Parents and Children
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The Social Construction of Parenting
Society’s expectations for parents vary depending on time, place, and social location.
• Social constructions based on historical, economic, social forces
• Only 7% of current U.S. households fit “traditional nuclear family pattern”, dual income
families with no children outnumber traditional families by almost 2 to 1
Presumed “universals” of motherhood are false
• Most important source of fulfillment, maternal instinct
Expectations for fatherhood have changed from colonial times through industrial revolution to
contemporary dual income families
Consequences of high number of women in paid labor force
• The isolated homemaker is no longer dominant.
• Compulsory motherhood is weakening as more women choose not to marry.
• The relationship between marriage and childbearing is weakening as more women are
becoming parents without husbands.
The Social Construction of Childhood
The experience of childhood also varies by time, place, and social location.
Social forces change the way (middle class) children are raised now
• Separated from work roles: more leisure time, more time away from parents
• Most raised in large cities and suburbs
• More involved in adult (nonparent) organized activities: segregated from parents,
overscheduled, increased outside influences, loss of spontaneity & creativity
• Technological innovations: computer, television, video games
• Smaller family size: more individual attention, resources per child
• Consumerism: confluence of corporate marketing, peer pressure, parental & other adult
behavior conveys cultural message that self-worth is measured in what we possess
Parenting style has become more flexible, less authoritarian: children less inhibited, greater sense
of entitlement, fewer parental controls
Parenting styles vary by social class, contribute to reproduction of class inequality
“New” stage in the life course between adolescence and adulthood termed “emerging adulthood”
• Response of young people to structural changes in labor market, demand for more
education, high cost of education & housing
Demographic Patterns
Fertility – The fertility rate has been declining since 1800.
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Four important swings in birth rate over last century
– Sharp drop during Great Depression (1930-1939), sharp increase during Baby Boom (19471964), drop to all-time low (below replacement level) in 1975, gradual increase over last 30
years to replacement level
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Reasons for relatively low fertility rate today
– Later marriage, high divorce rate, majority of women in labor force, current economic
circumstances require 2 incomes, legal abortion (1/4 of pregnancies not ending in
miscarriages or stillbirths are aborted)
Consequences of Low Fertility
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More economic resources for each child
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Small family size is related to positive physical and intellectual outcomes for children and
increased marital satisfaction.
Differential Fertility
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Fertility rates vary most notably by social class and race. More privileged segments of society are
likely to have fewer children. Those least able to afford children have larger families.
– Acceptance of traditional gender roles & pronatalism
– Number & attractiveness of alternatives
– Age at marriage
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Social Class
• Higher income, lower fertility
• Greater educational attainment, lower fertility
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Race/Ethnicity – The primary explanation for the relationship between race and fertility is that
socioeconomic factors (differences in income, education, occupation) press the disadvantaged
toward pronatalist beliefs & practices. In addition, large families are a form of adaptation to
economic deprivation.
• Whites have lowest fertility rate followed in order by Asian/Pacific Islanders, Native Americans,
African Americans, & Latinos considerably higher than the rest
• Fertility rates by race rise or fall in tandem
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Religion – People who actively practice a religion tend to have higher fertility. Certain religions
encourage high fertility.
Voluntary Childlessness
• The percentage of women remaining childless has increased from 10% in 1980 to 19% now.
(includes 8% of women who want children are unable to bear them)
• Voluntarily childlessness is stigmatized (especially women)
• Common patterns
• Both partners make commitment before marriage
• Conscious choice made after launching successful career
• Series of decisions to postpone childbearing until it is no longer considered desirable (most
common)
Infertility and New Technologies
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Infertility is a problem for about 1 out of 8 of couples desiring to have children. (about 40%
caused by male partner)
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Increased options available have resulted in decrease in proportion of involuntarily childless
couples
• In vitro fertilization
• Artificial insemination
• Surrogate mothering
• Fertility drugs
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Ethical issues involving new reproductive technologies
– No professional standards or protocols for assisted reproduction
– Multiple pregnancies likely to result in abortion of some or all embryos/fetuses or birth of
handicapped children
– Diversion of limited medical resources from prenatal care for all pregnant women to intensive
care for multiple birth babies
– Assisted reproduction available only to the most affluent infertile couples
– Commercialization of sperm and egg donation as well as surrogate motherhood
– “Market system” places interests of infertile couples and physicians ahead of interests of
children
– Potential for genetic engineering and cloning
– Legal status of involved parties is uncertain
Delayed Childbearing
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Clear trend for contemporary couples to delay childbearing based on two factors
• Increased age at first marriage
• Greater likelihood of highly educated women launching careers before having children
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Increased health risk for babies born to mothers in their mid-thirties or older
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Other consequences include greater age gap between parents & children, cost of college
education nearer to retirement
Family Composition
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Size - Increasing proportions of couples with no children & one child families has resulted in
gradual shrinking of family size.
