word count: 370

The article, 'Trends in Marital Happiness by Gender and Race , 1973 to 2006', focuses on the impact of race and gender on marital happiness over an extended period of time. The article reports findings, such as married women being less happy than single women and married men, whereas married men are happier than these women. The article suggests that this is because of the roles husbands and wives play in their marriage, where the man typically has more power. Different factors such as the distribution of labor among the household also took effect on the overall happiness in the marriage, as well as women joining the labor force as we moved closer to present time. The article goes on to explain trends in the Black household. Whereas white women barely began joining the labor force, black women had higher percentages of already being a part of the labor force. Additionally, the article reported that black husbands were more likely to help with household chores, than white husbands. The issues Black individuals faced that would put a strain on their marriage was high rates of unemployment among men, thus leading to unemployment of black women. The disproportion occured because Black male unemployment rates went up, from 7.3% to 12%, while the unemployment for white males rose much less. The article stated that this disproportionate rise in unemployment affects marital happiness due to financial issues. Marital unhappiness was caused in this area for the black wives, due to financial troubles. This resulted in a higher percentage of unhappiness in black wives than the other groups. Other factors in marital happiness were divorce, socioeconomic variables and age. The data was taken from the General Social service, and the dependent variable asked these individuals how happy they were with their marriage, 24,544 married individuals wee surveyed.

word count:312

The article 'Marital Assimilation Among Hispanics: Evidence of Declining Cultural and Economic Incorporation', focuses on the intermarriage patterns of Hispanics and Whites. This focus was due to the fact that Hispanics are the largest growing minority group coming into the United States, accounting for 51% of immigrants. The article goes about finding these patterns by extending their research between the years 1990 to 2000. The findings focused on the assimilation Hispanics went through when marrying a non-Hispanic White, these were spatial, cultural and economic changes. The data was based on Census Micro Samples from the Minnesota Population center's integrated Public Use Microdata Series from the years 1990 to 2000. The samples were limited to 155 married couples 'living in the metropolitan area with at least one hispanic partner and with a female between the ages of 20-34. The independent variables included looking at residential exposure of Hispanics to Whites, economic incorporation by socioeconomic status between Hispanics and Whites, as well as English proficiency. Once the data was all collected and measured the results showed that intermarriage between Hispanics and Non-Hispanic Whites had a decline in the year 1990 due to the immigration of Hispanics, especially Mexicans. The year 1990 also included a time where segregation was high against hispanic immigrants. This was in part due to language barriers between Hispanics and non Hispanic Whites. In addition, educational inequalities also were in part factors that led to declines in interracial marriages. These significant changes were also caused by the separation of the two racial groups, they were integrating less, so they were unable to assimilate due to the separation between the groups. Marriage is seen as the last step of assimilation, and while some groups were able to assimilate others were not. This was due to the factors discussed before. Language barriers, education and even exposure were the reasons some did not assimilate.

Kamaldeep Kaur- 526

Trends in Marital Happiness by Gender and Race, 1973 to 2006 - Mamadi Corra

Within this article the dependent variable or what is trying to be explained includes:

• Marital happiness amongst various race groups

The independent variables were examined on a national level and the type of method used included a General Social Survey, which is a randomly drawn nationally representative sample of English speaking adults who are at least 18 years old. The individuals selected lived in nonconstitutional areas of the United States. The analysis uses data collected from The National Opinion Research Center from 1973 to 2006 which predicts a more precise outcome of our dependent variable. The independent variable used in order for us to explain marital happiness amongst various race groups include:

• Race

• Gender

• Work status

• Education

• Income

• Marital status

• age

Findings resulted in African American wives having the least happiness within a marriage amongst the four various groups. In such, the data indicates that White husbands have the highest mean score over time (1.65), White wives are second happiest with a mean score of 1.58, and Black husbands in third with a mean score of 1.49. Black wives had an average mean score of 1.47 making it the group that achieves the least amount of happiness within a marriage. However, figure 1 indicates that from the 1990's to the 2000's, happiness amongst Black wives has an increase and even surpasses Black husbands at times. Moreover, the findings show that race and gender each have statistically significant effects on the results. The results are also determined on the the nature and structure of the marriage which can change the quality of it over time within the United States.

