Rev Bras Est Popul_familia

8/12/2019 Rev Bras Est Popul_familia

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R. bras. Est. Pop., Rio de Janeiro, v. , n. , p. -, jan./jun.

Reviewing amily studies:a brie comment on selected topics*

Maria Carolina Toms**

In the ace o changes in the amily and o academic concerns that have become evident in

the study o the inluence o such changes, the data collecting and theoretical ramework

used in amily research deserve close attention. In this paper I review briely some important

international contributions to the field o amily studies and point out challenges and still

unanswered questions or uture research in Brazil. The three main topics treated here are:

) changes in the concept o amily; ) womens, and especially mothers, presence in the

labor market (income, job opportunities, hiring preerences, etc.) and, more specifically, the

transormation o the discussion rom the working woman to the working amily; and, ) theinluence o both these aspects on child rearing. At the end o the paper I reinorce previous

research suggesting improvements in projects or collecting data. On the theoretical side I

highlight the importance o three rameworks. First, the economic aspect o social action is

not the only actor effecting how people make decisions in the amily sphere. Second, there

is need to revise the theory o the Second Demographic Transition approach, especially

regarding migration and mortality and their relationship to amily. Third, there is need or

greater integration among demographic studies, gender studies, and eminist theories.

Keywords: Family changes. Childrens outcomes. Women and working amilies.

* I am grateul to Proessor Michael Hout or our discussions about the amily in the United States and or reading and

commenting on my first relections in the field that later became this paper. I also wish to thank the two anonymousreviewers who gave important contributions to the discussion and Flvia P. Xavier or reading and commenting on my last

draf beore resubmitting.**PhD in Sociology and Demography rom University o Caliornia, Berkeley, and substitute proessor or the Department

o Demography at the Regional Development and Planning Center (Cedeplar) at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

(UFMG) ([email protected]).


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Reviewing family studiesToms, M.C.

Introduction

Family is a very important topic o study in the social sciences. Topics such as marriage,

divorce, parental inluence on childrens outcome, and emale labor orce participation andits effects on amily lie are common objects o analyses. In this paper, I briely review some

important international contributions to the field o amily studies, contextualize the discussion

in Brazil, and point to some challenges and still unanswered questions or uture research in

Brazil. Thereore, my objective here is not to extensively discuss each topic, but to motivate

other researchers to ocus more attention on studying the amily in order to answer these

and other questions, and produce more appropriate data or our analyses.

There have been at least three important changes in the amily in recent decades: an

increase in divorce rates, an increase in single-parent amilies, and an increase in women inthe labor orce, especially mothers. Great efforts have been made to understand how these

changes may affect different areas, including the concepts o amily, womens labor market

outcomes, and the relationships between changes in amilies (i.e. increased hours mothers

spend away rom home and single parenting) and childrens outcomes. In this essay, I discuss

these three topics, which have also been treated in numerous other studies on the amily.

The main challenges or discussing these topics are, first, to obtain appropriate data

or dealing with the changes in amily structure and meanings, and, second, to incorporate

a more suitable theoretical ramework. One o the important contributions o the field odemography is the discussion on the Second Demographic Transition (SDT). This discussion

ocuses not only on the dynamic o demographic components but also, and especially, on

differences in behavior toward amily ormation (new arrangements, increased cohabitation,

and late marriages, or example), amily dissolution (increased divorce rates), and slower

transition to adulthood (LESTHAEGHE, , ). The SDT represents a great ideational

change that inluences the size, orm, and composition o amilies.

It is important to consider ideational changes when deciding how we should conceptualize

and study the amily and how we should discuss women, and especially mothers, in their labororce participation and their childrens lie outcomes. We need to question whether the data

and the theoretical ramework are still sufficient and appropriate or the analysis. Thereore,

I intend to discuss these three topics naming the concepts o amily, childrens outcomes,

and womens outcomes in the labor market and their consequences on children and amily

lie then raise some unanswered questions or Brazil and discuss important challenges in

data and methodology that we ace in studying the amily.

The article is divided into five sections. The first section is this brie introduction, the

ollowing section discusses the concept o amily, and the third part approaches what I callthe transition rom working women to working amilies. The ourth section presents studies

and suggestions or research on amilies and parents inluence on childrens outcomes.

In the last part, I conclude by summarizing problems in data collection and point out a ew


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important theoretical rameworks that should be considered in amily studies. I also highlight

topics that have not been sufficiently explored in amily research in Brazil.

The concept of family

In this section I ocus on two questions: () What is amily? and () Do changes in the

amily represent a real rupture rom what was considered amily or an ongoing process o

change but without losing the main characteristics o amily relations ? The answers to the

second question are intimately related to the concept o amily that is adopted in the study.

Moreover, this discussion is quite similar to the debate on the Second Demographic Transition

because in this ramework there is also a question as to whether the changes in the amily,

especially in ertility, have characterized a new transition or are merely a continuation o theFirst Demographic Transition (i.e.: CLIQUET, ; COLEMAN, , ).

Although amily is a central research topic in the social sciences, definitions o it may

vary. For Bongaarts (, p.), [t]he amily and the household are the most undamental

socioeconomic institutions in human society. The principal social unction o the amily is

to bring children into the world and to care or them until they can support themselves.

He continues by stating that amily is a sphere that balances resources across generations.

Thereore, amily is a solution or the act that, during their lietimes, everyone has a sequence

o net consumption (during childhood), net production (during adulthood) and, again, net

consumption (during old age). The solution takes the orm o implicit contracts that are built

into marriage and parenthood and that are enorced by social control.

In empirical research, especially surveys, the amily is usually defined as a group o

persons related by blood, marriage, or adoption and living in the same residence (BURCH,

; BONGAARTS, ; TILLMAN; NAM, ). This definition is basically synonymous

with the nuclear amily. Some researchers find the definition limited and problematic because

it does not relect all the real potential resources involved, such as occasional economic

support or children rom a non-resident parent or economic help or elders that live alone,

all o whom may be amily members.

Tillman and Nam () noted the limitations o the standard definition o amily.

Analyzing data or the Netherlands, these authors showed that amily size and composition

change according to the definition o amily. They presented three definitions: (i) a standard

residence-based definition, that is, a relationship based on blood, marriage, adoption, and

co-residence; (ii) an expanded residence-based definition, which includes cohabiting spouses

and their children; (iii) and a broader non-residence-based definition, which expands the

definition even urther to include non-resident spouses and children. The results suggest

the inclusion o persons other than nuclear amily members in the analysis. As the authorshighlighted, this actor is important or public policy ormulation.

