Union Instability Research Articles

Women's family trajectories after union dissolution: A comparative life course analysis

AbstractObjectiveChanges in family dynamics due to increased union instability are gathering scholarly attention. Against this backdrop, we asked: How do family life courses evolve after the dissolution of a first union? And, how do these processes vary across socio‐historical contexts?MethodWe deployed sequence and cluster analysis on women's combined relationship and fertility trajectories over 120 months after the dissolution of the first union using survey data from the Harmonized Histories datasets. Context‐level variation was assessed by comparing a series of measures of heterogeneity in family life courses across separation cohorts (1970–2009) and countries (France, the Netherlands, Poland, the Russian Federation, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom).ResultsWe found substantial heterogeneity in family life courses that we inferred from a typology of trajectory pathways. We also found relevant dynamics across socio‐historical contexts. Post‐separation trajectories became more diverse (between‐individual heterogeneity) and complex (within‐individual heterogeneity) in recent periods among countries that we deem laggards in the diffusion of union dissolution, whereas path dependencies in post‐separation family paths could be identified amongst the forerunners.ConclusionWe conclude that increased union instability across different population groups generally contributes to the heterogenization of family life courses, but national contexts are also important in shaping family trajectories upon union dissolution.

Kinship and socio-economic status: Social gradients in frequencies of kin across the life course in Sweden

The influence of kin on various outcomes is heavily debated. However, kinship size itself conditions the probability of potential effects. Socio-economic gradients in the prevalence, variance, and types of kin are, therefore, a vital aspect of the functions of kin. Unfortunately, these parameters are largely unknown. We used Swedish register data to enumerate consanguine and in-law kin across the life course of the 1975 birth cohort. We calculated differences in kinship size between this cohort’s income quartiles and educational groups. We decomposed how specific kin relations, generations, and demographic behaviours contributed to these differences. Among low socio-economic status (SES) groups, higher fertility in earlier generations resulted in more kin compared with high-SES groups. Low-SES groups had more horizontal consanguine kin, while high-SES groups had more in-laws. Lower fertility and higher union instability among low-SES men substantially narrowed SES differences in kinship size. Kinship size varied substantially within SES groups.

The Link Between Sexual Disagreements and Separation Proneness: Differences Between Men and Women in a Culturally Diverse Sample

ABSTRACT Traditional gender ideologies suggest that sexual disagreements are associated with union instability more strongly among men than among women. Previous studies of this topic were based on one panel survey initiated in the United States in the late 1980s and they provided contradictory results. We revisited this issue using the Generations and Gender Survey, a more recent panel that interviewed 19,446 respondents (43.3% were male and 56.7% were female; M age = 44.72, SD = 13.49) in mixed-sex partnerships in seven European countries. The results show that the association between sexual disagreements and separation proneness is stronger among women than among men. This conclusion contradicts expectations based on traditional feminine and masculine ideologies and indicates that the role of sexual disagreements in union instability deviates from traditional expectations.

Union Instability and Fertility: An International Perspective

In this article, we analyse the relationship between union instability and cumulated fertility among ever-partnered women in several regions across Europe and the Americas with different patterns of demographic behaviour in terms of fertility levels, union instability and fertility across partnerships. We hypothesise that the relationship between union dissolution and fertility might be less negative in contexts where repartnering is more prevalent. The analysis is performed on a large dataset of 25 countries, combining information from the Harmonised Histories of the Generation and Gender Programme with our own harmonisation of survey data from three Latin American countries. This allows for the inclusion of countries with differing prevalence of union instability as measured by (a) the proportion of women who separated by age 40, and (b) the proportion who repartnered by age 40. We first examine the prevalence of separation and repartnering during reproductive ages across regions, and we estimate the proportion of cumulated fertility attributable to unions of different ranks using a decomposition method. We then analyse the links between union instability and the number of children born by age 40 among ever-partnered and ever-repartnered women, using Poisson regression. Despite observing a high degree of heterogeneity in the proportions of births occurring in the context of repartnering both within and between regions, we find a pattern where a greater prevalence of repartnering by age 40 is accompanied by higher cumulated fertility in second or subsequent unions. Our multivariate findings reveal a negative statistical relationship between separation and cumulated fertility that is partially offset by repartnering in some contexts, and that the time spent in a union during the reproductive lifespan is a key determinant of cumulated fertility, regardless of national context and independently from age at union formation and union rank.

