Reports of relationship timing: Missing data and couple agreement

In studying changes in family formation over time, social researchers and demographers have primarily relied on retrospective and prospective marital and cohabitation histories collected from surveys. With the increasing use of these types of retrospective questions in surveys, social researchers have now begun to pay more attention to the quality of the data and the degree of accuracy with which respondents are able to remember past events. The purpose of this paper is to explore the incidence and demographic and socio-economic correlates of recall error and inaccuracy of reporting of marriage and cohabitation dates. In the first part we investigate the degree of precision with which dates are remembered using both descriptive and multivariate analysis. We then compare married and cohabiting partner’s reports about when their relationship started in order to check the consistency of with which both partners date the same event

Shared parenting in Australia? : Examining the involvement of men and women in childrearing

Studies published in the 1980s and 1990s on parenting note an increase in scholarship focusing on paternal involvement. Many of these studies centre on fathers alone, rather than on the intra-household division of labour between mothers and fathers. Further, the bulk of this research has been conducted in countries other than Australia. Few surveybased investigations have explored the factors associated with men's and women's childrearing behaviour. Data used to investigate the many components of parenting was from three main sources. Published national data from census and labour force surveys illustrate the major trends in fertility and with whom children live. This information is supplemented by the first wave of a national longitudinal survey, Negotiating the Lifecourse (NLC). These sources are further used to examine the involvement of parents in the paid labour force, and to compare the work situations of parents and non-parents. More detailed information on parents' situations was collected in a survey designed specifically for this study entitled the Parenting Survey 1999. The sample was drawn from NLC respondents, and obtains information on parental identity, childrearing tasks and parenting styles. A set of factors is associated with higher levels of parental involvement for men. These factors were found to be important in a number of analyses of parenting. Men who report higher levels of investment in parenting, whose partner is attached to the labour force, and age of the child are related to many childrearing measures. Further, men's ability to integrate other components of their lives (such as work and friends) is related to their use of authoritative parenting styles. For women factors such as attachment to the labour force, education and income are related to childrearing tasks, while women's labour force participation is related to their use of authoritative parenting styles. The relationship between work and childrearing is found to be a complicated one, with women's employment being associated with higher levels of involvement in childrearing for men and lower levels for women. However, women who work are more likely to use authoritative parenting styles, which have been linked to positive child development. It is suggested that the relationship between employment and childrearing be examined in greater detail. There are many questions that arise on the topics addressed in this research. These include the level of underreporting of fertility by men, the time spent in different household types by parents and whether younger cohorts are facing new families or no families. In order to address these questions it is necessary to use longitudinal data in analysing topics associated with parental and family research

Modelling Variation in Fertility Rates using Geographically Weighted Regression

Australia is one of the largest countries in the world, and also one of the most urbanised. At the national level it can be characterised as a country with low fertility and high income per capita. However, there are significant geographic inequalities between different areas of the country in terms of fertility rates as well as education levels, income and employment opportunities. In this paper, we use birth registration and Census data to explore the spatial variation of fertility in Australia and how it relates to compositional and contextual characteristics of places. Geographically weighted regression allows us to analyse the spatial relationships and identify the geographical variability in the fertility experience of Australian women. We find substantial variation with some areas having a total fertility rate well above or below the national average. Around metropolitan areas much of the variation can be explained by differences in the socio-economic composition of the local population. However in more rural or remote parts of the country, understanding the variation in fertility is more difficult.This research is funded by the Australian Research Council (DP150104248). We would like to thank Anna Reimondos for providing research assistance on this project

Geographic variation in parity progression in Australia

Australia has moderately high fertility compared to many Western‐industrialized countries. The current total fertility rate is around 1.88, but fertility levels are not uniform across the country. There is a distinct geographic pattern with the total fertility rate about 0.5 higher in remote and very remote Australia (2.33) compared to major cities (1.82). In this paper, we examine 2 explanations for this pattern: the compositional hypothesis and the contextual hypothesis. Using event‐history methods with joint modelling to investigate parity progression, we find that after taking into account differences in age, country of birth, indigenous status, relationship status, education levels, and economic activity, women living in smaller towns in regional Australia are more likely to have a first, second, and third birth. Further, there is lower propensity to have a first child in inner or middle city areas that are characterized by smaller and more expensive housing than suburban or regional areasThe HILDA Project was initiated and is funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services (DSS) and is managed by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research (Melbourne Institute).This research is funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC) (DP150104248)

The contribution of assisted reproductive technology to fertility rates and parity transition: An analysis of Australian data

