Incidence of Four-Generation Family Lineages: Is Timing of Fertility or Mortality a Better Explanation?

Objectives. This article estimates the percentage of lineages that include four or more generations for a sample of the U.S. population and explores how social status and race are related to lineage depth. Methods. We assembled data from Waves 1 and 2 of the National Survey of Families and Household...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences Psychological sciences and social sciences, 2006-03, Vol.61 (2), p.S99-S106
Main Authors: Matthews, Sarah H., Sun, Rongjun
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Biological and medical sciences
Birth Rate
Comparative studies
Couple and family
Demographics
Demography
Family - psychology
Female
Fertility
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Generations
Humans
Intergenerational Relations
Lineage
Longevity
Male
Middle Aged
Mortality
Mortality Rates
Population Dynamics
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Race
Social Class
Social psychology
Social Status
Sociodemographic Factors
Socioeconomic Factors
Status
Surveys and Questionnaires
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Summary:Objectives. This article estimates the percentage of lineages that include four or more generations for a sample of the U.S. population and explores how social status and race are related to lineage depth. Methods. We assembled data from Waves 1 and 2 of the National Survey of Families and Households in order to estimate the proportion of adults in four or more generations for the Wave 2 sample (1992–1994). When necessary, we used various decision rules to overcome an absence of information about specific generations. We examine relationships between lineage depth and sociodemographic variables by using logistic regressions. Results. The data show that 32% of the respondents were in lineages comprising four or more generations. Blacks and individuals of lower social class were more likely to be in four-generation lineages, especially shorter-gapped lineages. Whites and individuals of higher social class were not more likely to be in longer-gapped, four-generation lineages. Discussion. The majority of the adult population in the early 1990s was in three-generation lineages. The verdict is still out on whether population aging results in the wholesale verticalization of lineages. Social differentials in four-generation lineages in the early 1990s were mainly due to differences in the timing of fertility, rather than mortality.
ISSN:1079-5014
1758-5368
DOI:10.1093/geronb/61.2.S99