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Children's contributions were an important component of the family economy at the turn of the century. This article uses data from the 1910 Census Public Use Sample to disentangle gender and ethnic variations in coresidence with parents. Bivariate results indicate greater coresidence of women; this reverses after controlling for gainful employment and ethnicity. Work outside the home bought freedomfrom parents to a significantly greater degree for women. Young men who were best able to contribute financially to the family were more likely to be coresiding, suggesting that they received stronger incentives to remain in the home. Irish and German families benefitted from the presence of sons, whereas Jewish households stood to gain from the contributions of both sons and daughters. Relative to the "new" immigrant groups, Black families relying on the contributions of coresident unmarried children were at a disadvantage.

Over the last few decades, a growing proportion of Americans have never married. Factors contributing to adolescent expectations for marriage and the likelihood of non-marriage by midlife, however, remain understudied. We explore attitudinal and economic factors associated with non-marriage among a sample of White, Black, and Hispanic men and women in their early 30s through early 40s. Data are from Waves I, II, IV, and V of Add Health ( n = 7,297). We use logistic regression analysis to assess how adolescent expectations to remain unmarried in adolescence and economic factors in adulthood are associated with never marrying among respondents approaching their fourth decade of life. Negative adolescent expectations regarding marriage are highly predictive of non-marriage in later life, particularly among White adults. Economic factors, such as educational attainment, educational mobility, earnings, and job instability, are more predictive of non-marriage for Black adults, and for men. Our findings suggest how ideational and structural factors challenge the institution of marriage at different times in the life course. Adolescent expectations for marriage are important predictors of subsequent union formation, but economic factors continue to differentiate union outcomes among older adults.

"Living together is a typical romantic rite-of-passage in the United States today. In fact, census data shows a 37 percent increase of couples who choose to commit to and live with one another, foregoing marriage. And yet we know very little about this new 'normal' in romantic life--when do people decide to move in together, why do they do so, and what happens to them over time? Drawing upon in-depth interviews, Sharon Sassler and Amanda Jayne Miller provide us with an inside view of how cohabiting relationships play out before and after couples move in together, using couples' stories to explore the 'he said' and 'she said' of romantic dynamics. Delving into hot button issues--such as housework, birth control, finances, and expectations for the future--Sassler and Miller deliver surprising insights about the impact of class and education on how relationships unfold. Showcasing the words, thoughts, and conflicts of couples themselves, Cohabitation Nation offers a riveting and sometimes counterintuitive look at the way we live now"--Provided by publisher

"Living together is a typical romantic rite-of-passage in the United States today. In fact, census data shows a 37 percent increase of couples who choose to commit to and live with one another, foregoing marriage. And yet we know very little about this new 'normal' in romantic life--when do people decide to move in together, why do they do so, and what happens to them over time? Drawing upon in-depth interviews, Sharon Sassler and Amanda Jayne Miller provide us with an inside view of how cohabiting relationships play out before and after couples move in together, using couples' stories to explore the 'he said' and 'she said' of romantic dynamics. Delving into hot button issues--such as housework, birth control, finances, and expectations for the future--Sassler and Miller deliver surprising insights about the impact of class and education on how relationships unfold. Showcasing the words, thoughts, and conflicts of couples themselves, Cohabitation Nation offers a riveting and sometimes counterintuitive look at the way we live now"--Provided by publisher.

A growing proportion of nonmarital births are to cohabiting couples, though childbearing is more common among moderately educated cohabitors than among cohabiting college graduates. In this study reasons for social class divergence in fertility behavior are explored. Data are from semistructured interviews with 30 working‐class and 31 middle‐class cohabiting couples. The authors inquired about readiness for parenthood, contraceptive usage, and concurrence about childbearing plans and contraception. Middle‐class couples generally utilized the most effective methods, often relied on two methods, concurred regarding fertility goals, and reported contracepting consistently. Among the moderately educated, contraceptive utilization was lower and reliance on less effective methods greater; they expressed greater ambivalence about preventing conception and discussed contraception less than their middle‐class counterparts. Less educated respondents also mentioned forgetfulness and cost as reasons for sporadic contraceptive use. The study results highlight the need to deepen understanding of how relational processes and couple dynamics contribute to pregnancy avoidance or conception.

This study explored the association between household financial arrangements and relationship quality using a representative sample of low‐income couples with children. We detailed the banking arrangements couples utilize, assessed which factors relate to holding a joint account versus joint and separate, only separate, or no account, and analyzed the association between fiscal practices and men's and women's relationship quality. The majority of couples held joint accounts, though over one‐quarter also have separate accounts; nearly one‐tenth have no account. Joint bank accounts were associated with higher levels of relationship quality on numerous dimensions, though more consistently for women than men. Individualistic arrangements appeared to undermine women's relationship satisfaction and reduce feelings of intimacy, sexual compatibility, and satisfaction with conflict resolution.

We examine hypotheses derived from theories of structural assimilation & spatial mobility to study the residential attainment of white ethnics, blacks, Asians, & Hispanics in the US. We consider how immigrant status, ethnicity, & individual & family characteristics predict socioeconomic neighborhood outcome. We extend previous studies in several ways, first developing the concept & measurement of residential attainment as a neighborhood or tract-based outcome, & then examining this in a regression-based framework. Second, we expand ethnicity to twenty-eight distinct groups. Third, we measure directly the impact of intermarriage on residential outcomes. Our empirical findings show that immigrant status & ethnicity, often implicated but not always kept conceptually distinct in discussions of assimilation, exert different effects across ethnic groups. We find that intermarriage does matter, as minority group householders with Anglo spouses gain access to higher-status neighborhoods, net of their personal socioeconomic status. Finally & notably, ethnic groups differ in the returns to personal socioeconomic traits in this process of neighborhood attainment. Thus, ethnic background is shown to dominate immigrant status in predicting residential outcomes. Furthermore, the process of assimilation varies noticeably within ethnic groups. 3 Tables, 43 References. Adapted from the source document.

The belief that the social class position an individual inherits at birth is not itself a prime determinant of subsequent personal achievement is a cherished part of American democratic tradition. Social historians attempting to measure whether the mobility opportunities so eagerly sought by immigrants were in fact realized have looked at the occupations of immigrant men and their sons. Evidence from such diverse areas as Boston, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and New York City indicates that at the turn of the century many men did experience upward occupational mobility; some groups, notably blacks, did not fare as well as did white immigrants, and not all white immigrants experienced the same rates of occupational improvement (Bodnar et al. 1982; Lieberson 1980; Model 1988; Thernstrom 1964, 1973; Zunz 1982). This essay turns to the first decade of the twentieth century to explore some of the factors contributing to socioeconomic mobility.