Background: Despite the widespread use of assisted reproductive technology (ART), few studies analyse its impact on the total fertility rate (TFR). Furthermore, very little is known about how ART affects fertility at older reproductive ages and contributes to family size. Objective: We aim to quantify the contribution of ART to total and age-specific fertility rates and in relation to the transition to first and subsequent births in Australia. Methods: Using data from a comprehensive clinical registry of ART treatments, age-specific ART and non-ART fertility rates were calculated and used to decompose the change in the TFR between 2010 and 2017 into ART and non-ART components. Results: ART represented an increasing and relevant contribution to the TFR, corresponding to an impact of the order of 4Š to 5Š per annum, or approximately to 1 in 20 births. Increasing fertility rates at age 33 and above exerted a positive effect on the overall TFR, and they were almost entirely attributable to the increasing use of ART. Women resorted to ART especially to have a first child. Contribution: This is the first study to provide a detailed examination of the contribution of ART to age-specific fertility rates and in relation to parity transition. While most studies focus on the impact of ART on the overall TFR, the importance of ART for the recovery of births at older reproductive ages could be underestimated

High and Growing Disapproval of sex-selection technology in Australia

Background In Australia, the National Health and Medical Research Council has banned the use of assisted reproductive technology for social sex selection, but notes “there is limited research into the question of whether Australians support the use of sex selection for non-medical purposes”. This paper investigates Australian attitudes to sex-selection technology by different means (IVF, abortion, and a hypothetical pill), for different reasons (medical, family balancing, any reason), and by differing respondent characteristics (age, sex, education and religiosity)

A dyadic approach to the study of perceived subfecundity and contraceptive use

Background: There is an increasing literature on women's perception of subfecundity and contraceptive use, with studies showing that women with perceived difficulties conceiving are more likely to have an unintended pregnancy because of a lower reliance on contraception. There is little research investigating the correlates of perceived subfecundity, and quantitative investigation of couple-level perceived subfecundity appears absent from the literature, which is somewhat surprising, as the inability to have a child is a couple-level outcome. Furthermore, most studies that relate to perceived subfecundity and the use of contraception, or lack thereof, are typically limited to young adults. Objective: The aim of this study is to explore the couple-level correlates of perceived subfecundity and to investigate the relationship between perceived subfecundity and contraceptive use among a nationally representative sample of couples. Methods: Drawing on data from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey, binary and multinomial logistic regression models are estimated using the couple-dyad as the unit of analysis. Results: Both biological and life-course interference factors are strong predictors of perceived subfecundity at the couple level, with women's characteristics more influential than their partner's characteristics. Additionally, couples in which at least one partner perceives subfecundity are less likely to use contraception, regardless of their short-term intentions or desire to have a child. Contribution: Men's and women's characteristics differently influence the likelihood of perceiving subfecundity at the couple level and the perception of subfecundity is a relevant reason why couples do not use contraception

A Food-Grade Enzyme Preparation with Modest Gluten Detoxification Properties

Celiac sprue is a life-long disease characterized by an intestinal inflammatory response to dietary gluten. A gluten-free diet is an effective treatment for most patients, but accidental ingestion of gluten is common, leading to incomplete recovery or relapse. Food-grade proteases capable of detoxifying moderate quantities of dietary gluten could mitigate this problem.We evaluated the gluten detoxification properties of two food-grade enzymes, aspergillopepsin (ASP) from Aspergillus niger and dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPPIV) from Aspergillus oryzae. The ability of each enzyme to hydrolyze gluten was tested against synthetic gluten peptides, a recombinant gluten protein, and simulated gastric digests of whole gluten and whole-wheat bread. Reaction products were analyzed by mass spectrometry, HPLC, ELISA with a monoclonal antibody that recognizes an immunodominant gluten epitope, and a T cell proliferation assay.ASP markedly enhanced gluten digestion relative to pepsin, and cleaved recombinant alpha2-gliadin at multiple sites in a non-specific manner. When used alone, neither ASP nor DPPIV efficiently cleaved synthetic immunotoxic gluten peptides. This lack of specificity for gluten was especially evident in the presence of casein, a competing dietary protein. However, supplementation of ASP with DPPIV enabled detoxification of moderate amounts of gluten in the presence of excess casein and in whole-wheat bread. ASP was also effective at enhancing the gluten-detoxifying efficacy of cysteine endoprotease EP-B2 under simulated gastric conditions.Clinical studies are warranted to evaluate whether a fixed dose ratio combination of ASP and DPPIV can provide near-term relief for celiac patients suffering from inadvertent gluten exposure. Due to its markedly greater hydrolytic activity against gluten than endogenous pepsin, food-grade ASP may also augment the activity of therapeutically relevant doses of glutenases such as EP-B2 and certain prolyl endopeptidases

Etiology of pervasive versus situational antisocial behaviors:a multi-informant longitudinal cohort study

The aim of this study was to disentangle pervasive from situational antisocial behaviors using multiple informants, and to investigate their genetic and environmental etiologies in preadolescence and across time. Antisocial behaviors were assessed in 2,232 twins from the Environmental Risk (E‐Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study at ages 5 and 12. Pervasive antisocial behaviors were defined as behaviors that mothers, teachers, interviewers, and twins themselves agreed on. Results from a psychometric model indicated that the variation in children's pervasive antisocial behaviors was mostly accounted for by familial influences that originated in childhood, whereas situational behaviors were explained by newly emerging nonshared environmental and genetic influences. This study shows that children's pervasive and situational antisocial behaviors have distinct etiologies that could guide research and treatment