current era of social change and globalization. The aim of this study was to disentangle the role of sociodemographic factors, ethnic heritage culture, and immigration in shaping the individualistic–collectivistic value orientations of Korean mothers and their fifth-grade children residing in rural Korea, urban Korea, and Koreatown, Los Angeles. A European American sample in Los Angeles provided an approximation of mainstream United States values. In semi-structured interviews, participants’ value orientations were assessed using interpersonal dilemma scenarios in home and school situations. Participants’ household sociodemographic factors were the most significant contributor to their home values: Higher maternal education was associated with orientation towards individualism, and three-generation households was associated with orienttion towards collectivism. When the sociodemographic factors were taken into consideration, Koreans were not more collectivistic than European Americans in the home domain. Domain-specificity was found such that individualism was greater in the school domain than in the home domain across the three groups of Koreans, who were as individualistic as European Americans in the school domain. Generational difference was found such that children were more collectivistic than mothers in the home domain. Rural Koreans were not more collectivistic than urban Koreans, which should be interpreted in the context of the high level of technology and education in the rural Korean environment.

Income inequality among older people in rapidly aging Japan

This study examined the mechanisms by which income inequality among households with elderly members changed from the mid-1980s to the mid-2000s, focusing on the transformation of household structure and on income sources.The data that I analyze in this paper comes from the Comprehensive Survey of People's Living Conditions in Japan (CSLCJ) conducted by the Japan Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in the mid-1980s, the mid-1990s, and the mid-2000s.The main findings of this study can be summarized into the two points. First, income inequality among households with elderly members overall decreased after the mid-1980s. A relatively large decrease in income inequality in elderly households during the bubble economy in the mid-1980s and after its collapse through the early 1990s had occurred at the high-income groups. The examination of the extent of income inequality among the elderly found that household structure is a critical factor. The decline in three-generation households lead to lowering income inequality among households with the elderly.Second, in examining the change in income package of the households with the elderly, it was found out that economic inequality is largely determined by the income of non-elderly members who co-reside with the old parents. Such a phenomenon has not changed despite the large change in the household structure with the elderly members associated with fast transformation of the population since the mid-1980s.

Risk factors of functional disability among community-dwelling elderly people by household in Japan: a prospective cohort study.

BackgroundAlthough the number of elderly people needing care is increasing rapidly in the home setting in Japan, family size and ability to provide such support are declining. The purpose of this study was to identify the risk factors of functional disability by household composition among community-dwelling elderly people.MethodsA total of 1347 elderly people aged 70 years and over participated in a baseline geriatric health examination for this prospective cohort study. In the health examination, we conducted an interview survey using a questionnaire in July 2004 and July 2005. Questionnaire items covered the following: age, sex, household, medical history, instrumental activities of daily living, intellectual activity, social role, Motor Fitness Scale, falls experienced during the past year, Dietary Variety Score, frequency of going outdoors, cognitive impairment, and depressive status. We defined the occurrence of functional disability as certification for long-term care needs of the subjects. The certification process started with a home visit for an initial assessment to evaluate nursing care needs using a questionnaire on current physical and mental status. The onset of functional disability was followed from July 2004 to March 2011. Cox proportional hazard regression analysis was used to estimate the risk factors related to the onset of functional disability, adjusted for age and sex.ResultsOf the 1084 participants, 433 were male (39.9%), and the average age was 77.8 (standard deviation, 5.4). Up to March 2011, functional disabilities occurred in 226 participants (20.9%). Elderly people living only with their children demonstrated a significantly higher risk for functional disability than the three-generation household group (hazard ratio, 1.61; 95% confidence interval, 1.08–2.40). The risk factors for functional disability varied according to household group.ConclusionsIn Japan, the number of vulnerable households with elderly people in need of care has increased steadily over the years. Appropriately identifying the risks related to functional disability requires a means of assessment that takes the household composition into consideration.

Grandparent Coresidence and Family Well-Being

U.S. children today have increasingly diverse living arrangements. In 2012, 10 percent of children lived with at least one grandparent; 8 percent lived in three-generational households, consisting of a parent and a grandparent; while 2 percent lived with a grandparent and no parent in the household. This article reviews the literature on grandparent coresidence and presents new research on children coresiding with grandparents in modern families. Findings suggest that grandparent coresidence is quite common and that its prevalence increased during the Great Recession. Additionally, these living arrangements are diverse themselves, varying by the marital status of the parent, the home in which the family lives, and the economic well-being of the family. Suggestions for future research are also proposed.

Does coresidence with grandparents reduce the negative association between sibship size and reading test scores? Evidence from 40 countries

This paper investigates the effect of coresidence with grandparents in three-generation households on the nature and size of the association between sibship size and reading test scores. It also explores whether this interaction changes with the level of socioeconomic development of a society. We argue that coresidence in traditional three-generation households has a protective effect against resource dilution and thus decreases the magnitude of the negative association between family size and test scores. We also suggest that coresidence in more modern contexts magnifies the degree of this negative association, since modern families form three-generation households only when severely destabilized. We apply 3-level regression models to the PISA 2000 data to examine our hypotheses and use the Human Development Index as a measure of development. We find that the negative association between family size and test scores increases at higher levels of development and does so more strongly when students coreside with grandparents. We, however, find no context, in which coresidence would erase the negative consequences of having many brothers and sisters on one's own school test scores. These findings hold even when controlling statistically for the effects of public expenditure on education, public social security expenditure, and crude divorce rate as well as for the interactions of these variables with sibship size.

