Children’s Experiences of Family Disruption in Sweden

This paper examines the living arrangements of Swedish children from 1970 through 1999 using the Level of Living Survey. Sweden, with low levels of economic inequality and a generous welfare state, provides an important context for studying socioeconomic differentials in family structure. We find that, although differences by parent education in non-marital childbearing are substantial and persistent, cohabiting childbearing is common even among highly educated Swedish parents. Educational differences in family instability were small during the 1970s, but increased over time as a result of rising union disruption among less-educated parents (secondary graduates or less). Children in more advantaged families experienced substantially less change in family structure and instability over the study period. Although cohabiting parents were more likely to separate than parents married at the child’s birth, differences were greater for the less-educated. Data limitations precluded investigating these differences across time. We conclude that educational differences in children’s living arrangements in Sweden have grown, but remain small in international comparisons.children, cohabitation, family dynamics, family structure

Cohabitation and children's living arrangements

This paper uses the 1995 and 2002 waves of the National Survey of Family Growth to examine recent trends in cohabitation in the United States. We find increases in both the prevalence and duration of unmarried cohabitation. Cohabitation continues to transform children’s family lives, as children are increasingly likely to be born to a cohabiting mother (18% during 1997-2001) or to experience their mother’s entry into a cohabiting union. Consequently, we estimate that two-fifths of all children spend some time in a cohabiting family by age 12. Because of substantial missing data in the 2002 NSFG, we are unable to produce new estimates of divorce and children’s time in single-parent families. Nonetheless, our results point to the steady growth of cohabitation and to the evolving role of cohabitation in U.S. family life.children, cohabitation, family dynamics, family structure

Food Insecurity During Childhood: Understanding Persistence and Change Using Linked Current Population Survey Data

Our paper examines the prevalence and determinants of children’s transitions into and out of food insecurity since 2001. We use longitudinally linked data from the Food Security Supplements to the Current Population Surveys to estimate one-year transition probabilities of entry and exit from food insecurity. Our results indicate that child hunger is typically short-lived, but children experiencing very low food security frequently experience multiple consecutive years of food insecurity. We demonstrate large demographic and socioeconomic differences in rates of entry into very low food security and persistence in children\u27s food insecurity. Income and employment shocks are important predictors of child hunger transitions. Finally, we find that the Great Recession increased the likelihood that children entered into and persisted in food insecurity among children

PRH/Hex: an oligomeric transcription factor and ,ultifunctional regulator of cell fate.

The PRH (proline-rich homeodomain) [also known as Hex (haematopoietically expressed homeobox)] protein is a critical regulator of vertebrate development. PRH is able to regulate cell proliferation and differentiation and is required for the formation of the vertebrate body axis, the haematopoietic and vascular systems and the formation of many vital organs. PRH is a DNAbinding protein that can repress and activate the transcription of its target genes using multiple mechanisms. In addition, PRH can regulate the nuclear transport of specific mRNAs making PRH a member of a select group of proteins that control gene expression at the transcriptional and translational levels. Recent biophysical analysis of the PRH protein has shown that it forms homo-oligomeric complexes in vivo and in vitro and that the proline-rich region of PRH forms a novel dimerization interface. Here we will review the current literature on PRH and discuss the complex web of interactions centred on this multifunctional protein

Which method is best for the induction of labour?: A systematic review, network meta-analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis

Background: More than 150,000 pregnant women in England and Wales have their labour induced each year. Multiple pharmacological, mechanical and complementary methods are available to induce labour. Objective: To assess the relative effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness of labour induction methods and, data permitting, effects in different clinical subgroups. Methods: We carried out a systematic review using Cochrane methods. The Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group’s Trials Register was searched (March 2014). This contains over 22,000 reports of controlled trials (published from 1923 onwards) retrieved from weekly searches of OVID MEDLINE (1966 to current); Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (The Cochrane Library); EMBASE (1982 to current); Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (1984 to current); ClinicalTrials.gov; the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Portal; and hand-searching of relevant conference proceedings and journals. We included randomised controlled trials examining interventions to induce labour compared with placebo, no treatment or other interventions in women eligible for third-trimester induction. We included outcomes relating to efficacy, safety and acceptability to women. In addition, for the economic analysis we searched the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, and Economic Evaluations Databases, NHS Economic Evaluation Database and the Health Technology Assessment database. We carried out a network meta-analysis (NMA) using all of the available evidence, both direct and indirect, to produce estimates of the relative effects of each treatment compared with others in a network. We developed a de novo decision tree model to estimate the cost-effectiveness of various methods. The costs included were the intervention and other hospital costs incurred (price year 2012–13). We reviewed the literature to identify preference-based utilities for the health-related outcomes in the model. We calculated incremental cost-effectiveness ratios, expected costs, utilities and net benefit. We represent uncertainty in the optimal intervention using cost-effectiveness acceptability curves. Results: We identified 1190 studies; 611 were eligible for inclusion. The interventions most likely to achieve vaginal delivery (VD) within 24 hours were intravenous oxytocin with amniotomy [posterior rank 2; 95% credible intervals (CrIs) 1 to 9] and higher-dose (≥ 50 μg) vaginal misoprostol (rank 3; 95% CrI 1 to 6). Compared with placebo, several treatments reduced the odds of caesarean section, but we observed considerable uncertainty in treatment rankings. For uterine hyperstimulation, double-balloon catheter had the highest probability of being among the best three treatments, whereas vaginal misoprostol (≥ 50 μg) was most likely to increase the odds of excessive uterine activity. For other safety outcomes there were insufficient data or there was too much uncertainty to identify which treatments performed ‘best’. Few studies collected information on women’s views. Owing to incomplete reporting of the VD within 24 hours outcome, the cost-effectiveness analysis could compare only 20 interventions. The analysis suggested that most interventions have similar utility and differ mainly in cost. With a caveat of considerable uncertainty, titrated (low-dose) misoprostol solution and buccal/sublingual misoprostol had the highest likelihood of being cost-effective. Limitations: There was considerable uncertainty in findings and there were insufficient data for some planned subgroup analyses. Conclusions: Overall, misoprostol and oxytocin with amniotomy (for women with favourable cervix) is more successful than other agents in achieving VD within 24 hours. The ranking according to safety of different methods was less clear. The cost-effectiveness analysis suggested that titrated (low-dose) oral misoprostol solution resulted in the highest utility, whereas buccal/sublingual misoprostol had the lowest cost. There was a high degree of uncertainty as to the most cost-effective intervention