Patterns of Co‐Residential Relationships Across Cohorts in Post‐Socialist Countries: Less Time for Childbearing?

Co‐residential partnerships are a pre‐condition for childbearing and less time is spent in these unions when there is difficulty finding partners, a delay in union formation, and partnership instability. Our study explores patterns in co‐residential partnerships across birth cohorts in 11 post‐socialist countries to assess changes in the number of years spent in these partnerships and the patterns underlying any trend. Using the Harmonized Histories dataset, based on partnership data from generations and gender surveys, we calculate changes in co‐residential union trends. In about half of the countries, the share of women who have not entered a co‐residential union by age 30 increased, whereas the proportion still in their first union by this age decreased universally. The latter trend, reflecting union instability, pre‐dates the transition from socialism. Delays in starting the first union were seen in only a few countries immediately after the transition began but more countries experienced union postponement in coming‐of‐age cohorts in the 2000s. A declining median age at first union in the former Soviet republics before and immediately after the transition from socialism balances the impact of increased union instability. Overall, the number of years spent in a co‐residential union before age 30 declined across the Central and South‐Eastern European countries, especially in Hungary. Union dynamics may have contributed to declining fertility in these countries. In contrast, little or no change in time spent in unions in the post‐Soviet countries indicates that union dynamics were less likely to have influenced these women’s fertility behavior.

INVESTIGATING BLOOD SUPPLY TO THE CORACOID BONE GRAFT IN LATARJET PROCEDURES — A CADAVERIC STUDY

Background: The Classic Latarjet Procedure (CLP) is a proven method for increasing anterior shoulder stability, where the posterior aspect of an osteotomized coracoid is fixed to the glenoid rim. De Beer’s Congruent-Arc Technique (CAT) is a recognized variation where the medial aspect of the coracoid is fixed to the glenoid. Consolidation of the coracoid graft depends on the compression achieved and the vascularity of the graft. Nonunion rates of 9.4% have been documented in the literature. Methods: Ethical approval was granted for our study by the medical school ethics board. Eight cadaveric shoulders were dissected using the standard deltopectoral approach. In each limb, the blood supply to the coracoid was identified, photographed, and protected. The coracoid process was osteotomized at its elbow and a bone transfer was performed. The effects on the coracoid blood supply of CLP vs CAT were noted. Results: In all cases, the blood supply to the coracoid process arose directly from the axillary artery, bifurcating close to the tip of the coracoid. CLP was performed with no disruption to the arterial supply of the coracoid or pectoralis minor. CAT was found to stretch the arterial supply in most specimens, potentially impacting blood supply to the coracoid. CAT also requires the sacrifice of the arterial branch to the insertion of the pectoralis minor. Conclusion: CLP appears less likely to stretch its arterial supply compared to CAT and allows retention of the arterial branch to pectoralis minor insertion. This has potential implications for graft union and recurrent shoulder instability.

Microsimulation of Household and Marital Transitions Leading to Childlessness Among Dutch Women Born Between 1971 and 2000.

After reaching historically low levels among the women born in the early 1940s, childlessness has been increasing in most Western countries among women born in the 1950s and 1960s. This increase took place as patterns of transition to adulthood have become increasingly late, protracted, and complex. Yet, it is precisely those women who enter a first relationship late, spend more time as single, and experience union instability who more often remain childless. This suggests that levels of childlessness will continue to increase as younger cohorts complete their childbearing histories. In this study, we use microsimulation to project the household and union formation histories of cohorts of Dutch women born between 1971 and 2000. Results suggest that childlessness will actually decrease among cohorts born between 1971 and 1983 and then increase among those born between 1984 and 2000. The decrease occurs as pathways of household and union formation become later, more protracted, and more complex, but also as cohabiting women start to exhibit a higher propensity to become mothers. The increase, on the other hand, occurs as pathways become somewhat less protracted and complex, but also as the propensity of cohabiting women to become mothers returns to previous levels and as age at leaving the parental home strongly rises. Childlessness levels appear to increasingly depend on the childbearing decisions of cohabiting couples and on age at leaving the parental home.