Family Forms
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Solo childhood
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Unmarried parenting
• Fewer unwed births are the result of unplanned pregnancies among young women & more are
due to conscious decisions by older women
• 41% of nonmarital births are now to cohabiting couples (two parent families)
• More common for Latinos & African Americans than Whites
• Teen birth rate in U.S. has been dropping since 1957, but still highest among developed
countries
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Adoption
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Transracial or transcultural adoption (about 15 % of all adoptions)
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Foster care
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Grandparents raising grandchildren
• Differences based on race
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Multigenerational families
• Most common in areas with high immigration
• Sandwich generation
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Older children still living at home (boomerang generation)
• Majority are students, rest are unemployed, recently divorced/separated, or working at low
wage entry level jobs
• Caused by unemployment, low wage employment, cost of education, debt, unmarried
parenthood, later age at marriage
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Mixed-race children
• Increased by 400% over last 25 years
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Same-sex parents
• Legality of homosexual parenthood varies by state and by judge: in general, laws & courts are
hostile to same sex couples in custody and adoption issues
• Children of gay & lesbian parents develop normally, including their sexual identity & orientation
• Key to healthy emotional growth of children is empathetic attachment to an adult caretaker
(male or female, gay or straight)
The Impact of Children on Marriage
Transition to Parenthood
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Research finds that children have a negative effect on marital happiness. (lowest point during
children’s adolescence)
Benefits of Parenthood
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Benefits of parenthood include symbolic immortality, enhanced status, and a sense of meaning
for parents’ lives, greater integration into community.
Costs of Parenthood
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Parenthood has both emotional and economic costs.
Gendered Parenting
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Increase in men’s involvement with pregnancy & birth has not resulted in equal responsibility for
child care
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Fathers spend more time with sons than daughters
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Children of nontraditional (more egalitarian) parents develop normally
Bilateral Model of Parent-Child Relations
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Influence flows both from parent to child and from child to parent
The Structure of the Family Embedded in a Larger Network of Influences
Family Structure
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One-child families - Only children are superior to children with siblings on virtually all positive
dimensions.
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Family size - The addition of each child diminishes the resources that a family has for each child.
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Birth order - First-born children have a strong tendency to adopt the values of their parents, to be
less influenced by peers, more achievement oriented, excel in school, have high level of selfesteem.
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Primary parents
• Absence of same sex parent in single parent family tends to have negative impact
• Presence of two adults (even if one is not a parent) diminishes adolescent behavior problems
• Nontraditional gender role families do not have adverse impact on children
• Children of same sex parents have normal relationships with peers & adults of both sexes
• Children do better in stable living arrangements than transitory ones (even if stability involves
single parent)
• Children in step-families are more likely to experience range of adjustment problems
Extrafamilial Factors
• Work-related factors, such as job satisfaction, transfers, sexual harassment, and discrimination
affect parent-child interaction.
• As children grow, parental influence decreases while child care, school, extracurricular activities, &
peer influences increase
• Economic resources & social class affect life chances
• Ascribed characteristics place children in the perceptions of others: when poor & minority children
learn that they are devalued by others it lowers self esteem & self worth
Parents & Children in Dual-Earner Families
Maternal Employment & Time with Children
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Despite the rapid rise in mothers’ labor force participation, mothers’ time with children has
remained stable over time.
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In two parent families, the time has actually increased
• Smaller family size; shared housework, leisure, & educational activities, modified work
schedules
Social Supports for Working Families
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Communities and workplaces do not generally provide adequate social supports for working
parents.
• U.S. lags behind most developed nations in flextime, paid maternity leave
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Over ¾ of preschoolers are cared for by someone other than parent (largest category is centerbased care)
• Research concludes that day care can be a positive experience for children if the care is of
high quality.
• Caregiver/child ratio, staff training & education, staff turnover (related to salary & benefits)
• Most working parents have problems finding available, affordable, quality care
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Single Parents & their Children
1/4 of U.S. children live in one-parent households.
85% of single-parent households are headed by a woman due to high divorce rate, custody
decisions; high rate of never married mothers
Children from single-parent families are more likely to experience behavioral problems, low
school performance, early marriage, divorce
Primarily caused by living in poverty
• Reasons for disproportionate number of female headed households in poverty: (1) many
single mothers are young, never married, little education, poorly paid if they work; (2) many
divorced or separated women find it difficult to re-enter the labor market; (3) jobs for women
are poorly paid – 77% of male income; (4) lack of child support payments – ½ of men don’t
pay all they owe, ¼ don’t pay anything, those women who do receive support find that it
covers less than ½ of expense to raise child
Economic problems of female headed households are worse for people of color
Other factors which account for negative outcomes include:
• Single parents experience responsibility overload, task overload, & emotional overload
• Children being separated from one of their parents
• Emotional strain of moving away from friends & social isolation