Operationalizing family
Examples from the Millennium Cohort Study
Lidia Panico
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health
University College London
l.panico@ucl.ac.uk
Changing demographic context of parenthood
450
Children born to unmarried parents, per 1000 live births
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
1845
1860
1875
1890
1905
Source: Office for National Statistics
1920
1935
1950
1965
1980
1995
Changing demographic context of parenthood
500,000
Number of marriages and divorces, England and Wales
450,000
400,000
350,000
300,000
250,000
200,000
150,000
100,000
50,000
0
1860
marriages
divorces
1870
1880
1890
1900
1910
Source: Office for National Statistics
1920
1930
1940
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
Sociology and family
• 1950s sociology
• Feminist critique of the 1970s and 80s
• Today: individualism, diversity and “doing” family
Insights from demography
• Beanpole families
• Non-resident parents
At an individual level..
Levin and Trost (1992) Family Relations, Vol. 41, No. 3
How is family operationalised in quantitative studies?
UK 2001 Census definition:
“a married or cohabiting couple with or without child(ren) or
a lone parent with child(ren). Child(ren) may be dependent
or non-dependent.”
Structure of analysis
• How can we translate sociological theory
empirically in the secondary analysis of a
large, interdisciplinary data set?
• How can we adapt this to a health outcome?
• Does it affect child health?
Millennium Cohort Study
• Prospective cohort study
•18,000 children born in 2000/2001 in the UK
• Over-sample of ethnically mixed and disadvantaged
areas
• Home interviews
•Sweep 1-- 9 months
•Sweep 2-- 3 years
•Sweep 3-- 5 years
Pooling and sharing
of resources
HH socioeconomic
characteristics
Family
structure
Networks
Family
processes
Quality of relationships
Health behaviours
Child health
and wellbeing
Pooling and sharing
of resources
HH
demographic &
socio-economic
characteristics
Family
structure
Networks
Family
processes
Quality of relationships
Health behaviours
Child health
and wellbeing
Lone parent
18%
Cohabiting
23%
Married
59%
Family characteristics
Maternal mean age
31
29
27
25
23
21
19
17
15
Married
Cohabiting
Lone parent
Maternal annual household income
£30,015
£25,015
£20,015
£15,015
£10,015
£5,015
£15
Married
Cohabiting
Lone parent
Persistent poverty index
100%
80%
Never poor
60%
Poor at one sweep
Poor at both sweeps
40%
20%
0%
Married
Cohabiting
Lone parent
Diversity over the lifecourse
9 months
3 yrs
5 yrs
Married @ birth still
married at
98.5
92.7
88.4
Cohabiting @ birth
still cohabiting at
85.7
53.5
45.5
Lone parent @ birth
still lone parent at
75.3
53
44
Proportion of households who experience a change in parents
Relationship
status at birth
3 yrs
5 yrs
Overall
Married
2.3
8.9
10.3
4.9
10.6
14.6
16.4
12
27.6
Cohabiting
Lone parent
Whether from a one-parent family
Black African
Black Caribbean
Bangladeshi
Pakistani
Indian
White
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Ethnic variation in family living arrangements
Black African
Black Caribbean
Bangladeshi
Married
Cohabiting
One parent
Pakistani
Indian
White
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
The larger family
How often non-resident father sees baby
More than 4 times a week
Once or twice a week
Less often
Never
Grandparents live in the household
25
20
15
10
5
0
Married
Cohabiting
Lone parent
Do family living arrangements affect child health?
Mean birthweight by family living arrangement
3390
3370
3350
Birthw eight 3330
(gram s)
3310
3290
3270
3250
Married
Cohabiting
One parent
Total
Asthma by age 3 yr
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Married
Cohabiting
Lone parent
Conclusion
• Different family structures have different socioeconomic profiles
• Diversity of family structures over the lifecourse
• The importance of non-resident parents and
grandparents
• Diversity over ethnic groups
Thank you
Mel Bartley
Yvonne Kelly
Anne McMunn
Amanda Sacker
ESRC/MRC