Sociology 441: Stratification

Family structure effects on stratification outcomes

"traditional" 2-parent versus single parent families:

• common topic now in popular discourse about American problems
• macro: growth in single parent families
• MacLeod: both Brothers and Hangers have disrupted families
• so: not a strong causes of differences in their aspirations
• Several distinctions are possible, for example:
• Never married single parent
• Divorced/separated single parent
• Widowed single parent
• Step family
• 2 biological parents
• Also: length of time spent in single parent family
• 2 questions to ask about family structure effects:
• How big an effect does family strcture have on child outcomes ?
• Why (or How?) does family structure affect outcomes ?
• McLanahan and Sandefur review 4 major data sources to evaluate family structure effects.

Other family structure differences that may affect outcomes:

• Number of siblings
• Presence of grandparents