Lloyd and Desai () investigated variations in living arrangements. They ocused on

childrens experience living with their mother, ather, and siblings and on households with


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multiple generations, in developing countries. They concluded that, contrary to some

expectations, in many countries o sub-Saharan Arica and Latin America, as opposed to parts

o Asia and North Arica, children spend a substantial proportion o their childhood years

apart rom one or both parents and, by extension, apart rom at least some o their siblings. In

addition, a significant number o children, particularly in sub-Saharan Arica, receive support

rom adults other than their parents.

Similarly, Bengtson () proposed that amily analysis should go beyond the definition

o the nuclear amily. He ocused on multigenerational relationships and suggested that these

relationships are more important in the st century because o several actors, such as i)

changes in population aging, which result in longer years o shared lives among persons

o different generations; ii) the increasing importance o grandparents and other relatives in

ulfilling amily unctions; and iii) the strength and resilience o intergenerational solidarityover time. In relation to Bengtsons () first actor, Watkins et al.s () work showed

that despite declining ertility and higher divorce rates, women in the and cohorts

spent more years in marriage and as parents than did women rom earlier generations. They

also spent more years as children o aged parents.

Mare () highlighted the importance o considering multigenerational ties in social

science research. Grandparents resources, or example, can inluence grandchildrens

well-being and uture outcomes, as these younger individuals are directly inluenced by

previous generations resources. In addition, multigenerational relations inluence populationreproduction. As Mare highlighted, multigenerational inluence also operates through the

demographic process, meaning differential ertility, survival, migration, and marriage patterns.

His approach ocuses on intergenerational mobility, but one can expand this view to other

studies, especially in Brazil, where there has been very little discussion regarding the role o

previous generations other than parents regarding inequality and poverty.

There are, thereore, different concepts o and approaches to amily, each having a

different operationalization. They are also inluenced by the available research resources,

especially available data.

Methodological issues and the concept of family

The definition o amily, its composition, and its size are important eatures or social

research and public policy orientation. Whether and how cohabiting couples, same sex

couples, and nonresidential members are considered may inluence results, especially in

studies on childrens outcomes and household composition. In addition to definitions o the

amily, studies in this field ace other important methodological difficulties, such as defining

head o household, defining children and youth, and determining the differences betweenhousehold and amily.

Defining head o household is ar rom trivial because it is culturally inluenced. It

especially depends on gender roles because, in more traditional societies, people are more


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likely to report the man as the head o the household. In addition, the question is usually

sel-declared, meaning that the respondent can use any criteria at all or reporting who the

head o the household is. Thereore, different persons may define the head o the household

differently, since some might reer to the individual with the highest income whereas others

may indicate the person who carries the most weight in making decisions in the household.

Another methodological issue is the definition o children. Bongaarts (), or example,

considered children to be individuals who are age or under, whereas Lyod and Desai

() consider children to be individuals under the age o . In Brazil, children are defined

as individuals aged or under. Some studies divide the group into ages to and to .

Defining youth is also a topic o discussion. Youth are defined as individuals between

the ages o and (VIEIRA, ). This definition is ar rom trivial because, although

age is not the only actor or defining transitions in lie, the use o different age ranges caninluence results or studies on whether and how the transition to adulthood is changing.

These changes are very important or understanding modifications in the processes o amily

ormation, such as marriage timing and decisions about having children.

On the other hand, given the available data and the research question, authors may select

different age groups. Vieira (), or example, selected points that mark the transition to

adulthood. She determined a wide age range, ages to , to be able to identiy the actual

point that marks the transition. Toms et al. (), on the other hand, selected individuals

between ages and , because these authors wanted to include parental characteristics,and afer age children are more likely to have already moved out o their parents home

(TOMS, ). Although these two studies were motivated by different questions, there is

agreement that the transition occurs between the ages o and .

Another important observation is related to the difference between amily and household.

Depending on the definition o amily that one uses, there may be more than one amily in a

household. Household is usually defined as a group o persons (or one person) who make

common provisions or ood, shelter, and other essentials or living. According to the United

Nations (), amily is defined as the members o a household who are related by marriage,

blood, or adoption (BONGAARTS, ). This is the classic definition o the nuclear amily.

One important piece o evidence to indicate that household and amily are different is the

relationship between the proximate determinants o household size (ertility, age at marriage,

divorce, adoption, nuptiality, mortality, and migration) and the number o members in a

household and in a nuclear amily. Bongaarts () ound that ertility, age at marriage and

proportion o heads o household living without a spouse explain only % o the variation in

average household size in selected developing countries, whereas this actor explains %

o the variation in average amily size. This difference occurs because many households in

developing countries include non-nuclear members.In Brazil we usually consider amily as persons living in the same household and related

by marital union (ormal or inormal), biological parenting, or adoption by at least one o the

spouses. Even when there is inormation about more than one amily living in the household,


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most studies use only the first amily or consider each amily as independent o the other.

Because there are no data on biological parents, it is assumed that children who live with

a amily are biologically related to or adopted by at least the head o household or his/her

spouse. Some potential problems in this approach are the exclusion o children living in

different households, the attribution o characteristics o stepparents to children, and the

exclusion o characteristics o parents who live in other households. These problems tend to

be greater when studying contemporary amilies because o the increased divorce rates and

single parenting. Another issue is considering different amilies living in the same household

as being independent o one another, although they may be related by blood and co-residing.

They may even share resources and help each other in ulfilling amily unctions.

In the Demographic Censuses, the Demographic Health Survey (DHS) and the Pesquisa

Nacional de Demografia e Sade(National Demographic and Health Survey) (PNDS), themarital status o respondents, whether ormal or inormal, can be identified. But these surveys

provide no inormation about the ather o the children and whether the male spouse living

in the household is their biological ather or stepather. When using the Pesquisa Nacional

por Amostra de Domiclios(National Sample Household Survey) (PNAD), except or the years

between and , and or , amily structure is even more uncertain because

there is no inormation about the type o relationship o the head o the household with her

or his spouse. It is only assumed that they are in some type o union (it is unknown whether

the union constitutes cohabitation or marriage), and that they are the parents o the childrenliving in the household. These data are becoming more and more difficult to use, in view o

the changes that amilies are undergoing today (rising divorce rates, single parenthood, and

the importance o other relatives). It is worth highlighting that, in , the Brazilian Statistics

Bureau (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatstica) (IBGE) stopped asking about marital

status in the PNADs, but this variable returned in .

Is the family in trouble?