Breastfeeding initiation and duration in coresident grandparent, mother and infant households.

In the US, the prevalence of three-generation households, where a grandparent, parent and child coreside, has increased in the last decade. Three-generation coresidence during infancy is particularly common and as many as 15 % of infants live in a three-generation household shortly after birth. Although prior research has linked family structure with breastfeeding behavior, no research has studied whether breastfeeding behavior varies by grandparent coresidence. This study is the first to investigate the association between three-generation coresidence and breastfeeding behaviors. This paper uses two data sets, the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study--Birth Cohort (n ~ 8,250), a nationally representative study of US children, and the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (n = 4,053), an urban sample of mostly low-income unmarried US mothers, to study the association between three-generation coresidence and breastfeeding initiation and duration using multivariate logistic regressions with extensive socio-demographic controls. Three-generation coresidence was associated with lower odds of breastfeeding initiation among the less advantaged mothers but not in the nationally representative sample of mothers. In comparison, three-generation coresidence was associated with lower odds of breastfeeding for 6 months or greater in both study samples. Three-generation coresidence may serve as a marker for differences in the likelihood of breastfeeding that can help inform public health strategies aimed at increasing breastfeeding rates. Research studying interventions with grandparents and the effects on breastfeeding behaviors may be a useful next step in public health promotion of breastfeeding.

Demography as Social Risk: Demographic Change and Accumulated Inequality

The main purpose of this paper is to discuss social risks related to aging populations, focusing on family and work for eldelry people in contemporary Japan. I mainly examine economic inequality measured by mean log deviation and the poverty rate as concrete phenomenon to show social risk. The data which I analyze is the Comprehensive Survey of People’s Living Condition in 1986, 1995, and 2004, conducted by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare of Japan. There are two major findings of this paper. First, I found that the overall economic inequality among the elderly aged 65 and over has declined mainly because of the decline in the number of those who work and the difference in economic well-being between household types. In particular, the high advantage in the economic well-being of the elderly in a three-generation household has been no longer guaranteed. Second, there was a significant gender difference in the relationship between his/her past life course and economic hardship in their later life. In sum, the location of the elderly at home and in the labor market has changed, and as a consequence, the content of social risk related to aging has been more differentiated.

Role of infected grandmothers in transmission of Helicobacter pylori to children in a Japanese rural town

Although the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) increases with age and the main period of acquisition is childhood, the route of transmission of H. pylori infection remains unclear. This study aims to evaluate the relationship between prevalence of children and grandparents. A total of 838 consecutive children who attended the Urita clinic and whose blood was taken for work up were enrolled in the present study. They were 449 boys and 389 girls, with a mean age of 12.4 years. H. pylori serology of their family members who were living together in one house was picked up to analyse intra-familial clustering of H. pylori infection. The family members of these children consisted of 448 fathers, 597 mothers, 205 grandfathers, 361 grandmothers and 589 siblings. The seropositive rates of mothers, grandmother and siblings in seropositive children were significantly higher than those in seronegative children. H. pylori infection in mothers and grandmothers was a marked risk factor for infection in the index children. Larger family size was not a risk factor for H. pylori infection. In contrast, having an infected father or grandfather was not an independent predictor for children infection. Our data demonstrate that not only mother-to-child transmission but also grandmother-to-child transmission is an important mechanism for the spread of H. pylori in a three-generation household.

Viviendo con mis abuelos: las familias convivientes en la perspectiva de los niños

El presente artículo se ocupa de las relaciones intergeneracionalesentre abuelos y nietos niños en situacionesde cohabitación que constan de tres generaciones. Paraello, parte del relato de doce niños y niñas de edadesentre los ocho y los diez años, de la clase media de laciudad de Porto Alegre, al sur de Brasil. En este estudio,los niños van a discutir cómo se organizan estas casas,los roles que ocupan los diversos miembros y las redes desolidaridad entre las generaciones. Estas son realidadesque constituyen la vida diaria de muchos niños, dejandomarcas importantes en su infancia y en sus relacionesfamiliares.Palabras claveInfancia, abuelos, nietos, relaciones intergeneracionales,familias cohabitantes.

The Rise of Three-Generation Households Among Households Headed by Two Parents and Mothers Only in Australia

This study offers knowledge about factors associated with a key type of family change, namely, two- to-three-generation household transformations, which are poorly understood, despite increasing numbers of three-generation households, especially ones headed by females. Using a representative sample of 5,874 Australian children, results showed that the circumstances of children in two-generation households differed greatly by family structure. Thus, before investigating determinants of three-generation household formation, children were first grouped as living in either two-parent or single-mother households. For both groups of children, several factors were found associated with three-generation household formation. In two-parent households, the odds of three-generation household formation decreased with mothers’ ages, fathers’ higher educational attainments, and more children, but increased as children grew older. In single-mother households, the odds of three-generation household formation decreased with mothers’ higher educational attainments, increasing income, and more children, but increased if mothers had never been married and worked more hours. Living in rural areas decreased odds of three-generation household formation for children in both types of households. Overall, grandparents appear to play a relatively more important resource role in three-generation, mother only households than in three-generation, two-parent households.