"Thank U, Next"? Repartnering and the Household Division of Labor.

Drawing on life course and gender theories, this study tests competing hypotheses about the effect of repartnering on women's and men's levels and shares of housework. Amidst increasing cohabitation rates and union instability, women and men are likely to form and dissolve multiple marital and non-marital unions with different partners over the life course. However, most of our knowledge about the role of past relationships are based on cross-sectional studies comparing first- and higher-order union. This study investigates whether people change their housework arrangements upon repartnering and whether women and men experience similar patterns of change in heterosexual relationships. The analysis draws on 40 years of longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and a sample of 1,897 women and men who were observed in two sequential heterosexual unions. The author used fixed-effects models to estimate change in housework behavior upon repartnering. Overall, the results show stability in housework behavior upon repartnering once controlling for other life course changes that concur with repartnering. Women continued doing the majority of housework upon repartnering. The results suggest that forming a new heterosexual union evokes gender scripts which overall maintains the gendered housework behavior. Although housework is dynamic over the life course, the gender dynamics that shape housework is stable amid union instability.

Partners’ Relative Income and the Risk of Union Dissolution in Two Institutional Contexts

AbstractThis article investigates the link between union stability and women’s contribution to the family income in married and cohabiting couples. Using a data set linking survey data to information from respondents’ annual tax records over a period of nearly 30 years, the study explores the changes over time and the role of institutional context by comparing Quebec and Anglophone Canada. The analysis showed that the risk of dissolution was lowest when men’s and women’s incomes were similar. The U-shaped pattern held for marriage and cohabitation, and for both regions. If the couple deviated from the equality pattern, women’s greater income constituted a more destabilizing factor than men’s greater income. Overall, the observed U-shaped link between relative income and union instability did not change over the study period of 30 years.

Gender-Atypical Occupations and Instability of Intimate Unions: Examining the Relationship and Mechanisms

Although social scientists have long been interested in the effects of occupational gender composition on workers, previous research has rarely examined how working in a gender-atypical occupation affects people’s private lives. This study draws on 17 rounds of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 to investigate how individuals in occupations with varying gender ratios differ in the stability of their intimate unions. The authors also consider various mechanisms that may explain the link between working in a gender-atypical occupation and union instability. Results from random-effects event-history models show that both men and women in gender-atypical occupations experience faster paces of union dissolution than their counterparts in gender-balanced or gender-typical occupations. Female-dominant occupations’ lower pay accounts for a modest portion of the effect of working in female-typed occupations on men’s union instability. By contrast, the more irregular work schedules of male-typed occupations explain a substantial part of why women in such occupations have lower union stability. The remaining associations between occupational gender composition and union instability, we suggest, reflect the tendency for men and women in gender-atypical occupations to undergo greater psychological strain, which in turn increases the difficulty of maintaining intimate relationships.

Union Instability and Fertility: A Microsimulation Model for Italy and Great Britain

Union Instability and Fertility: A Microsimulation Model for Italy and Great Britain

Union Instability as an Engine of Fertility? A Micro-simulation Model for France

Union Instability as an Engine of Fertility? A Micro-simulation Model for France

Women's Marital Experiences Following Premarital Fertility in Sub‐Saharan Africa

AbstractObjectiveThe aim of the study was to offer a descriptive overview of the stability and quality of marriages formed by women following premarital fertility in contemporary sub‐Saharan Africa.BackgroundPremarital sex and fertility rates are high in many sub‐Saharan African countries, yet we know little about how premarital childbirth, or even premarital conception, corresponds with women's subsequent marital outcomes. For instance, it is unknown whether premarital fertility is associated with forming unions that are less stable, polygynous, or more violent.MethodWe analyze Demographic and Health Survey data for 25 sub‐Saharan African countries to describe women's marital experiences following a premarital pregnancy or premarital birth (relative to marital pregnancy and birth). We estimate country‐specific, two‐stage Heckman probit models to understand whether, conditional on having married, premarital pregnancy or premarital birth is associated with union instability, and among women currently married, polygyny and intimate partner violence.ResultsIn most countries, unions following a premarital pregnancy or premarital birth were less stable relative to unions in which pregnancy occurred only after marriage. Premarital births were also associated with a higher likelihood of entering a polygynous union, especially in West and Central African countries, as well as a greater likelihood of being in a physically violent union, particularly in East and Southern African countries.ConclusionThe associations between premarital fertility and women's subsequent marital experiences raise questions about the broader health and life course implications for the women and children involved.