Even without an agreement on the definition o amily, most researchers argue that the

amily is in trouble or is at least changing. The changes most ofen discussed (and I would

say mostly agreed upon) are the increases in emale labor orce participation, divorce,

cohabitation, and single parenthood rates.

One o the explanations or these changes is the act that low-income male high-school

graduates are increasingly having to take on lower paying jobs and are thereore becoming

less interesting to emales. Thus, women, especially those with low levels o education, are

more motivated to stay single than to marry. In addition, higher public welare benefits may

also help to explain the increase in single motherhood. Another actor consists o the overallreductions in the advantages o marriage due to a decline in specialization, since more women

are working outside the home. More independent women relect increased singlehood and

higher divorce rates (BECKER et al., ).


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Another possible explanation consists o changes in the meaning o marriage (EDIN;

KALAFAS, ; CHERLIN, ). Marriage has become an expression o sel-realization

whereby couples are expected to go through a series o steps leading to marriage, which can

be considered a capstone. The change in the meaning o marriage may also explain the greater

numbers o divorces. As marriage gradually became a space or sel-realization, individuals

in relationships that ail to contribute to their sel-development are now more likely to leave

them. Lastly, changes in normative expectations also help explain current changes, as there

is now greater acceptance o non-marital co-residence, single parenthood, and stepamilies.

Individuals are no longer excluded rom their social circles because o taboos related to amily.

Another question related to amily difficulties is whether the changes are new or a

continuation o a previous process. Bumpass () argues that these changes are a

continuation o earlier changes that occurred as the result o secularization and modernization.Fischer and Hout () argue that many amily troubles are not as problematic as they

would have been in earlier times. For the authors, the greatest demographic changes occur

among the elderly as they have greatly inluenced the increase in the percentages o people

living alone. In contrast, much discussed matters such as amily dissolution and amily intimacy

remained much more stable.

Fischer and Hout () divided the changes into three groups. The first group includes

major changes: the change in the proportion o persons living alone, the decrease in the birth

rate, and the increase in emale labor orce participation. The second group consists o modestchanges: the change in age at marriage, the higher divorce rate, the longer period beore

marriage, and increased cohabitation. The third group encompasses changes considered

minor or minimal: the continuing value o both marriage and children, the act that most

Americans (about %) eventually marry, and tolerance or extramarital sex. Thereore, some

o the changes that are identified as new are actually continuations o gradual changes.

Many o the changes discussed by several authors must be contextualized. Fischer and

Hout () highlighted that in order to talk about troubles in the amily, we must speciy

for whom, and when, the changes occurred. As ar asfor whom, Fischer and Hout brought

up the example o the increase in the numbers o persons living alone. Although many

analyses claim that this increase is due to greater numbers o single persons, or example,

these authors showed that a great part o the increase in persons living by themselves is

due to greater numbers o widows, resulting rom lower death rates. Similar observations

have been made regarding Brazil (i.e.: BERQU, ; GOLDANI, ; CAMARANO et al.,

). Some have also noted that the main change in amily dissolution is that, in the past,

it was more ofen due to death, wars, economic dislocations and inertility (external events),

whereas today amilies dissolve due to choices and changes in values and options. This is a

very important point or research on the Second Demographic Transition because it showsthat the main change was ideational, involving trends in the area o cultural norms. As ar

as whenthe changes occurred, Fischer and Hout () state that the turning point was

between and .


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Goldscheider and Bures () also approached the questions o changesfor whom

and whenin a different analysis. They showed that there was a racial crossover in terms o

the numbers o adults living in complex amilies. This crossover demonstrates that, in the

past, blacks were more likely than whites to leave home and marry at young ages and were

less likely to co-reside with other amily members at older ages. The act that, young black

adults are now more likely than their white counterparts to live in complex amilies is not due

to an increase in amily complexity among blacks, but rather due to a rapid decrease in the

number o young white adults living in complex amilies. The authors also discussed that the

higher level o amily complexity among blacks in the United States is both a relatively new

phenomenon and one that is not limited to single-parent amilies; it characterizes people

o all ages, those with and without children, and men as well as women. As ar as whenthe

crossover took place, Goldscheider and Bures estimated that it was in about .Another important point or consideration when analyzing the amily crisis is the

concept o the nuclear amily. Besides the potential problems involved in terms o amily

living arrangements, as pointed out in this section, Bengtson () called attention to two

considerations that might come up in discussions on the amily. First, there is an expected

decrease in household size and household complexity and a convergence to nuclear

amilies as society becomes more industrialized and more modern. This expectation might

not be happening in modern society because o increasing diversity in amily structure and

the amilys unctions. For Bengtson, amilies are changing and becoming more diverse,expanding beyond the concept o the nuclear amily and involving a variety o kin and

non-kin relationships.

Bongaarts () was also interested in the validity o the concept o the nuclear amily.

He analyzed whether developing countries are converging to the nuclear amily, but he ailed

to find a consistent trend in this direction. Durham () raised a different perspective. For

her, the different amily arrangements in society cannot be interpreted as cultural changes. She

sees them rather as adjusted orms o the role model (nuclear amily) in order to fill specific

demands in society. Thereore, this author does not see the emergence or the increase in

different types o amilies as indicators o a amily crisis.

Bengtsons () second point is the act that changes in the amily do not mean that

this institution is in danger o devaluation or extinction. This point is very important because,

given the existence o the variety o amily structures in contemporary society, strictly defining

amily as the nuclear amily could increase the likelihood o considering that the institution

is in trouble. Thereore, Bengtson () proposed that amily relationships across several

generations are becoming ever more important (as already discussed) and, in this sense,

the amily decline hypothesis is limited by its concentration on the amily as a co-resident

household and the nuclear amily as its primary representation.Therborn () analyzed changes in the amily during the period between and

considering all parts o the world. He concludes that the sexual revolution was not

worldwide, and the changes in the amily are not necessarily evolutionary. He highlights that


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some o what are now termed new behaviors were common in Europe during the th

century. Some new orms, or less requent orms, became more common in th century,

such as dual-income couples, couples without children, and elderly persons living alone. The

main change or this author and or Durham (), who analyzed only Brazil, was the end

o the patriarchy as the model amily.

Analyzing the case o Brazil, Berqu () asked whether the increase in urbanization

and industrialization in Brazil would produce the same expectations and the same changes as

were seen in more developed countries. She concludes that between and Brazil

began showing amily characteristics similar to those seen in more developed countries. For

her, technological advances allowed people to both limit ertility and live longer, and this

reality altered amily size and structure. In addition, the eminist conquests inluenced celibacy,

age at first union, the type o union, and the duration and dissolution o relationships. ForCamarano et al. (), the changes taking place in Brazil are along the same lines as those

in the more developed countries, such as changes in size, orm and composition o amilies,

a trend that relects a more individualistic view o the world.

