Sociological Perspectives

This paper explores the application of a life table approach to the analysis of poverty. After reviewing trends in gender differentials in poverty and mortality, we investigate an indicator of poverty-mortality well-being. The rationale for this approach is that to some extent poverty and mortality are causally interrelated phenomena which are both fundamental to well-being. The empirical results indicate that females are expected to live more years in poverty than are males, but females are expected to live more years in nonpoverty as well. Although the gender differential in poverty rates has increased to the disadvantage of females, and although most of the greater poverty of females cannot be attributed to their greater longevity, the gender differential in poverty-mortality well-being has nonetheless not deteriorated to the disadvantage of women in recent decades.

This paper evaluates age, period, and cohort effects on marital fertility during onset of the Utah fertility transition (1880–1909). Computerized genealogies are used to derive age–period–cohort fertility rates for 49,842 once-married couples. Age, period and cohort effects on marital fertility are then estimated using Johnson's (1985) relational model.

Declining marital fertility in Utah is shown to be explained by both lower fertility levels across periods and increasing age-specific limitation across cohorts. Direct cohort effects on fertility are insignificant. These results are consistent with prior research, and the view that fertility levels were adaptive (in part through birth spacing across ages) to immediate contexts of childbearing while age-specific fertility truncation increased across cohorts (in part through the more general diffusion of contraceptive innovations).

While a considerable amount of research has examined the residential segregation patterns of ethnic groups in metropolitan communities, such research has failed to analyze the distribution patterns of such groups across the larger society. From a human ecological perspective, we examine the geographic segregation patterns of Chicanos vis-à-vis Anglos across counties in the 50 United States using data from the 1980 census. It is hypothesized that the level of Chicano geographic segregation in the states is positively related to Chicano–Anglo sustenance differences and Chicano relative dependence on the extractive and manufacturing sectors compared to Anglos and negatively related to Chicano sustenance differentiation. The findings show general support for the hypotheses. Chicanos tend to be more segregated from Anglos in those states where the two groups are involved in different sustenance activities. In addition, Chicanos tend to be the most segregated in those states where they have a higher dependence on the manufacturing sector compared to Anglos.

This paper reports the findings of a study that examines the relationship between family life course status (based on marital status, parenthood, and age of youngest child) and volunteer behavior. Also, the impact of being a single parent on volunteering is examined. Married parents are more likely to volunteer generally and, specifically, in certain youth-oriented activities. However, the status of married-with-children is negatively associated with the aggregate number of hours volunteered, while there is a positive association between single parents with school-age children and hours devoted to certain activities. Single parents with preschool children have neither the social supports of married parents to share roles, nor the relative freedom enjoyed by single persons with no children or with school-age children, and are less likely to volunteer or devote time to organized volunteer activities.

This paper examines the relationship between change in childbearing function from a woman's first to second marriage and the degree of similarity between her first and second husbands in age, education, and religion. Using data from the 1982 National Survey of Family Growth, the specific hypothesis tested is: where plans are similar, the second husband tends to resemble the first to a greater extent than where childbearing functions differ. Separate tests relating to age, education, and religion provide only limited support for this hypothesis. However, when the various tests are considered collectively as a system, the weight of the evidence provides general support for the hypotheses. The implications of these findings for understanding trends in marriage are discussed.