Unemployment and separation: Evidence from five European countries

Since the 1970s, several European countries have experienced high union dissolution risk as well as high unemployment rates. The extent to which adverse economic conditions are associated with union instability is still unknown. This study explores the relationship between both individual and aggregate unemployment and union dissolution risk in five European countries before the recent economic crisis. Using rich longitudinal data from Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, and Italy, the empirical analysis, based on discrete-time event history models, shows that male unemployment consistently increases the risk of union dissolution. While a strong association is observed between male unemployment and separation at the micro level, no association is found between male unemployment and union dissolution at the macro level. The results for female unemployment are mixed, and the size of the impact of female unemployment is smaller in magnitude than that of male unemployment. In Germany and Italy, where until very recently work is less compatible with family life than in other countries, female unemployment is not significantly associated with union dissolution.

Does Parents' Union Instability Disrupt Intergenerational Advantage? An Analysis of Sub-Saharan Africa.

The long arm of childhood, with its wide-ranging influence on individuals' life chances, highlights the importance of understanding the determinants of health in early life. Research has established that parents' education is a major determinant of childhood health, but children across the globe increasingly experience their parents' divorce and subsequent remarriage, raising questions of whether union instability alters these intergenerational processes. Does divorce and remarriage interfere with parents' education benefiting their young children's health? I explore this question in sub-Saharan Africa, a world region where parents' education plays a major role in protecting children against severe health risks, and where young children commonly experience parental divorce and remarriage. Moreover, sub-Saharan Africa features distinct family lineage systems, affording an opportunity to explore this question in both majority matrilineal and patrilineal contexts. Analyses of Demographic and Health Survey data on 271,292 children in 30 sub-Saharan African countries offer no evidence that the high levels of union instability in the region will weaken the health benefits of parents' education for future generations. Following divorce, children benefit from their biological parents' education to the same degree as children with married parents-a finding that is consistent across lineage contexts. Moreover, stepfathers' education corresponds with pronounced health benefits for their coresident stepchildren, particularly in patrilineal regions where these children benefit less dramatically from their mothers' education. Together, the study results offer a renewed sense of the importance of parents'-including stepfathers'-education for early childhood health across diverse family structures.

Children's Adjustment to Parents' Break Up: The Mediational Effects of Parenting and Co-parenting.

Although past studies have shown an association between union instability (i.e., change in family structure) and children's aggressive behaviors, the mechanism by which this occurs is less understood. This study (n = 3,387) examined whether father and mother involvement, co-parenting support, and maternal responsiveness explained the association between union instability in early life and children's aggressive behaviors at 9 years, and whether relationship status moderated this association. Findings reveal that only co-parenting support mediated this association and only for children whose mothers divorced (not for mothers who experienced a non-marital separation), suggesting that when a divorce occurs, the relationship between partners (co-parenting) is more important than the relationship with children (parenting) for children's social adjustment.

Caregiving and Union Instability in Middle and Later Life

Objective: This study addressed the implications of informal caregiving for subsequent union instability in middle and later life, focusing on associations between gender and union type (marital, cohabiting) and the risk of separation or divorce within heterosexual unions.Background: Although caregiving is widely reported to be stressful and to have negative implications for the health and well‐being of individual caregivers, its implications for union stability are less clear. This is particularly evident with regard to middle‐aged and older adults in both marital and cohabiting unions. Yet caregiving may increase separation or divorce risk by operating as a stressor on the marital or union relationship, leading to lower union quality and subsequent dissolution.Method: Using retrospective data on union histories for a national population‐based cohort of married or cohabiting Canadian men and women aged 45 years and older (N = 17,194), Cox proportional hazard models were used to examine the main and interactive effects of caregiving history, union type, and gender on union dissolution from age 45 to the time of the survey.Results: Caregiving was more destabilizing when it involved cohabiting rather than marital unions and female rather than male caregivers.Conclusion: These findings suggest that caregiving is associated with union dissolution but that the type of union and gender need to be considered.