On the other hand, it seems that the modernization o the amily in Brazil does not

mean a mass transition rom an extensive amily model to a nuclear amily model, but the

predominance o the nuclear amily combined with a very requent presence o other types o

amily (BILAC, , p. ). The possible explanations or this are: i) the economic instability

o the majority o the population (BILAC, ; BERQU; OLIVEIRA, ), who are unableto maintain their own households and are orced to live with relatives; ii) changes in the

legislation, such as, the law which allowed divorce (BERQU; OLIVEIRA, ; OLIVEIRA,

; GOLDANI, ); iii) migration, especially during the period o intense urbanization

(BILAC, ); and iv) changes in amily social norms, this last point having been discussed

by all the authors mentioned above.

The role o legislation is emphasized by Goldani (), who states that there has been a

change in the concept o amily in the legislation. The Brazilian Constitution enacted in

defines amily as a stable relationship between a man and a woman. This new concept ocuses

on the need to protect amily dependents, such as children, youth, and elderly people. In this

sense, the Constitution recognizes the asymmetry o power among amily members. Berqu

and Oliveira (), and Oliveira (), ocused on the role o legislation in increasing the

number o separations and divorce. Although there is a recognition o the role o changes

that have taken place in the legislation, all authors agree that cultural changes were the

most important actor or transorming the amily. They include the broader acceptability

o non-marital sex, more women in the work orce, ewer social stigma, and other actors

(GOLDANI, ).

The role o economics is amply explored in Berqu and Oliveira (), where they analyzeabsolute marriage rates in Brazil in contrast to the economic situation during the s,

and ound a decrease in marriage rates. A different emphasis is given by Bilac (), who

concludes that the socioeconomic conditions o the majority o the Brazilian population are


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unstable, a actor that prevents the nuclear residence model to spread in Brazil as it did in

Europe. Goldani () also highlights the importance o solidarity among relatives or the

amily configuration in Brazil, especially among the poor. In contrast, or the middle class the

existence o different amily arrangements is due to the lack o satisaction with the nuclear

amily as the model, ollowing the logic o individualism.

It seems that although many authors treat the amily as an institution at risk, others

acknowledge that it is still important or most people. One point worth highlighting is that

marriage has not lost its meaning. Bumpass () says that virtually everyone plans to

marry, and almost % are likely to do so. Marriage is not going out o style, but it is being

progressively delayed (p.). For Cherlin (), marriage has not lost its unction and

importance in society; it has changed its meaning: it became the capstone, an expression

o sel-realization, and a space or individual development.In the context o an increasing transormation in the amily, Bumpass (, p.)

asks Why is there still amily? His answer is that, The status our society ascribes to marital

and parenting roles is eroding in comparison with those o the workplace, but the majority

o us continue to find amily roles intrinsically and uniquely rewarding. Relational aspects

o amily are not available at the marketplace, so the emotional ulfillment and the benefits

o having a amily make up or ailings in other spheres o lie. Therborn (), using

Bilacs () words, concludes that the sexual revolution did not decrease the desire or

deep, longstanding, and exclusive emotional relationships. At the same time that there is avalorization o individualism, there is also a real dependence on amily.

Finally, I want to discuss the implications and perspectives or Brazilian studies on the

concept o amily. To broaden our knowledge o changes in the amily we must invest in two

types o research. First we might aim at research on ideational changes, using the World

Value Survey as a good source o data. Most studies in Brazil that use these data are in the

area o political science (i.e. RIBEIRO, ; RIBEIRO; BORBA, ), or are analyses that

ocus on changes in values and their consequences regarding issues in Brazil (i.e. RIBEIRO,

). It is important to determine whether values, norms, and ideas regarding amily are

changing at the same pace that rates and proportions are. The second type o investment

that must be made is in the area o data collection on amily structure. One example is that

analyses o cohabitation can count on only two sources o data in Brazil. One consists o the

Federal Censuses, with the problem that the inormation is updated only every ten years.

Other resources are the DHS and PNDS data but, unortunately, these surveys contain very

little inormation about spouses. For example, the PNAD results do not speciy whether

marital status is ormal or inormal.

Moreover, analyses o the meaning o cohabitation and its degree o equivalence to

marriage are still incipient in Brazil. In most analyses, cohabitation and marriage are treatedalike, but in some studies, analyses are separated by type o relationship (see, or example,

LONGO; RIBEIRO, ; OLIVEIRA et al., ; MUNIZ; RIOS-NETO, ; LAZO; MORAES,

). One o the first works to treat cohabitation as the main object o analysis was Costas


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Women, including mothers, have increased their participation in the labor orce. However,

they are ar rom having the same outcomes as men. Women have lower average incomes,

are underrepresented in occupations with higher status, and ace more difficulties in getting

jobs and being promoted.

The mechanisms or these differences are still being debated. Are the differences due to

gender or are they due mainly to marital and/or childbearing statuses? How should men and

women be compared? Sewell et al. () analyzed the mechanism o status achievement,

comparing men and women. They concluded that women, on the average, have a higher status

in their first ull-time job, but they lose points (about ) on Duncans scale when comparing

this first ull-time job with their current occupation. On the other hand, men, afer their first

job, gain about nine points on the scale during their lietimes.

The analysis also compared single, married and childless women with mothers whohave one or more children. The results showed that only single and childless women gain

occupational status between first and current jobs and maintain a rough parity in occupational

standing with men. The authors highlighted that it is not enough simply to compare averages

because occupational variability among women is lower than among men. Overall, women

are underrepresented in the highest and lowest occupational statuses. It seems that the main

cause or differences in mens and womens occupational statuses in their current jobs is

whether or not they have children, and these differences increase with the higher number

o children women have.Sewell et al.s analysis aggregated all men and did not separate single, married and

childless men, and athers in the comparison. Thereore, even accounting or differences

in womens status, the groups are not ully comparable. It would be interesting to compare

single men and single women, and athers and mothers, in order to better access gender

differences. Are athers also penalized? Do single men show better outcomes than athers in

the same way that single and childless women show better outcomes than mothers?

Correll et al. () contributed to this topic. They wanted to better understand the

mechanisms that produce what they called the motherhood penalty in the labor market.

