Periodic Reporting for period 1 - DisparFam (Measuring and Understanding Disparities in Family Formation in Low- and Middle-Income Countries)
Reporting period: 2022-07-01 to 2024-06-30
The DisparFam project focuses on measuring and understanding family formation in a cross-country, comparative perspective. Union formation and transition to parenthood are key life-course events that determine women’s, men’s, and their children’s health and well-being. Globally, there exist large disparities in family formation processes, not only between countries but also between socioeconomic groups and between women and men within countries. For example, many women, particularly within low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), enter unions and have children very early, often as a result of unintended pregnancy. However, the causes and consequences of these processes remain poorly understood. Moreover, the family formation trajectories appear to vastly differ between women and men. Yet, the patterns of gender differences in union formation and transition to parenthood have not been well documented in a cross-country, comparative perspective, because most research focuses on women.
Consequently, the overall objective of this project involves exploring key aspects of disparities in union formation and childbearing across over 50 countries, focusing on the role of socioeconomic status, gender inequalities, and countries’ level of development in shaping variability in family formation between and within countries. When it comes to scientific contribution, the project aims to employ innovative measurement approaches that allow better capturing the determinants and consequences of disparities in union formation and childbearing. By taking a comparative perspective, the aim is also to cast new light on not only individual but also contextual factors associated with variability in family formation. Beyond the scientific impact, the objective is to expand fellow’s methodological skills, research networks, and collaborations, as well as organizational, and mentoring skills.
Consequently, the overall objective of this project involves exploring key aspects of disparities in union formation and childbearing across over 50 countries, focusing on the role of socioeconomic status, gender inequalities, and countries’ level of development in shaping variability in family formation between and within countries. When it comes to scientific contribution, the project aims to employ innovative measurement approaches that allow better capturing the determinants and consequences of disparities in union formation and childbearing. By taking a comparative perspective, the aim is also to cast new light on not only individual but also contextual factors associated with variability in family formation. Beyond the scientific impact, the objective is to expand fellow’s methodological skills, research networks, and collaborations, as well as organizational, and mentoring skills.
The work performed as part of the project and the main achievements can be divided into four parts.
First, the project examined disparities in the age at first union and first birth, and the role of education in shaping them, among women within LMICs. Taking a novel approach and using quantile regression analysis, this study explored whether additional schooling shifts relatively early union formation and childbearing (i.e. lower parts of the distributions of the age at first union and birth) similarly or differently than it shifts other parts of these distributions. It was shown that the association between an additional year at school and the age at first union and birth was weaker in the lower than the upper parts of the distributions. Thus, education has a relatively weaker effect on the reduction of early first unions and births and plays an unequalizing role in shaping family formation within countries. These findings are key to understanding persistently high levels of early marriages and pregnancies, despite educational expansion.
The second part of the project explored gender differences in family formation, combining data from countries at different stages of development and gender inequality levels. First, patterns of differences in childlessness between women and men were examined according to the countries’ levels of gender inequality. The key findings suggested that in settings with lower levels of gender inequality, thus higher levels of women’s empowerment, the prevalence of childlessness is higher among both women and men, but among men in particular. The results highlighted the interplay between individuals’ union formation trajectories and their level of education in shaping these associations. Second, the patterns of gender disparities in union formation were examined across countries with different levels of development. The results uncovered that in countries with high levels of development, a significant proportion of unions involve cross-national couples that differ starkly in their characteristics between women and men, and exhibit asymmetries according to partners' country of birth, age, and educational level. Overall, the results shed new light on the links between family formation and contextual factors and highlighted that to gain a fuller understanding of these processes, it is critical to consider differences in the behaviors of women and men.
