Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
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The well-being implications of intergenerational educational mobility have been extensively studied, yet the focus predominantly lies on primary movers—individuals who themselves move up or down the educational ladder. Less is known about the impact of adult children’s educational mobility on their parents’ subjective well-being. Moreover, the role of family structures and gender dynamics in shaping the well-being outcomes of such mobility has often been overlooked. The study employs the Diagonal Mobility Model to estimate the effects of net mobility on subjective well-being, independently of both parents’ (origin) and their adult children’s (destination) educational levels, using data from the 2010 China Family Panel Studies. The results show that the subjective well-being of both generations was influenced by origin and destination, with a more pronounced effect from their own education. Notably, downward mobility adversely affected individuals’ and their parents’ subjective well-being, a phenomenon observed exclusively among those in only-child families. Among these parents, mothers with an upwardly mobile daughter reported the highest life satisfaction. These findings point to a shift in the traditional gendered parent-child dynamics and underscore the adverse consequences of downward mobility that sway both generations in only-child families.
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The proportions of adults reaching midlife without having children have been rising rapidly across the globe, particularly in Asia. However, little is known about the pathways to permanent childlessness within the region’s childless population. This study utilized a latent class analysis (LCA) to typologize pathways to childlessness based on dynamic characteristics of multiple life domains (i.e., partnership, education, and occupation) among 489 childless Singaporeans aged 50 and above from a 2022 nationwide survey. Additionally, we utilized multinomial logistic regressions to examine the sociodemographic correlates of pathway profiles and Shannon’s entropy index to assess the heterogeneity in pathways to childlessness among successive cohorts. Results revealed five distinct profiles of pathways to childlessness: the Never-Married Semi-Professionals, the Low-Flex Blue-Collars, the Highly Educated Professionals, the Ever-Married Semi-Professionals, and the Flexible Blue-Collars. These pathway profiles were significantly associated with sociodemographic characteristics such as gender and family background. Women’s pathways to childlessness were more standardized and heavily influenced by partnership characteristics, compared to those of men. The childless from privileged family background were less likely to follow pathways characterized by disadvantageous education and occupational status. There are also rising trends of voluntary childlessness among married childless individuals and increasing heterogeneity in pathways to childlessness across successive birth cohorts. In sum, our findings are consistent with some of the predictions of the Second Demographic Transition, suggesting that Singapore may be experiencing a demographic transition characterized by rising childlessness, decoupling of marriage and childbearing, and de-standardization of the life course.
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Under Review & In Progress
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Objective: Using the life course perspective, this study assesses partnership trajectories of childless individuals in China to understand the drivers and processes of becoming childless.
Background: Childlessness has become increasingly prevalent in China. Yet, little is known about the within-group heterogeneity in partnership trajectories leading to childlessness and their sociodemographic correlates.
Methods: The study employs sequence analysis, multinomial regressions, and ordinary least square regressions to analyze 775 childless men and women aged 40 and above selected from the China Family Panel Studies 2010-2018.
Results: Five clusters of partnership trajectories were identified: never-partnered (51.9%), early marriage (24.9%), late marriage (9.29%), on-time marriage (9.29%), and unpartnered via divorce and widowhood (4.65%). Men with low socioeconomic status were most likely to become childless through never marrying and their privileged counterparts mostly through on-time or late marriage. The early marriage and unpartnered clusters mostly consisted of women, and among women, those with urban hukou or low education were more likely to be divorced. In addition, the overall heterogeneity in partnership trajectories to childlessness declined, and most complexity observed was limited to the unpartnered cluster.
Conclusion: Partnership trajectories to childlessness in China are heterogenous and stratified but increasingly homogenous.
Implications: Understanding the processes of becoming childless is crucial to reveal the evolving relationships between marriage and childbearing.
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This study examines the associations between educational assortative mating and subjective well-being of heterosexual couples in Europe. First, it assesses whether the intra-couple difference in education influences subjective well-being, independently of each partner’s educational level. Second, it explores whether and how these effects vary across country clusters and normative climates. A sample of 129,212 respondents from 28 countries was selected from Rounds 1-10 (2002-2020) of the European Social Survey and analyzed by the Diagonal Mobility Models. Results demonstrate the overall advantage of homogamy over hypogamy and the gender-asymmetric influence of hypergamy: positive for men and negative for women. In contexts where hypergamy was highly normative, individuals in such arrangements experienced a further increase in well-being. However, the benefits of homogamy were diminished in contexts that favor homogamy. These variations largely correspond to the diverse outcomes of assortative mating across regions: the advantage of homogamy in Central and Eastern Europe, the reinforcement of gender roles in Western and Southern Europe, and the returns to partnering “upwards” for women in Northern Europe. These findings provide unique insights into how individuals’ well-being is contingent upon relationship dynamics, which are shaped by the complex interplay between individual decisions and societal norms.
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Objective: This study investigates how generalized and particularized trust affects individuals’ and their spouse’s subjective well-being within marital relationships in China.
Background: Trust is widely recognized as a critical determinant of individuals’ subjective well-being. This study distinguishes between generalized and particularized trust. It highlights the relational nature of trust by examining its well-being implications on both individual and dyadic levels and explaining them by the relational pathways of marital satisfaction and interpersonal relationships.
Methods: Utilizing Actor-Partner Interdependence Models, the study analyzes a sample of 6,964 married couples selected from the China Family Panel Studies in 2014 and 2018.
Results: Particularized trust, through the pathways of marital satisfaction and interpersonal relationships, significantly increases individuals’ subjective well-being and extends its benefits from husbands to wives, but not vice versa. Generalized trust shows limited positive effects on men’s depression and does not spill over.
Conclusion: Particularized trust within marriages plays a pivotal role in enhancing couples’ subjective well-being, with husbands being more influential.
Implications: These findings deepen the understanding of how trust functions within intimate relationships and its broader implications for subjective well-being, highlighting the gendered power dynamics within husband-wife interactions.
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