Postponed Parenthood: Trends and Issues

Schlesinger, Benjamin; Schlesinger, Rachel Aber

doi:10.3138/jcfs.20.3.355

Cited by 19 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…Beyond being outdated, the few studies that have focused on both mothers and fathers have found inconsistent findings, and have shown that older parents reported increased fatigue, a greater or lower conflict with the changes of first‐time parenthood, and more positive parenting self‐perceptions, as compared with younger couples (Cowan & Cowan, ; Daniels & Weingarten, ; Frankel & Wise, ; Schlesinger & Schlesinger, ). The gender differences (higher psychological distress and fatigue for women, as compared with men) that typically characterize the transition to parenthood (Demo & Cox, ; Katz‐Wise, Priess, & Hyde, ) also have been observed at advanced maternal age (Frankel & Wise, ; Schlesinger & Schlesinger, ) but to our knowledge, gender differences concerning the parenting self‐perceptions at this stage of the life cycle remain unknown.…”

Section: Psychosocial Adjustment To First‐time Parenthood At Advancedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Personal Competencies, Social Resources, and Psychosocial Adjustment of Primiparous Women of Advanced Maternal Age and Their Partners

Guedes

Canavarro

2015

Infant Ment. Health J.

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The present study aimed to (a) characterize the personal competencies, the social resources, and the psychosocial adjustment (psychological distress, quality of life, and parenting self-perceptions) during the early postpartum period of primiparous women of advanced age (≥35 years at the time of delivery) and their partners (older parents) compared with that of younger first-time mothers (20-34 years) and their partners (younger parents); and (b) explore the role of personal competencies and social resources in couples' psychosocial adjustment, depending on the age group. Older (n = 74) and younger parents (n = 71) completed self-report measures to assess personal competencies and social resources (third trimester of pregnancy), psychological distress, and quality of life (third trimester of pregnancy and 1-month' postpartum) and parenting self-perceptions (1-month' postpartum). Older parents were more similar than different from younger parents regarding personal competencies, social resources, and psychosocial adjustment during the first postnatal month. Regardless of the age group, higher personal competencies and social resources predicted lower anxiety and more positive parenting self-perceptions in women. Beyond higher personal competencies, older maternal age also predicted higher quality of life. In men, higher personal competencies were protective against anxiety, but only at older maternal age.

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Section: Psychosocial Adjustment To First‐time Parenthood At Advancedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Personal Competencies, Social Resources, and Psychosocial Adjustment of Primiparous Women of Advanced Maternal Age and Their Partners

Guedes

Canavarro

2015

Infant Ment. Health J.

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“…Previous research on women who postpone childbearing or remain childless has been noted for concentrating on the experiences of middle- and upper-class women (Schlesinger & Schlesinger, 1989). Our results point out that among childless women spending time with children is quite common among women with less than a college degree—women who are largely invisible in the literature on childlessness.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We know little about which childless women are spending time with children, how often they spend time with children, or how much time they spend. Moreover, previous research on childless women has primarily focused on women who are middle or upper class with little attention paid to the experiences of working and lower class women (Schlesinger & Schlesinger, 1989).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Childless Women’s Time With Children

Martin

Kendig

2012

Journal of Family Issues

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This study examines time with children among women who remain childless in young to middle adulthood. The authors identify biologically childless women aged 25 to 44 years in the June 2004-2008 Current Population Survey, and use their subsequent time use diaries in the 2004-2009 American Time Use Survey to measure their time with children.The authors pay particular attention to time with children who are not one's "own" (by adoption or marriage) and to differences across educational groups of childless women. It is found that childless women frequently spend time with children, and childless women with no 4-year college degree are almost twice as likely to spend time with children as childless women with a 4-year degree. The authors also show how educational differences in childless women's time with children are mediated by work patterns, residential arrangements, and especially union status. The findings suggest large class differences in how women experience the boundary between childlessness and parenthood.

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“…Women's increased labour force participation roughly coincided with postindustrialism, declining support for class-based politics and unionization, and retrenchment in the social policies of the welfare state beginning in the mid-1970s (Korpi and Palme 2003). Higher female human capital, the result of higher levels of education, contributed to delayed marriage and childrearing (Cohen and Bianchi 1999;Schlesinger and Schlesinger 1989) and, presumably, an increased reluctance to forego the income that could be realized through market work. This is especially noteworthy given women's recent superior education attainment relative to men.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mots clés: parcours de vie, loisirs, sexe, l'emploi du temps, analyse comparative, travail, double fardeau, l'éducation des enfants, régimes de protection socialie, une théorie du travail sur les personnes à charge, différenciation, la modernité C onsiderable social change has affected the gendered division of labour within the contemporary family. Women have entered the labour market in greater numbers in recent decades; higher educational achievement, postponed marriage, and delayed childrearing affect the demography of developed nations and contribute to change in gender roles (Cohen and Bianchi 1999;Schlesinger and Schlesinger 1989). The impact of work and family on leisure time has not been specifically addressed in general trends in leisure time among national populations.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Widening Parental Leisure Gap: The Family as a Site for Late Modern Differentiation and Convergence in Leisure Time within Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States

Stalker

2010

Can. J. Soc.

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This study assesses trends in leisure time by life course and family characteristics in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Using national time-use data collected since the mid-1960s, it is hypothesized that important family characteristics are responsible for substantial variation in leisure time that is not recognized in accounts of leisure time among working adults or within national populations. An important finding indicates that leisure is either stable or has increased somewhat in the three Western democracies studied. Social characteristics, family, and employment contexts account for considerable variation in leisure time. Findings demonstrate an increased disadvantage in leisure time among parents of young children after controlling for social background characteristics. Analyses demonstrate the need to qualify accounts of over-work and the double-burden on available leisure time. The perspective of structural constraints integrates neoclassical economic approaches to marginal utility maximization and sociological approaches to gender, and clarifies the impact of changed economic relations that produce less gendered though more differentiated patterns of leisure when parenting.

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Postponed Parenthood: Trends and Issues

Cited by 19 publications

References 0 publications

Personal Competencies, Social Resources, and Psychosocial Adjustment of Primiparous Women of Advanced Maternal Age and Their Partners

Personal Competencies, Social Resources, and Psychosocial Adjustment of Primiparous Women of Advanced Maternal Age and Their Partners

Childless Women’s Time With Children

A Widening Parental Leisure Gap: The Family as a Site for Late Modern Differentiation and Convergence in Leisure Time within Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States

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