Third, the collaborations developed over the course of the fellowship allowed the study of the causes and consequences of two important dimensions of family formation: unintended pregnancies and fertility levels. Given that many pregnancies among women in LMICs happen not only early but are also unintended, the association between birth intentions and adverse outcomes, namely infant mortality, was examined. The use of fixed-effects models showed that compared to wanted births, infant mortality was higher after an unwanted or mistimed birth. The risk of infant mortality after an unwanted/mistimed pregnancy was particularly high in nations with low human development. To further cast light on the importance of taking contextual factors into account when examining family formation, the final collaborative study focused on researching the impacts on fertility levels of disasters. Evidence synthesis methods were employed to show that, overall, fertility levels were negatively affected by disasters. With growing risks of adverse events (e.g. pandemics), this study delivered insights into an important factor affecting family formation globally.
Fourth, the project permitted skills development. The fellow attended courses, organized seminars at the host institution and sessions at international conferences, supervised Master and PhD students, expanded their research network, and developed new collaborations that resulted in high-quality publications. Overall, the objectives of the action were satisfactorily achieved.
First, the project examined disparities in the age at first union and first birth, and the role of education in shaping them, among women within LMICs. Taking a novel approach and using quantile regression analysis, this study explored whether additional schooling shifts relatively early union formation and childbearing (i.e. lower parts of the distributions of the age at first union and birth) similarly or differently than it shifts other parts of these distributions. It was shown that the association between an additional year at school and the age at first union and birth was weaker in the lower than the upper parts of the distributions. Thus, education has a relatively weaker effect on the reduction of early first unions and births and plays an unequalizing role in shaping family formation within countries. These findings are key to understanding persistently high levels of early marriages and pregnancies, despite educational expansion.
The second part of the project explored gender differences in family formation, combining data from countries at different stages of development and gender inequality levels. First, patterns of differences in childlessness between women and men were examined according to the countries’ levels of gender inequality. The key findings suggested that in settings with lower levels of gender inequality, thus higher levels of women’s empowerment, the prevalence of childlessness is higher among both women and men, but among men in particular. The results highlighted the interplay between individuals’ union formation trajectories and their level of education in shaping these associations. Second, the patterns of gender disparities in union formation were examined across countries with different levels of development. The results uncovered that in countries with high levels of development, a significant proportion of unions involve cross-national couples that differ starkly in their characteristics between women and men, and exhibit asymmetries according to partners' country of birth, age, and educational level. Overall, the results shed new light on the links between family formation and contextual factors and highlighted that to gain a fuller understanding of these processes, it is critical to consider differences in the behaviors of women and men.
Third, the collaborations developed over the course of the fellowship allowed the study of the causes and consequences of two important dimensions of family formation: unintended pregnancies and fertility levels. Given that many pregnancies among women in LMICs happen not only early but are also unintended, the association between birth intentions and adverse outcomes, namely infant mortality, was examined. The use of fixed-effects models showed that compared to wanted births, infant mortality was higher after an unwanted or mistimed birth. The risk of infant mortality after an unwanted/mistimed pregnancy was particularly high in nations with low human development. To further cast light on the importance of taking contextual factors into account when examining family formation, the final collaborative study focused on researching the impacts on fertility levels of disasters. Evidence synthesis methods were employed to show that, overall, fertility levels were negatively affected by disasters. With growing risks of adverse events (e.g. pandemics), this study delivered insights into an important factor affecting family formation globally.
Fourth, the project permitted skills development. The fellow attended courses, organized seminars at the host institution and sessions at international conferences, supervised Master and PhD students, expanded their research network, and developed new collaborations that resulted in high-quality publications. Overall, the objectives of the action were satisfactorily achieved.
The DisparFam project went beyond the state of the art by drawing on an innovative combination of data (surveys and databases with information about countries’ context), taking an interdisciplinary approach (combining insights from disciplines of demography, sociology, and international development), and analyzing the interplay between disparities in family formation and different dimensions of inequality (with respect to social position and gender). The results of the project improved our understanding of global family changes. The uncovered patterns of disparities in union formation and transition to parenthood, as well as their relationship with micro- and macro-level factors, highlight that more cross-country, comparative research on the complexity of family formation processes and their links with social inequalities is needed.