They were interested not only in the wage gap but also in differences in the likelihood o being

hired and promoted. Other outcomes o interest were perception o level o competence and

level o commitment, ability, and evaluation. Conducting a laboratory experiment, they ound

that mothers received the lowest rates or all variables while athers were better evaluated than

single men, and single women received the highest scores. In order to validate these results,

they also conducted an audit study, sending resumes and cover letters to (real) employers

who were hiring or entry-level and mid-level marketing and business job openings at a large

newspaper in the Northeastern United States. The results o this second method support the

findings o the laboratory experiment: mothers were less likely to receive a callback than anyother group. However, there was no evidence o a atherhood bonus. Moreover, childless

women were significantly more likely to receive a callback rom employers than equally

qualified childless men.


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The main conclusion o the study was that motherhood is perceived as a status actor,

due to normative expectations o what it means to be a good mother and an ideal worker.

Mothers are considered less competent and less committed to their jobs, and this mediates

the relationship between motherhood as a status actor and lower labor market outcomes.

These results stressed the importance o considering not only gender but also the amily

dimension when analyzing mens and womens wages, promotions and hiring processes.

Thereore, it is important to compare men and women who have the same marital and

childbearing statuses. The authors highlighted that the laboratory experiment results in which

women who were not mothers had the highest rates might be due to the participants having

evaluated all candidates at the same time and having tried to compensate their discrimination

against mothers by overrating women but not men. Another explanation, in a ootnote and

proposed by an anonymous reviewer, suggests that employers might perceive current ertilityas a sign o uture ertility and thus an apparent commitment to the labor market. However,

the story could be different: due to normative expectations women without children might be

more likely to have at least one than those who already have children. Women who have more

than one child might have already come to the end o their ertility and have no intention o

having more children. Mothers age would also be an important consideration or reaching

better conclusions.

One example o this type o work in Brazil is the analysis o Muniz and Rios-Neto

(), which showed important income differences between persons in ormal unions, anddifferences between single and married men and women. Kassou and Senauer () also

considered emale amily status (head, spouse and children) and estimated wage equations

or women between ages and . They also ound important differences in income,

depending on womens amily status.

While marital and childbearing statuses inluence how people perceive the level o

commitment o emale workers, human capital and labor market investments may also affect

amily ormation and, more specifically, the timing o first marriage and first child. Blosseld

and Huinink () asked this question based on the new home economics approach. This

perspective predicts that investments in education and careers delay womens decisions to

marry and have children. The proposed alternative hypothesis is that amily ormation timing

is defined on the basis o normative expectations toward young women.

Using data or Germany, Blosseld and Huinink ound that womens extended investment

in human capital delays marriage and motherhood due to normative expectations that

young women in school are not yet ready or these transitions. However, increasing career

investments lead women to postpone having children, but not postpone getting married.

Thereore, the new home economics hypothesis that womens continuous investment in

their proessional careers delays childbearing is supported, but the prediction that it delaysmarriage is not born out. The school and work spheres have different effects on amily

ormation, and being married, and having children seem to be perceived differently by women

in terms o how these two elements o amily ormation might affect the uture o their careers.


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With these results in mind, one might ask the ollowing questions: Are women concerned

about their work? Are they concerned about how employers and co-workers are going to

perceive their competence and job commitment? Are they concerned about struggling with

the second shif? These are still unanswered questions in Brazil, where there has been little

effort to disentangle pressures related to normative expectations rom pressures deriving

rom investments in education and career.

Another issue related to normative expectations or womens/mothers roles and the

emale labor market outcomes is the second shif. Hochschild and Machung (, p.)

and their research team separately interviewed both partners o about fify couples. They

documented that % o the interviewed men did not share in any household chores or

childcare. She considers this lack o involvement in the domestic sphere to be a result o

gender ideology and gender strategy. Gender ideology is defined as the set o belies aboutmen and women and marital roles,, whereas gender strategy is the combination o ones

gender ideology and the emotional conlict between ones own gender ideology and the

partners ideology and actions. This imbalance usually results in emotional stress or both

partners and in prioritization o the mans career. In this sense, thereore, women have lower

labor market outcomes not because o discrimination in the labor market, but because o a

lack o attachment to the labor orce and lack o time to dedicate to their careers, as well as

atigue and, especially, the matter o time competition between work and amily. Additionally,

things tend to be harder when they have children. To cope with the second shif, many womensimply do not have leisure time, and sleep less. This finding supports the time use studies

discussed in Bianchi () and Sayer et al. ().

In Brazil, Fontoura et al. () showed that many improvements have been made

in order to achieve more equality between women and men. However, women still spend

much more time doing housework than men and little change has been noted. Mattingly and

Bianchi () also highlighted that despite gains toward gender equality in other domains,

discrepancies persist in the experience o ree time. This is not only a gender issue but also a

class issue. A study about childrens use o time in Brazil shows that working-class girls report

doing more domestic chores than girls in the middle class. In both classes, more girls than

boys do housework, and boys have more leisure time than girls. Thereore, the difference

in the workload o household tasks seems to be a class differentiation among children

(CARVALHO; MACHADO, ). Possible explanations may include ) more gender equality

in middle-class amilies and ) the use o paid labor to do the housework or these amilies.

The solution proposed by Hochschild and Machung () or balancing amily and work

is a New Man, a husband who shares the housework and childcare, cares about his wies

job, and is open to negotiating his own career in order to have a better balance between

work and amily. The interesting point in this conclusion is that i the main mechanism or themotherhood penalty is normative (CORRELL et al., ), the decision as to whether to have

a first child is not related to educational investment but to normative expectations and career

investments. Marriage seems to be affected by neither human capital nor career investments


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(BLOSSFELD; HUININK, ), and given that the majority o men and women marry at some

point in lie and that most o them will also have children, this New Man, not only at home,

but also outside, might be very important or closing the gap between mens and womens

wages, promotions, and hiring rates.

Finally, I want to discuss the title o this section: The transormation rom working

women to working amilies. Why am I not using only the term working women? Because

it has been shown that mothers and childless women are perceived as different types o

workers and have different outcomes in the labor market. In addition, they are also distinct

rom athers and childless men. Moreover, working amilies imply a more complex network

o relationships, as demonstrated by Hochschild and Machung (). In this case both

partners are involved in the conlict between work and amily, and they must negotiate and

reconfigure their gender ideologies and gender strategies in order to lead more balancedlives. Hence, today, analyses must consider the individuals marital status and parenthood,

in contrast to the first discussions on womens labor market outcomes, which concentrated

on differences between men and women. Moreover, in the past, the challenge o balancing

work and amily was analyzed as being a womens problem, ,whereas it has now become

a potential amily problem, or at least an issue that involves more than one amily member.