Cross-National Comparisons of Union Stability in Cohabiting and Married Families With Children.

Increases in cohabitation, nonmarital childbearing, and partnership dissolution have reshaped the family landscape in most Western countries. The United States shares many features of family change common elsewhere, although it is exceptional in its high degree of union instability. In this study, we use the Harmonized Histories to provide a rich, descriptive account of union instability among couples who have had a child together in the United States and several European countries. First, we compare within-country differences between cohabiting and married parents in education, prior family experiences, and age at first birth. Second, we estimate differences in the stability of cohabiting and married parents, paying attention to transitions into marriage among those cohabiting at birth. Finally, we explore the implications of differences in parents' characteristics for union instability and the magnitude of social class differences in union instability across countries. Although similar factors are associated with union instability across countries, some (prior childbearing, early childbearing) are by far more common in the United States, accounting in part for higher shares separating. The factors associated with union instability-lower education, prior childbearing, early childbearing-also tend to be more tightly packaged in the United States than elsewhere, suggesting greater inequality in resources for children.

Understanding Sterilization Regret in the United States: The Role of Relationship Context.

Although one fourth of sterilized reproductive-aged women in the U.S. express a desire to have their sterilization procedures reversed, the pathways leading to sterilization regret remain insufficiently understood. Particularly little is known about how cohabitation affects the likelihood of sterilization regret. This study used data from the 2006-2010 National Survey of Family Growth to investigate how relationship context shapes women's risk of sterilization regret. Our findings point to higher levels of regret among women who were cohabiting, rather than married or single at the time of sterilization. Experiencing post-sterilization union dissolution or post-sterilization union formation was also associated with an elevated risk of regret. Together, post-sterilization union instability and selected background characteristics largely explained elevated levels of regret observed among women who were cohabiting at the time of sterilization. An association between regret and post-sterilization union instability persisted, however, even when socioeconomic and reproductive background factors were controlled.

Features and treatments of teardrop fracture of the axis

Objective To investigate the features and treatments of teardrop fracture of the axis. Methods Of the 17 consecutive patients with teardrop fracture of the axis who had been managed between January 2008 and January 2016 at our trauma center, 13 were included in this study according to our research criteria. On their lateral X-ray films of the skull base, the height, width, lateral displacement and rotation of the fracture fragments were measured. Continuity of the anterior longitudinal ligament and instability of C2-3 and posterior ligamentous complex were evaluated on their cervical MRI images. Seven patients were immobilized for 3 months with the Philadelphia collar or Halo-vest device and 6 ones underwent anterior C2-3 cervical surgery. Results For patients receiving conservative and operative treatments, at the sagittal view, the height, width, lateral displacement, anterior rotation and posterior displacement of the fracture fragments aver-aged 12.0 mm versus 14.8 mm, 6.85 mm versus 8.33 mm, 7.07 mm versus 8.50 mm, 20.0° versus 30.1°, and 1.71 mm versus 3.0 mm, respectively. One patient suffered C2 disc injury and 6 ones C3 disc injury. All the patients were followed up for an average of 26.4 months (from 12 to 36 months). Complications included uncomfortable swallowing in 3 cases and mild residual neck pain in one. There was no delayed union, nonunion, or vertebral instability. At last follow-ups, the mean visual analogue score for pain was 1.7 and the Japanese Orthopaedic Association scores were 17 in 11 patients and 16 in 2 patients. Conclusions Most teardrop fractures can be treated conservatively because their small fracture fragments and minor displacements can be reduced after traction. However, those with large fragments and C2-3 vertebral injury and instability should be treated by anterior cervical discectomy and fusion. Key words: Axis; Fracture, bone; Spinal fusion; Indication