Source: RNO/130/04 Source: Research Project on the Intergenerational Transmission

Research Project on the Intergenerational Transmission of Family Formation Attitudes:

Do Fathers Play a Role?Jose Miguel M. Abito

13 January 2005

Source: www.davlinswoods.com/GiftGuide.htm

RNO/130/04


Research Project on the Intergenerational Transmission of Family Research Project on the Intergenerational Transmission of Family Formation Attitudes: Formation Attitudes: Do Fathers Play a Role?Do Fathers Play a Role?

Jose Miguel M. Abito13 January 2005


Labour Force Participation Rate

30

40

50

60

70

80

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Year

%

Male

Female

Trends in Singapore

Total Fertility Rate

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

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Pe

r re

sid

en

t fe

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Series1

Marriage Rate

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00

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Divorce Rate

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Trends: A Problem?

• Quah (1998) proposes three reasons:

1. Limited talent pool

2. Reduction of labour force as a obstacle for sustained high growth

3. Ageing population




Trends: A Problem?

• Implications of trend in labour force participation rates

– Mothers might be spending less time at home

– Decrease in mother’s household time might not be adequately compensated by an increase in father’s household time

– Demand for caregiver services might increase…but can these be perfect substitutes to parents’ time?




Do Fathers Play a Role?

• The four editions of Lamb’s The Role of the Father in Child Development have been documenting research on the importance of paternal involvement for almost three decades

• Allen and Daly (2002) present a summary of research evidence with regards to the importance of the father on child development in terms of cognitive, emotional and social skills




Intergenerational Effects

• Axinn and Thornton (1996)– Parental divorce, remarriage and

widowhood have strong effects on children’s family formation-related attitudes and behaviour

– Results support their hypothesis that parents’ attitudes act as an intervening mechanism that link parents’ marital experience and children’s attitudes

– However, their study only focuses on mothers




Intergenerational Effects

• Feng et al. (1999)– Primary focus is on the

intergenerational transmission of marital quality and instability

– Found evidence of transmission of divorce from parents to daughters but not to sons

– Asymmetric effects of fathers and mothers’ negative sentiment on son’s marital outcomes




Father’s Role

• Kapinus (2004)– Parental attitudes on divorce have the greatest

influence on children during their late teens– Fathers have more influence on sons’

attitudes than mothers– Parental divorce, net of parental attitudes, has

only a significant effect on daughters attitudes– Post divorce conflict and reduced closeness to

the father (after divorce) are associated with prodivorce attitudes among daughters but less positive attitudes among sons




Father’s Role

• Risch, Jodl and Eccles (2004)– Closeness of father-adolescent

relationship, regardless of father type, predicts sons’ greater confidence in marriage stability




Are these results evident in

Singapore?Is there intergenerational

transmission of family

formation attitudes among

Singaporean families?




Overview of Project

• Involves two parts:1. Empirical research on the

intergenerational transmission of family formation attitudes in Singapore

2. Microeconomic Model of Father Involvement (Abito 2004)




Empirical Research

• Conduct a survey of Secondary and/or Junior College students regarding their own family formation attitudes, their perception of their own father’s, and, if possible, their father’s attitudes (to be gathered directly)

• Join activities organised by the Centre for Fathering, Singapore to observe highly-involved fathers

• Interview involved fathers regarding possible transmission/socialisation mechanisms




Microeconomic Model

• Extension of a model developed in a paper to be presented at the Southwestern Economics Association Annual Meeting in New Orleans, 23-26th March 2005

• Endogenisation of the technological parameter (γ) pertaining to the perceived importance of father’s child rearing time on the production of his children’s human capital




ReferencesAbito, Jose Miguel M. (2004), “A Microeconomic Model of Father Involvement,” to be presented at the 85th SWEA

Annual Meeting, draft can be accessed at http://www.geocities.com/mikeabito/u21.pdf.

Allen, Sarah and Kerry Dale (2002). “The Effects of Father Involvement: A Summary of the

Research Evidence.” The FII-ONews. Vol. 1, 1-11.

Axinn, William G. and Arland Thornton (1996). “The Influence of Parents’ Marital Dissolutions on Children’s Attitudes

Toward Family Formation.” Demography. Vol. 33 No.1, 66-81.

Feng, Du, Roseann Giarrusso, Vern L. Bengtsong and Nancy Frye (1999), “Intergenerational Transmission of Marital

Quality and Marital Instability,” Journal of Marriage and the Family, Vol. 61, No. 2, 451-463.

Kapinus, Carolyn A. (2004), “The Effect of Parents’ Attitudes Toward Divorce on Offspring’s Attitudes: Gender and

Parental Divorce as Mediating Factors,” Journal of Family Issues, VAol. 25, No. 1, 112-135.

Quah, Stella R. (1998), Family in Singapore: Sociological Perspective, 2nd ed., Singapore: Times Academic Press.

Risch, Sharon C., Kathleen M. Jodl and Jacquelynne S. Eccles (2004). “Role of Father-Adolescent Relationship in

Shaping Adolescents’ Attitudes Toward Divorce.” Journal of Marriage and Family. Vol. 66, 46-58.

Statistics on Marriages & Divorces, Singapore: Department of Statistics, Various Issues.

Yearbook of Statistics, Singapore: Department of Statistics, Various Issues.

Documents

Source: RNO/130/04 Source: Research Project on the Intergenerational Transmission