There has been little discussion about the dimension o gender as a social construction,

and not only as a variable in empirical applications (see, or example, WATKINS, ;

MACKINSSON, ; OLIVEIRA, ; BILAC, , ; RILEY; MCCARTHY, ). Asdiscussed in this section, the problem o balancing work and amily is not only a womens issue,

it is a amily issue, where both spouses must negotiate their gender identities. Fatherhood,

or example, is an important topic or research, especially regarding how men construct their

identity as athers in relation to their gender identity as men. Qualitative research would seem

to be the best way to contribute to this discussion.

Moreover, there is a lack o appropriate data or treating the issue o working mothers

and their decisions in terms o job and motherhood. Longitudinal data is very important or

disentangling causality in the case analyzing work and motherhood and or identiying trendsand changes over time. The use o experiments would also benefit this kind o research, taking

Correls () study as an example. Experiments have much to contribute to the normative

discussion, explaining why and how people make decisions.

One o the main discussions about the greater numbers o women, especially mothers,

in the labor market, is how this all affects childrens outcomes. Moreover, many researchers

are also interested in how changes in the amily structure affect childrens achievements,

and is the theme o the next section.

Family changes and childrens outcomes

The changes in amily discussed in the previous sections raise another set o questions

regarding how the transormations in amily structure and the greater presence o mothers


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in the labor orce may affect childrens outcomes and well-being (i.e. child mortality). In this

section, I discuss an old research topic: how amily/parental characteristics, such as time

amilies spend together and employment status, inluence childrens outcomes. In some

research there is great emphasis on mothers inluence, such as time spent with children. In

contrast, some studies ignore this issue, such as traditional social mobility studies, where

only the athers occupations are considered. In this section, I discuss the importance o

considering parents characteristics, including parents who may not be living in the same

household as their children.

Many studies ocus on the possible negative effects o mothers work on childrens

cognition and well-being, due to the limited time they spend together. This issue is very

important, as emphasized by Coleman () in his approach to the creation o human

capital, where he highlights the importance o child-parent interaction. Some evidence can bedrawn rom studies such as that o Lareaus (), which who emphasized the importance

o conversations at home or language development and extensive reasoning in the middle

class and the importance o athers involvement in single-mother amilies, as concluded by

Beller (). However, the apparent problem o the lack o time seems not to be confirmed,

as the study by Bianchi () showed. The findings are that, in reality, mothers are working

more in terms o salaried activities and spending the same amount o time, or even more,

whit their children. One o the explanations is that, in the past, women spent more time doing

housework and children spent more time with other amily members, such as grandmothersor older siblings. Another explanation is that today, mothers seek ways to maximize their

time with their children.

Other very important issues related to Bianchis () argument regarding amily

transormations include childrens needs and changes in the involvement o athers over

time. For example, children nowadays spend more time at school than in the past and

athers time with their children has increased, a actor that might help explain why the time

mothers spend working may not negatively affect childrens outcomes. Even more relevant

is Bianchis acknowledgement that mothers do what they can to avoid compromising their

time with their children by working part-time, taking periods off rom work, sleeping less,

or having less leisure time than unemployed mothers. Lareau () reinorces this point

through examples o parents efforts: parents work but afer work they do what they can to be

part o their kids lie. to. In addition, the number o years that married women with younger

children (under or under ) spend with their children is much higher today than in the

past (BIANCHI, ; WATKINS et al., ).

Sayer et al. () showed that not only mothers but also married athers spend more

time with their children today. Analyzing data rom time diary surveys rom the s to

the s and using the decomposition method, they show that this change is due toboth compositional (amily composition) and behavioral (parenting practices) actors, but

behavioral actors prevailed. Sayer et al. pointed out some possible reasons or these changes

in behavior: ) parenting today is more voluntary because o the many types o contraception


17/28



available. Consequently, those who do become parents might be willing to spend more time

with their children; and ) saety has become a concern and, today, parental supervision and

monitoring are considered indispensable. The finding that the time mothers spend with their

children did not change significantly, and that athers time (at least that o married athers)

has increased, may indicate why childrens outcomes have not changed drastically in the

wake o mothers higher employment rate.

An important topic in recent research is the relationship between amily arrangements

(intact, non-intact, and complex amilies) and childrens outcomes. It is widely argued that

children who experienced amily disruptions have lower outcomes than children in amilies

with two biological parents, although there is no agreement among researchers on this

point, and the mechanisms and explanations are still unclear and under debate. The main

explanations include i) indirect effects o amily structure due to income loss and mobility

(MCLANAHAN; SANDEFUR, ), the lack o involvement o an absent parent (usually the

ather) (BELLER, ), the limited time spent with parents (BIANCHI, ; SAYER et al.,

), and womens disadvantages in terms o employment and occupational positions

(BIBLARZ; RAFTERY, ); ii) selection effects and endogeneity or the existence o problems

even beore a disruption (BIBLARZ; RAFTERY, ); and iii) per-se amily effects, such as

stress and parents motivations or investing in their children, as proposed by Biblarz and

Rafery ().

McLanahan and Sandeur () analyzed data rom different national surveys and ound

that about hal o the difference in high school dropout rates or children rom single-parent

amilies is due to loss o income. Another important explanation is the dearth o community

resources; children in stepamilies are more likely to move and single-parent amilies

more likely to live in poor neighborhoods; thus, both eel the lack o community resources.

Income might also be related to other resources, such as cultural options, because income,

occupational status and education are highly correlated. We could say that class origin also

plays a undamental role in childrens outcomes not only because o income differences

but also because social class has an important impact on the cultural logic o childbearing(LAREAU, ).

In Brazil, Morais et al. () analyzed whether being in a single-parent amily, in contrast

to being in a two-parent amily, inluences childrens educational outcomes. Using the Grade

Progression Probability method, the authors did not find statistically significant differences

between children rom these two types o amily arrangements.

What is missing in this research in Brazil is, undamentally, the inclusion o data on

parents not living in the same household as their children and data on adults other than

the parents, such as grandparents, in the household. In the United States, McLanahan andSandeur () believe that the presence o a grandmother is negative, and the presence

o a stepparent is not significant because children in these arrangements do just as poorly

as children in single-mother amilies. Unortunately, there is no evidence o such findings in


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Brazil. It is also important to qualiy the single parent, as the authors highlight, exemplified

by the act that being a widow might have a different effect rom never having been married.