Education and family change: A comparative study of shifts in the timing and structure of family formation

The work and family lives of young adults have changed dramatically since the 1960s. Women are delaying childbearing and marriage, and fertility has fallen to unprecedented lows in many countries. Increases in nonmarital childbearing, cohabitation, and divorce have diversified the structure of family life. Over the same period, women\u27s educational attainment and labor force opportunities have expanded widely in wealthy countries, while the economic opportunities of young men have generally declined. Many family researchers posit a causal link among these dramatic changes in the lives of young women and men. My dissertation approaches these broad changes by focusing on women\u27s educational attainment, an important intervening variable in economic and cultural explanations for family change. I examined patterns of family change in seven countries: the US, Italy, Spain, East and West Germany, France, and Norway. I found that although delays in marriage are nearly universal both within and across these societies, changes in cohabitation and fertility varied significantly with women\u27s education. For some, the more educated women in these societies, marriage delay and the rise of cohabitation appears to be part of a pattern of delayed family formation. Highly educated women delayed childbearing substantially in most countries, and nonmarital childbearing remained uncommon among university graduates. Fertility delays among women with less education were nearly always shorter and often non-existent. Single women without high school degrees were typically the group most likely to have a birth outside of marriage. These findings suggest that cultural changes cannot, on their own, explain recent family change. I also found substantial differences between these countries in the patterns of family change. Most notable were the much longer delays in motherhood in Southern Europe and West Germany, variation across countries in the relationship between education and cohabitation, and the small size of educational differences in East Germany. My findings point to the potentially important roles of the welfare state, family policy, and long-standing cultural differences in shaping the impact of larger economic and cultural changes on family formation

Education and family change: A comparative study of shifts in the timing and structure of family formation

The work and family lives of young adults have changed dramatically since the 1960s. Women are delaying childbearing and marriage, and fertility has fallen to unprecedented lows in many countries. Increases in nonmarital childbearing, cohabitation, and divorce have diversified the structure of family life. Over the same period, women\u27s educational attainment and labor force opportunities have expanded widely in wealthy countries, while the economic opportunities of young men have generally declined. Many family researchers posit a causal link among these dramatic changes in the lives of young women and men. My dissertation approaches these broad changes by focusing on women\u27s educational attainment, an important intervening variable in economic and cultural explanations for family change. I examined patterns of family change in seven countries: the US, Italy, Spain, East and West Germany, France, and Norway. I found that although delays in marriage are nearly universal both within and across these societies, changes in cohabitation and fertility varied significantly with women\u27s education. For some, the more educated women in these societies, marriage delay and the rise of cohabitation appears to be part of a pattern of delayed family formation. Highly educated women delayed childbearing substantially in most countries, and nonmarital childbearing remained uncommon among university graduates. Fertility delays among women with less education were nearly always shorter and often non-existent. Single women without high school degrees were typically the group most likely to have a birth outside of marriage. These findings suggest that cultural changes cannot, on their own, explain recent family change. I also found substantial differences between these countries in the patterns of family change. Most notable were the much longer delays in motherhood in Southern Europe and West Germany, variation across countries in the relationship between education and cohabitation, and the small size of educational differences in East Germany. My findings point to the potentially important roles of the welfare state, family policy, and long-standing cultural differences in shaping the impact of larger economic and cultural changes on family formation

Children's Experiences of Family Disruption in Sweden: Differentials by Parent Education over Three Decades

This paper examines the living arrangements of Swedish children from 1970 through 1999 using the Level of Living Survey. Sweden, with low levels of economic inequality and a generous welfare state, provides an important context for studying socioeconomic differentials in family structure. We find that, although differences by parent education in non-marital childbearing are substantial and persistent, cohabiting childbearing is common even among highly educated Swedish parents. Educational differences in family instability were small during the 1970s, but increased over time as a result of rising union disruption among less-educated parents (secondary graduates or less). Children in more advantaged families experienced substantially less change in family structure and instability over the study period. Although cohabiting parents were more likely to separate than parents married at the child's birth, differences were greater for the less-educated. Data limitations precluded investigating these differences across time. We conclude that educational differences in children's living arrangements in Sweden have grown, but remain small in international comparisons

Cohabitation and children's living arrangements: New estimates from the United States

This paper uses the 1995 and 2002 waves of the National Survey of Family Growth to examine recent trends in cohabitation in the United States. We find increases in both the prevalence and duration of unmarried cohabitation. Cohabitation continues to transform children's family lives, as children are increasingly likely to be born to a cohabiting mother (18Å  during 1997-2001) or to experience their mother's entry into a cohabiting union. Consequently, we estimate that two-fifths of all children spend some time in a cohabiting family by age 12. Because of substantial missing data in the 2002 NSFG, we are unable to produce new estimates of divorce and children's time in single-parent families. Nonetheless, our results point to the steady growth of cohabitation and to the evolving role of cohabitation in U.S. family life