Both are “social” ◦ Boys in larger groups Girls ◦ Greater verbal ability Boys ◦ Greater visual-spatial ability ◦ More aggressive Sex = biological fact Gender = cultural & social-psychological fact ◦ Culture & Society assign gender-specific psychological & personality traits We learn to be male & female in distinctive ways (socialization) Men: active, intelligent, rational Women: passive, nurturing, emotional “Culture Lag” ◦ William Ogburn Legal Assumptions of Male Support ◦ Feminization of Poverty Pct. of Children below poverty line 14.2% white 33.3% African-American 28.6% Hispanic 53.3% of all households below poverty line are femaleheaded 3:4 absent fathers pay no child support Gender and Work (“Pink Collar Ghetto”) ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ 74% of K-12 teachers 96% of clerical workers 84% of personal service providers 77 cents to the dollar, F/M pay ratio Under-represented in higher paying jobs ◦ 11% of engineers ◦ 31% of physicians ◦ 34% of lawyers/judges Need for two paychecks Lower fertility rates Greater opportunities Changing Cultural Norms The “New Woman” ◦ Aspirations Career & Motherhood ◦ “Superwomen” Role strain Poor Fit Between Family & Professional Lives ◦ Loss of seniority ◦ No flex time ◦ Maternity and paternity leave ◦ Private, for-profit day care Cost Quality Men ◦ Breadwinner “trap” Over-identification with economic position ◦ Emotional under-development Conflict Theory ◦ Division of Sexual Labor Sexual exploitation ◦ Family: “superstructure” Reproduce Legitimate ◦ “Half-selves” Men: control emotions (work) Women: Career aspirations interfere with “primary” purpose Functionalists ◦ Gender roles are efficient Make the most of economic opportunities ◦ As the economy has changed, gender roles have adapted “That institution in society that arranges for: ◦ Regulation of sexual relations Who may have sex with whom? ◦ Child-Rearing Who takes care of the children? ◦ Household Composition” Who lives with whom? Regulation of sexual relations ◦ Incest ◦ Unites previously non-united families Network of social ties Child-Rearing ◦ “Legitimacy” ◦ Lineality: “the path along which a person’s blood & property lines are traced” ◦ Establishes & clarifies a person’s social identity ◦ Grounded in and linked to the social world Household Composition (“Forms” of Family) Shaped by norms guiding mate selection ◦ Monogamy Polygamy (more than one wife) Polyandry (more than one husband) ◦ Exogamy Rules for marrying outside a certain group ◦ Endogamy Rules for marrying inside a certain group ◦ Homogamy Tendency for people from similar backgrounds to mate Love But in cultural, societal, historical context Changes in household composition ◦ Smaller Single parent households Declining fertility ◦ Female Labor Force Participation 60-70% of moms with school-aged kids Necessity Opportunity (smaller families) Happier marriages, if wife wants to work Changes in household composition ◦ Child care Cost Quality Socialization 60-65% of pre-schoolers in school Start earlier, stay longer TV: pre-schoolers, 33 hrs. per week New Status of the Child ◦ Fewer kids Expensive ◦ Smaller families, working parents ◦ More attention & resources Divorce ◦ Rate = No. of divorces/100 married persons 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 Crude Divorce Rate 13.4 17 16.9 23.1 25.8 32.8 49.7 51.4 The Good News How the 50% rate is calculated ◦ Annual marriage rate per 1,000/Annual divorce rate per 1,000 ◦ 2003: 7.5 marriages per 1,000 3.8 divorces per 1,000 (NCHS, 2005) Better method of calculation ◦ How many people who have ever married subsequently divorced? Highest rate = ca. 41% The even-better news ◦ Divorce rates lowest for college graduates 1/3 to ¼ the rate of non-graduates Age ◦ Nearly ½ under age 18 ◦ 40% under age 20 ◦ 24% over age 25 Religion ◦ Born-again Christians same as general population (ca. 1/3) (90% of those after conversion) Catholics: lowest divorce rate Baptists: highest divorce rate More likely to divorce than atheists or agnostics Cited in a posting from Smart Marriages Listserv on Jan. 25, 2002 Alabama: ¼ of population are Southern Baptists, majority of pop. are Evangelicals 4th highest divorce rate in US (NV, TN, AR) (Barna Research Poll, 2001) ◦ Region Highest rates South & Midwest “Red” states higher than “blue” states from Smart Marriages Listserv , Jan. 4, 2005 ◦ Cohabitation Couples cohabiting before marriage 40-85% higher risk of divorce than couples not cohabiting before marriage Factors decreasing risk of divorce Factors % Risk Decrease Ann. Income over $50k (v. under $25K) Baby 7 months or more after marriage (v. before) Marrying over 25 years of age (v. under 18) Intact family of origin -30 Some College (v. h.s. dropout) -13 -24 -24 -14 Why increase in divorce? ◦ Emotional satisfaction > economic security ◦ Reduction in necessity and benefits of marriage ◦ Increased female opportunities women in labor force reduction of stigma -- no-fault divorce ◦ Cultural Change Baby Boom 1960s & 1970s Remarriage rate has kept up with divorce rate ◦ rejection of partners, not institution ◦ married still happier than single Women still do the bulk of the work around the home ◦ still face conflicts between individual fulfillment and family roles Alternative Family Forms ◦ Living together has increased > six-fold Often short term Higher divorce rate ◦ Staying single: 2000: 27.2 million people, 26% of all households (in 1950, 9.3%) Vs. 22% married couples & their kids 21% married couples living alone Later marriages Median Age at First Marriage Male Female 1890 26.1 22 1920 24.6 21.2 1950 22.8 20.8 1980 24.7 22 2003 27.1 25.3 Children in single-parent households by race/ ethnicity, 2006 (American Community Survey & Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2006) White Black 23% 65% AmerInd 49% Asian Hispanic 17% 36% Single Parent Households ◦ 2000: ca. 13.5 million single parents had custody of 21.7 million children under 21 years of age ◦ % of population made up by married couples with children decreased from 40% in 1970 to 24% in 2000 Single parent households increased from 9% in 1990 to 16% of all households by 2000. Of all custodial parents, 85% were mothers Urbanization & Industrialization Reduced fertility Smaller families Culture Higher Divorce Rates More household forms Single Single Parent Two parents, etc. Unusual Society ◦ Patterns of lineality & locality ◦ Patrilineal Trace blood & property lines along father’s side ◦ Matrilineal Trace blood & property lines along mother’s side ◦ Matrilocal Children live with mother ◦ Patrilocal Children live with father Locality & lineality have separated ◦ Divorce $ goes with dad Kids go with mom Matrilocal & Patrilineal Society ◦ Bureaucratization of the family ◦ To meet child rearing function of family due to household composition changes ◦ State has stepped in Welfare AFDC (until 1997) TANF (since July 1, 1997)