Beller () analyzed the impact o amily structure on childrens occupational status and

explores the lower educational outcomes o children in single-parent (usually single-mother)

amilies. One o the actors she stresses is the importance o athers involvement in childrens

educational decisions. In another study by Biblarz and Rafery (), the main conclusion

was that the negative impact o mother-headed households on their sons occupational

attainment is minor and entirely a unction o womens disadvantaged employment and

occupational positions. In a more recent text, Biblarz and Rafery () presented an

evolutionary psychological explanation or the differential in childrens outcomes. The results

showed that children rom single-ather amilies and stepamilies have consistently shown

lower occupational and educational attainment than children rom two-biological-parentamilies as well as rom single-mother amilies. The evolutionary parental investment theory

has both statistical and change predictions that better explain the results, as it predicts that

children rom single-mother amilies will have advantages over those rom single-ather

amilies because mothers have more o their reproductive investment tied up in their children

than do athers. It also predicts that stepparents will be o no advantage to children because

such adults have no real incentive to raise stepchildren. Another possible explanation is the

ormation o new amilies. Manning and Smock () analyzed whether having a new amily

impacts child visitation by athers, and ound that the arrival o new children, especially newbiological children, reduces the odds o athers visiting their children rom previous marriages.

Most studies on single parenting present policy recommendations. The main concern

regarding such recommendations is the idea that marriage can represent an economic solution

or single mothers and a better amily arrangement or children. But this does not seem to

be the best recommendation. McLanahan and Sandeur () showed that children in

stepamilies have similar high-school dropout rates. Biblarz and Rafery () also ound

that stepamilies have weaker intergenerational relations. Beller () showed that parental

involvement, even i the parent does not live with the child, is what matters in terms o finishing

high-school. It is also worth highlighting that the meaning o marriage is no different or poor

women, as clearly documented by Edin and Kealas (). However, such women might not

be better off i they married men rom their own communities or social class.

While many studies ocus on the importance o mothers characteristics, others give more

attention to those o athers. In response to this type o study, Beller () proposed the

inclusion o mothers occupations in social mobility studies. This inclusion would indicate

another positive or negative effect o mothers employment and a reconceptualization o class

background as an accumulative class resource or children. Beller () highlighted the

importance o including mothers occupations in social mobility studies. She ound that themodels which use both parents measures jointly are better than models that consider only

one parents class origin. Mothers characteristics should be included not only because o

their direct inluence on childrens outcomes but also because o their indirect effect. Lareaus


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() work represents important progress in this direction, as she ound that mothers draw

on their work and proessional skills and experiences to interere in institutions (i.e., schools)

to make sure that their children get what they need.

Using child mortality as the outcome, Breierova and Dulo () analyzed how

mothers and athers educations inluence child survival. The main conclusion is that or

child mortality, womens and mens educational levels are equally important. The authors

used an instrumental variable or education, one important contribution being the inclusion

o athers education in studies o childrens health and well-being, since, in most studies,

only the mothers education is considered. Moreover, in the context o athers spending more

time with children, one might suppose that athers education is also important or outcomes

other than those related to occupation and education. Breierova and Dulos work provides a

good example o the importance o athers characteristics, a point that is also analyzed anddiscussed in Beller (). Thus, the challenge or uture research is to consider the inluence

o both parents characteristics when analyzing childrens outcomes.

Last but not least, I want to highlight certain data issues in the analyses o childrens

outcomes. From the above discussion one can see that data concerning both parents, including

a parent that may live in a different household, and data on stepparents, are crucial or

reaching conclusions as to how parents characteristics (i.e. education, occupation and time

use) inluence childrens lie outcomes, such as child mortality, education and social mobility.

Only two datasets are available in Brazil or analyzing transitions (i.e. grade progression):Pesquisa Mensal de Emprego(Monthly Employment Survey) (PME) and Pesquisa de Emprego

e Desemprego (Employment and Unemployment Survey) (PED). They are not nationally

representative and only allow short term analyses (maximum o one year difference rom

one status to the other one). This data is appropriate or comparing childrens outcomes

and different amily arrangements (i.e. MORAIS et al., ). However, it is not appropriate

or capturing changes when marital disruptions are present because disruptions can only

be captured rom these data i one o the parents stays in the same household. In this case,

the previous education or occupation o the absent parent can be used. Because many

divorced and remarried individuals move out, this might not be the best data to be used and

results would be biased. Furthermore, the marital disruption could have occurred due to an

unexpected change o occupational status or income (i.e. being unemployed) and the use o

previous inormation would be misleading. Thereore, Brazilian statistics must be collected

in which non-resident parents report their own personal data and their contribution to child

support, requency o visits, and other inormation. Smock and Manning (), using distinct

data by which they could match ex-couples, ound that characteristics o the non-resident

parent are very important or explaining child support.

Another type o research that deserves consideration is time use analysis. Time usestudies in Brazil have ocused on gender differences, and no inormation is available on

how children spend their time, especially time with their parents. There is also need or data

regarding visits and time spent with the non-resident parent.


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Final comments

The model o the man as the breadwinner with a stay-at-home wie who only takes

care o house and children has changed. Todays model o amily includes multiple ormso amilies, such as childless couples, homosexual couples with and without children,

greater numbers o stepamilies, and other arrangements. Lesthaeghe () highlighted

that, since , there has been an ideational change rom viewing the child as king to a

phase more centered on the adults sel-satisaction and development. Thus, children are

no longer the ocus o the amily. According to Cherlin (), marriage has taken on a

different meaning. It has become individualized. In modernity, relationships are projects

o the sel, and everyone must have a relexive project (GIDDENS, ). The main point

o these arguments is that, since about the s, there has been a transormation in theamily that cannot be adequately translated into numbers or rates. The main change was

ideational, since, todays amily involves choice, options and sel-development. This is in

sharp contrast to traditional transitions o amily ormation and amily dissolution (which,

in the past, was usually due to death).

This change has affected many different institutions, including those in the religious and

legal spheres, which have adapted the traditional discourse o individualized marriage to

current social realities (CHERLIN, ). Although many changes were predicted or the amily

sphere in the ace o industrialization and urbanization, many o them are ar rom being whatone might have expected. The main expectation was the nuclearization o amily, whereas

what we see today is wide a variety o amily arrangements. This expectation might strengthen

the conclusion that the amily is in trouble or in crisis (BERGSTON, ). Nonetheless, the

amily still has its special meaning and place in society and does not seem to be in danger

o extinction. In this sense, the concept o the amily has been widely discussed and should

be open to the variety o amilies that we now see in society. Moreover, the debate about

ongoing processes or ruptures in terms o the amily is still in session.