Recent Changes in the Trends of Teen Birth Rates, 1981–2006 - Phyllis A. Wingo

Within this article the dependent variable or what is trying to be explained includes:

• Trends in teen birth rates amongst various demographics

The independent variables were examined using a combination of birth certificate data and joinpoint regression to examine the various trends in teen birth rates by age (10 –14, 15–17, and 18 –19 years) and race during 1981–2006 and by age and Hispanic origin during 1990 –2006. The statistical method includes a measurement of the number of live births per every 1000 females. The independent variables used in order for us to explain trends in teen birth rates amongst various demographics include:

• Race

• Age

• Gender

• Hispanic origin

• Demographic

Findings resulted that for teens younger than the age of 18, a decline in birth rates began in 1994 and ended in 2003. The statistical data includes a -8.03% rate in decline per year for ages 10 –14 years; and a -5.63% per year for ages 15–17 years. A downward trend for teens of ages 18 and 19 began in 1991 and ended in 2004 with a rate of decline of -2.37% per year. Moreover, an increasing trend in the most recent time segment was only shown for 18- and 19-year-old Hispanic teens. However, for most study groups, levels of teen birth rates was generally level after 2003-2006 after a long term decline. An Increase was shown towards Hispanic teens which indicate more planning and prevention methods need to taught and targeted for specific race populations in the United States.

Kristopher Havlik - 109674454 Soc111 - Family Quiz

Kristopher Havlik

Word Count: 567

 

            This article titled, "Trends in Marital Happiness by Gender and Race, 1973 to 2006," explains the differences and the qualities of how and why marriages face the troubles of divorce and separation. The authors explain that there has been a growing trend of divorce in the United States. Many couples that have been surveyed have said that they are unsatisfied with their marriage; whether it be because of financial trouble, general unhappiness, or because of romantic issues. The authors include in their article, that white males are often more satisfied than black males with their marriages, and that women are often times less satisfied with their marriages than men as a whole. One topic that the authors include is of the power struggle in the family, particularly financial power. They said that if both husband and wife are receiving equal pay, meaning that they have equal power, then there is likely to be a greater amount of happiness in their marriage. Another factor in the growing trend of divorce can be contributed to the discrimination of black men in the workforce. The authors explain that black men who are not as successful as their wives expect them to be, are often times seen as not fulfilling the masculine role in the family, leading to dissatisfaction of their wives. What the authors are basically saying is that one of the leading factors in the dissatisfaction in marriages in the United States is the economic struggle that men face in society. The dependent variable of the study was simply marital happiness. The independent variables in the study included race, gender, if the respondent was divorced, employed, as well as the number of individuals living in the household. Throughout the study, the authors indicate that the highest rates of marital happiness are of white husbands, and the lowest rates of marital happiness are of black wives.

 

            The authors of the article titled, "Social Boundaries and Marital Assimilation: Interpreting Trends in Racial and Ethnic Intermarriage," explain that the rate of ethnic and interracial marriages throughout the United States is on the rise; and there are several contributing factors. Some of these factors include assimilation, cohabitation, and the education of the individuals who are being married. With each of these factors being considered, the rate of racial and ethnic intermarriage is increasing and becoming less taboo in American society. A topic that is repeatedly brought up throughout out the article is the influx of minority citizens who are immigrating to the United States. Because of the huge number of minority citizens immigrating, it is difficult to keep track of current statistics of interracial marriages. Nevertheless, because of this factor, there is a gaining trend in the prominence of intermarriage in the United States. The second factor that was mentioned was cohabitation. Many immigrants are finding themselves in relationships and living with citizens in the United States, making it difficult to keep track of the relationship rate of interracial couples. Another factor that the authors include is of educational obtainment. Minority citizens who come to the United States, and receive an education, will sometimes find themselves being in a relationship with a white individual. This is one of the factors that lead to an intermarriage in our society. The last contributing factor that the authors include is that of the receding social boundary of the American society. It is more likely than in the past, that a couple, who is of different race and ethnicity, will get married in our society.

