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Old fashioned families as an endangered species

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Abstract

Changes in a typology of family structures incorporating household size and female labor force participation are decomposed using the 1969–78 years of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Among other things, racial, cohort, and educational differences result in: (1) a decline in large families regardless of mother's work status, due principally to racial effects; (2) a slight rise in the labor force entry of women from older cohorts; and (3) a substantial rise in the number of non-working mothers in small families, mainly from the younger cohorts. The discussion focuses on the advantages and implications of the use of the family rather than the individual as the unit of analysis in this type of research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Arizona State University, Tempe, USA

    A. Wade Smith

  2. National Opinion Research Center, USA

    A. Wade Smith

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  1. A. Wade Smith
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Additional information

This research was facilitated by a Faculty-Grant-In-Aid from Arizona State University. Walter R. Allen, Karen O. Mason and Elsie Moore provided extensive reactions to earlier drafts; although all of their suggestions are not reflected in this paper. Karen Osmond and June Meitz provided computational and editorial assistance. Of course, only the author is responsible for the findings, interpretations, and any errors herein. A previous version of this paper was presented at the 1982 meetings of the American Sociological Association, San Francisco, California.

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Smith, A.W. Old fashioned families as an endangered species. Soc Indic Res 13, 17–38 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02193663

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02193663

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