Two other issues are discussed in this paper. The first is in regard to women, and morespecifically, to mothers in the labor market (income, job opportunities, and so on). Women

and the amily as a group are coping with the greater presence o women in the labor orce.

One central question is: What are the differences among married, childless, and single men

and women? The second issue has to do with the effects o changes in the amily on childrens

outcomes, because they are now more likely to experience amily disruption and live with

stepparents (changes in the amily structure) and, in addition, o course, mothers are spending

less time at home and more time working.

The changes that have taken place in the amily have affected the concerns o theacademic world. Today, or example, there is greater interest in studying the consequences

o these changes in womens and childrens outcomes. For this reason, the data collection

and the theoretical ramework that are used in amily research deserve close attention.


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Although many improvements have been made, the field o amily studies continues with

many o the lacunas already pointed out by earlier authors. Goldani (), or example,

concludes that the lack o appropriate data or amily studies not only compromises the

use o available techniques; it also impairs our knowledge about an important institution in

society and how it is changing in the present day. Lazo () highlights the need or data

on nuptiality on the PNAD, because marital status was removed rom this survey in

and returned only in . Even when inormation about nuptiality was treated (between

and ), it was incomplete, because the only variable was marital status. Another

issue is the concern as to how to expand and apply the concept o amily. Goldani (,

p.) concludes that the data available offer elements or analysis o domestic units, but only

rarely can the process that originated the diversity in amily arrangements be reconstructed.

Reinorcing previous research, I suggest that there is need to include different types oinormation in data collection projects: i) Non-residential parents should be included in the

sample in time use surveys. Time use research in Brazil has ocused mainly on differences

between women and men but it is also important to introduce data about children and how

they spend their time with their parents; ii) In social mobility surveys, data on mothers

occupations should be included, as well as non-resident athers occupations, inormation

about the reason or amily disruptions, i any, and the year; iii) In household surveys,

inormation about the non-resident parent should be obtained and other relatives living in the

household should be listed; iv) There is need or longitudinal data because when it is lacking itbecomes very difficult to do research on decision-making processes, such as motherhood and

marriage timing, marital history and transitions, cohabitation beore marriage, the inluence

o cohabitation, and previous marriages and divorces; v) Another type o data that should be

explored in greater detail is ideational inormation (in Section . I suggest the use o World

Value Survey); these aspects would be important or analyzing how ideas change over time

and in different groups, (i.e. socioeconomic, racial, etc.); vi) A different type o study that has

not been explored in demography but could be very helpul or researchers in the field o

amily is experimental research; it is important not only or studying normative aspects o

emale labor orce participation, as Correll et al. () have done, but also or analyzing

behavioral aspects in demography, such as altruism among amily members, decisions on

ertility, marital choices, and other aspects. These are just a ew ideas or improving data

collection in a society with rising divorce rates, the increased time that athers spend with

their children, and greater numbers o single-parent amilies.

In terms o additions to and revisions o theoretical rameworks, I have reerred above to

three important contributions or uture research that would seem to be in order. The first is

to study how people make decisions in the amily sphere, going beyond the purely economic

aspect o social action. As Bilac () has argued, there are various types o social actionand rationalities. The second contribution is to revise the SDT in terms o its legitimacy and

include migration and mortality in its ramework. More specifically, this instrument should

show how both migration and mortally, as well as changes in ertility can inluence the amily.


22/28



There is a discrepancy between the requent recognition that lower mortality has an impact

on amily composition, and the SDTs approach, which ocuses on decline in ertility. Bilac

() also points out the importance o the migration o relatives when analyzing amily size,

so it must be clear just who the members o the household are. Depending on the period one

is analyzing, it is very common or a variety o relatives to be living in the same household,

especially in urban areas, since this is how many migrants rom rural areas integrate into

urban lie. Another line o research that emphasizes the importance o migration is based

on Rosenelds () hypothesis, which states that higher geographical mobility, as a

consequence o higher education among young people, is one o the reasons or increased

interracial and homosexual unions. The third point is the need or greater integration between

demographic studies, gender studies and eminist perspectives (see, or example, WATKINS,

; MACKINSSON, ; OLIVEIRA, ; BILAC, , ; PRESSER, ; RILEY;MCCARTHY, ). Some hold that there has been little discussion on gender issues, but

this stance is somewhat strange, because demography has produced numerous studies on

women, and most o the models ocus on a single sex (emale), not only in ertility studies,

but also in projections. However, very ew studies consider gender as a social and cultural

production, and there are ew topics related to it. As highlighted by Riley and McCarthy ()

a distinction should be made between studies that include women and studies that examine

the broader implications o gender.

Last but not least, I suggest our topics that I eel should be explored more intenselyin Brazil. First, there should be more discussions about cohabitation, marriage history

and transition rom one marital status to another (i.e. cohabitation, marriage, divorce,

and remarriage). The analyses should ocus not only on identiying changes in rates and

proportions over time, but also on differences between groups (i.e. class, age, and race) as

the result o new amily structures. Explanations about the process o amily ormation and

the choice between marriage and cohabitation, or example, are also necessary. Second,

the changes in amily structure and amily ormation have transormed the issue o women

in the labor orce rom a womens issue into a amily issue. Thereore, studies about labor

market outcomes must consider womens and mens marital statuses and parenthood. Two

examples o this type o research in Brazil are Muniz and Rios-Neto (), and Kassou

and Senauer (). Both ocus on income, but little is still known about other outcomes,

such as job opportunities, hiring preerences, promotions, and job evaluation. The third topic

that deserves more attention is the relationship between assortative mating and childrens

outcomes, or, in other words, the inclusion o characteristics o both parents when analyzing

childrens outcomes. Characteristics o both parents are also important or analyzing o

social mobility, educational achievement studies, and time use, especially on the question

o how much time parents spend with their children and what they do together. Lastly, thereis need in Brazil or analyses on how ertility and marital stability are related, to what extent

the number o children inluences marital instability (THORNTON, ), and how marital

dissolution impacts ertility levels (THORNTON, ).


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Finally, I want to highlight that all topics discussed in this text deserve specific papers.

It was not my objective to ully approach them, but to raise just a ew o the many questions

and issues that should be part o uture research on the amily.

References

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BECKER, G. S.; LANDES, E. M.; MICHAEL, R. An economic analysis o marital instability. The Journal oPolitical Economy, v. , n., p. -, .

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