Nahma Alfarah

Nahma Alfarah

539 words

The article, Trends in Marital Happiness by Gender and Race, 1973 to 2006, by Mamadi Corra, Shannon K. Carter, J. Scott Carter, and David Knox, talks about how race and gender plays a major role in marital happiness. The methods of this research is that they used the General Social Survey to survey adults 18 and older about their happiness in their marriage. This is known as the dependent variable and the answers choices for this question was very happy, pretty happy, and not too happy. The independent variables asked was if there had a child under the age of age living in their household. They anaylsis family income and educational level of the spouses. As a result, studies indicate that white husbands are happier in their marital status than white wives. On the other hand, white wives are generally happier than married black males and black females and black males tend to happier than black females. Even though married black female status of happiness has gone up over the years, they still score low compared to white males and females and black males. Now what may contribute to these findings?  The dependent variables that have a significant effect on these findings is year. As decades go by, the level of our happiness tends to decrease. As we see in our following results, race has a significant effect in happiness. Whites tend to be more happier than blacks in their marriage. The independent variable on whether they had a child under the age of 18 resulted in lower marriage happiness. Also, they mention that the better job you have, the more likely you are unhappy in your marriage. Lastly income and religious contributed to having a higher level of happiness in their marriage.  As it goes to show, a majority of the factors that lead to stress can be reasons why marriage are very unhappy.  

The second article, Social Boundaries and Marital Assimilation: Interpreting Trends in Racial and Ethnic Intermarriage, by Zhenchao Qian and Daniel T. Lichter, talks about how intermarriage is a huge factor to assimilating into western society. The methods of this article uses a study shown from the Integrated Public Use Microdata. They look at the censuses that is between 1990 and 2000 showing that there is more intermarriage happening. The results indicate that the reason for this is because we have an increase of bi racial population. Due to this, people with different backgrounds, bi racial people tend to marry whites since white is the superior dominant group. The race that are more likely to marry whites are Hispanics and Native Americans. We see a slight increase in blacks and whites but not a significant amount. Blacks are more likely to not marry whites. Another aspect they talk about is immigrants born in another countries and citizens. We see that there is a decline between these two groups intermarrying one another, which portrays the idea that intermarriage is not common in the United States. Lastly we see that asian americans and hispanic americans are not many immigrant as they used too. We see a lower rate of that happening. As it goes to show, intermarriage tends to increase when we see a bi racial population.      

Zachary Riggins

Zachary Riggins 

521 words 

Examining Two Articles on Family 

In the article Trends in Marital Happiness by Gender and Race, 1973 to 2006, data was collected from the General Social Survey (GSS) between the years 1973 and 2006. This article aims to explain possible trends over time among race and gender regarding marriage satisfaction. This was achieved by comparing regression analyses across four different time periods (one time period per decade). The independent variables are race and gender subdivided into four groups: white husbands, white wives, black husbands, and black wives. The article refers to the divorce item within the GSS as nominal, indicating whether respondents were, at least, in their second marriage. In addition, the researchers control for other factors such as education, income, and age. White men scored the highest overall across all four decades in terms of marriage satisfaction. It should be noted that white men, white women, and black men all report slight declines in marriage satisfaction across all four decades, though not significant. Perhaps the most interesting find is how black women, for the last decade, report a significantly increased satisfaction of marriage (from a mean score of 1.36 to 1.47). Regarding the multivariate analysis, white respondents hold higher scores than black respondents for marriage satisfaction regardless of independent variables. The trend analysis yields results indicating that marital satisfaction among whites and blacks may be growing closer. However this indication may be product of the jump in black wife marital satisfaction within the last decade. 

The article Explaining Race and Ethnic Variation in Marriage: Directions for Future Research compiles, synthesizes, and analyzes results from different research regarding race and marriage. One line of research seems to indicate that differences between whites and blacks regarding family formation contribute to continued inequalities seen across all levels of society. Some research found black men face more unstable work settings than white men, leading to some race-based differences regarding marriage. Other research shows that blacks tend to have more stronger relationships with their in-laws than whites, but some qualitative studies find the exact opposite. These inconsistencies have led researchers to hone in on two different categories concerning differences with race and marriage: structural and cultural. Black men and women are more similar in terms of earning power than white men and women. This reduced gap in earning power may be responsible for a reduced role in division of labor among married black men and women. This in turn may lead to some of the differences we observe between whites and blacks regarding marriage. Another finding indicates black men have higher reports of infidelity towards their wives than white men.  This article concludes by providing ways to improve upon previous models of research in order to discover more potential structural and cultural ties regarding marriage. 

The analysis of research within the second article can be tied to the findings of the first article. For instance, the second article glazes over research indicating black men have higher rates of infidelity than white men. If we consider the first article, this is perhaps an example of why blacks overall reported lower marriage satisfaction compared to whites. As the second article mentions however, we should find ways to further pinpoint and distinguish cultural as well as structural factors to marriage satisfaction concerning race.