An article developed a typology of family change over the first five years of children's lives using data from the Millennium Cohort Study. It examined the changes over time of parental living arrangements and described a range of social, economic, and well-being indicators. It showed that nearly three-quarters of the sample of young children had not experienced changes in family structures. The most advantaged group appeared to be children living with continuously married parents, followed by those who lived with cohabiting parents who married. Using static or overly simplified measures of family structure hid important variations in the experiences of children.
Source: Lidia Panico, Mel Bartley, Yvonne Kelly, Anne McMunn and Amanda Sacker, 'Changes in family structure in early childhood in the Millennium Cohort Study', Population Trends 142, Winter 2010, Office for National Statistics
Links: Article
Date: 2010-Dec
A three-volume work examined kin relationships in contemporary Europe. It considered the strengths and weaknesses of the systems found in different countries, and the extent to which each could be influenced – for better or worse – by the state.
Source: Hannes Grandits, Family, Kinship and State in Contemporary Europe (Volume 1): Century of Warfare – Eight Countries, Campus Verlag | Patrick Heady and Peter Schweitzer, Family, Kinship and State in Contemporary Europe (Volume 2): View from Below – Nineteen Localities, Campus Verlag | Patrick Heady and Martin Kohli, Family, Kinship and State in Contemporary Europe (Volume 3: Perspectives on Theory and Policy), Campus Verlag
Links: Summary (1) | Summary (2) | Summary (3)
Date: 2010-Dec
An article used widow(er)hood statistics and Census data to examine changes in the circumstances of couples in England and Wales separated by death.
Source: Michael Hirst and Anne Corden, 'Change in living arrangements following death of a partner in England and Wales, 1971 to 2001', Population Trends 141, Winter 2010, Office for National Statistics
Links: Article
Date: 2010-Sep
An article presented the findings of a survey on children with a non-resident parent, carried out in 2008-09. It estimated the number of children who had a non-resident parent, and compared it Labour Force Survey data. It also explored the direct contact arrangements between children and their non-resident parent, and the partnership status of resident and non-resident parents.
Source: Ben Wilson, 'Children with a non-resident parent', Population Trends 140, Summer 2010, Office for National Statistics
Links: Article | ONS press release
Date: 2010-Jun
An article examined definitional differences over time in the ONS Longitudinal Study (which includes information from the 1971, 1981, 1991, and 2011 Censuses), and their implications for household and family classifications.
Source: Emily Grundy, Rachel Stuchbury and Harriet Young, 'Households and families: implications of changing census definitions for analyses using the ONS Longitudinal Study', Population Trends 139, Spring 2010, Office for National Statistics
Links: Article
Date: 2010-Mar
An article compared the household and family structures of members of the 1958 British Birth Cohort at age 33 in 1991 and members of the 1970 British Birth Cohort at age 34 in 2004. In addition, it examined how these household and family structures for members of the 1958 cohort had changed between ages 33 and 46. Members of the 1970 cohort were more likely to be cohabiting and less likely to be married at age 34 in 2004 than members of the 1958 cohort at age 33 in 1991. In 1991, 70 per cent of 33 year-olds had given birth or fathered at least one child: but by 2004 this proportion had dropped to 62 per cent (of 34 year-olds), showing that childbearing had been delayed. Increases in divorce rates and the separation of cohabiting couples had led to an increase in the percentage of cohort members who were step-parents or lone parents.
Source: Matthew Brown and Jane Elliott, 'Family and household profiles: comparing the 1958 and 1970 birth cohorts', Twenty-first Century Society, Volume 5 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Feb