The men behind economically successful women: A focus on Dutch dual-earner couples

Abstract Using data from the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study, this paper compares the partners of economically successful women with those of women who have fared less well on the labor market. Economic success is measured as belonging to the top ten percent income bracket of the female sample. First, socioeconomic and cultural homogamy/asymmetry are investigated. With respect to education, homogamy is the dominant pattern. Income asymmetry, where husbands contribute most to the household income, characterizes the majority of couples, particularly in the older age groups. Gender asymmetry in cultural resources is predominant, with women having more modern gender role attitudes than men. Second, hypotheses derived from social capital theory and companionate theory are tested to examine how socioeconomic and cultural characteristics of male partners are related to women’s economic success. Economically successful women tend to have high-income men, suggesting an accumulation of favorable resources. A larger share of the male partner in carrying out household tasks is positively related to a woman’s success. Men’s supportive behavior rather than their attitudes contribute to their wives’ economic success

Parental job loss and early child development in the Great Recession

The study examines whether and why parental job loss may stifle early child development, relying on cohort data from the population of children born in Ireland in 2007–2008 (N = 6,303) and followed around the time of the Great Recession (2008–2013). A novel approach to mediation analysis is deployed, testing expectations from models of family investment and family stress. Parental job loss exacerbates problem behavior at ages 3 and 5 (.05–.08 SDs), via the channels of parental income and maternal negative parenting. By depressing parental income, job loss also hampers children’s verbal ability at age 3 (.03 SDs). This is tied to reduced affordability of formal childcare, highlighting a policy lever that might tame the intergenerational toll of job loss

Risk-avoidance or utmost commitment? Dutch focus group research on cohabitation and marriage

BACKGROUND Dutch adults grew up in a highly individualized country, characterized by high divorce rates, which may have influenced their views on cohabitation and marriage. OBJECTIVE We examine Dutch adults‘ perceptions of how similar or different cohabitation and marriage are, whether they believe that cohabitation would be a strategy to avoid the risk of divorce, as well as their views on why people marry in individualized societies. METHODS We analyze seven focus group interviews with 40 Dutch participants, collected in 2012 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. RESULTS Many participants discussed differences and similarities between cohabitation and marriage in a context of high divorce rates, and frequently viewed cohabitation as a risk-reduction strategy. At the same time, marriage was often seen as ―the real deal, in terms of legal arrangements, but also as a symbol of utmost commitment. Less educated participants viewed more financial advantages in cohabitation compared to marriage, and felt more strongly a bout the symbolic value of marriage than their highly educated counterparts. There was strong consensus that there is not, and should not be, a social norm to marry

The transition to parenthood and well-being: The impact of partner status and work hour transitions

Abstract Using data from the first two waves of the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study for 338 women and 262 men, we examine the consequences of making the transition to parenthood for life satisfaction, loneliness, positive affect, negative affect, and partnership satisfaction. We extend previous work by taking transitions in partner status and work hours into account. Results show a moderate impact of becoming a parent on well-being. In so far as effects of making the transition to parenthood emerge, they are attributable to changes in partner status and work hours. First, the decrease in negative affect upon making the transition to motherhood is attributable to the group of women who increase their working hours. Second, the detrimental impact of making the transition to motherhood on partnership satisfaction is attributable to the group of new mothers who quit their job. Third, the detrimental impact of making the transition to fatherhood on loneliness is attributable to the group of new fathers who become married. There is one exception to this pattern of partner status and work hours as mechanisms for changes in well-being. Men who become fathers remain less satisfied with their partnership, even when transitions in partner status and work hours have been taken into account. In the discussion-section, we consider the possible underestimation of negative effects because of the focus on the continuously partnered. We also reflect on our results in the light of the high incidence of part-time work in the Netherlands and Dutch policies aimed at supporting new parents

Longitudinal Linkages Between Father and Mother Autonomy Support and Adolescent Problem Behaviors: Between-Family Differences and Within-Family

Despite existing evidence on negative associations between parental autonomy support and children’s internalizing and externalizing problem behavior, it is difficult to draw conclusions on the effect that parents’ autonomy support has on children’s problem behavior. This study contributed to the existing literature by unraveling the temporal ordering of parental autonomy support and adolescent problem behavior. In addition, this study examined whether these linkages differed by parent’s sex, child sex, and reporter of autonomy support. Data of 497 adolescents (mean age at T1 = 13.03 years, percentage male = 56.9) and their parents from six annual waves of the Dutch study Research on Adolescent Development And Relationships (RADAR) were used. The results showed that stable differences between families explained most linkages between autonomy support and problem behavior. Adolescents with fewer problem behaviors have fathers (both child- and parent-reported) and mothers (only child-reported) who are more autonomy supportive. The results did not differ between boys and girls. The findings suggest that prior studies may have overstated the existence of a causal effect of parental autonomy support on adolescent problem behavior

Perceived Quality of the Mother–Adolescent and Father–Adolescent Attachment Relationship and Adolescents’ Self-Esteem

There is consensus in the literature that self-esteem stems from relationships with others. In particular, it is assumed that parents play an important role in the development of children’s self-esteem, also in adolescence. Despite the importance of parent–child attachment relationships for adolescents’ self-esteem, we know very little about the extent to which fathers and mothers uniquely contribute to adolescents’ self-esteem. The current study aims to contribute to acquiring knowledge in this research area in three ways. First, by separating the potential influences of father–child and mother–child attachment relationships on sons’ and daughters’ self-esteem, the current study is able to investigate the individual contribution of the father–child and mother–child attachment relationship to female and male adolescent’s self-esteem. Second, by controlling for changes in the quality of the parental relationship and peer relationships the current study is able to isolate linkages between changes in adolescents’ perce

The influence of fathers and mothers equally sharing childcare responsibilities on children’s cognitive development from early childhood to school age

There is increasing awareness that the intergenerational transmission of (dis)advantages is filtered through intra-familial dynamics, in particular, parenting practices. Surprisingly, few studies have investigated what role the extent to which fathers and mothers equally share childcare responsibilities plays in this transmission. Using data from 2,027 families in a Dutch prospective cohort study, our structural equation modelling analyses showed direct effects of equally sharing responsibilities for playful activities on children’s cognitive development. Additionally, our study yielded some evidence for the hypothesis that equally sharing responsibilities for playful activities mediates the impact of parents’ educational attainment on children’s cognitive development. This suggests that the extent to which fathers and mothers equally share childcare responsibilities functions as an underlying mechanism for maintaining social class disparities in children’s cognitive development. Our findings also suggest that policies and programmes that encourage fathers and mothers to equally share playful activities may help promote children’s cognitive development

Collaborative Learning Intervention associated with Increases in Home-Based School Involvement for Families in Deprived Neighborhoods

The current study set out to investigate the impact of the Dutch low-SES family-oriented Collaborative Learning intervention, characterized by a partnership approach and provision of personalized support. We assessed effects on parents’ home-based school involvement, the quality of the relationship with their child’s teacher, and parents’ parenting skills. Fifty-six children in grades 1-4 and their families were randomly assigned to an intervention or waiting list condition. Results of two path models, using cluster-robust standard errors to adjust for nesting within our data, and controlling for baseline values of our outcome variables, indicated significant improvements in home-based school involvement among families in the intervention group, but no differences in the quality of the parent-teacher relationship nor in parenting skills. Our findings support the idea that a partnership approach and the provision of personalized support by means of home visits are an effective strategy to increase home-based school involvement amongst low-SES families

Examining Longitudinal Relations Between Mothers’ and Fathers’ Parenting Stress, Parenting Behaviors, and Adolescents’ Behavior Problems

Parenting stress of mothers has frequently been linked to negative child outcomes. According to Abidin’s stress model, this relationship may be explained by dysfunctional parenting behaviors. In this study, we scrutinized the effects of both mothers and fathers in the pathway from parenting stress through parenting behaviors to subsequent adolescent behavior problems. We expected the association between parenting stress and adolescent behavior problems to be partially mediated by maternal and paternal parenting behaviors. Further, we expected crossover effects, i.e., that parenting stress of one parent was related to the parenting behavior of the other parent. We applied a 3-wave longitudinal design using data from 441 adolescents (52% girls) and their parents (419 fathers; 436 mothers). Parents reported on parenting stress (adolescent age range = 10.9–16.3 years). Adolescents reported on perceived parental overreactivity and warmth (age range = 12.9–18.3) and their own internalizing and externalizing problems (age range = 15.9–21.3). Despite cross-sectional significant associations between parenting stress, parenting behavior, and adolescent behavior problems, we found no evidence of longitudinal linkages. One exception was maternal parenting stress, which positively predicted later adolescent externalizing problems. Consequently, the mediating role of parenting behaviors was not supported. We found no crossover effects in the pathway from parenting stress to parenting behaviors. The discrepancies between our longitudinal and cross-sectional findings raise