Cohabitation, Marriage and Children's Economic Well-Being
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The access to the contents of this doctoral thesis it is limited to the acceptance of the use conditions set by the following Creative Commons license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/?lang=en Cohabitation, marriage and children’s economic well-being: Spain in comparative perspective Xiaoteng Hu Cohabitation, marriage and children’s economic well-being: Spain in comparative perspective Xiaoteng Hu Doctoral Dissertation Directors: Lluís Flaquer i Vilardebò Almudena Moreno Minguez Anna Garriga Alsina PhD Programme in Sociology Department of Sociology Faculty of Political Sciences and Sociology Autonomous University of Barcelona May 2018, Bellaterra – Barcelona (Spain) Acknowledgements Being a PhD student is one of the most significant experience in my life, it’s a journey full of opportunities as well as challenges. Standing at the end of the fantastic journey, I realized that without the help of those important persons in my life, achieving this is not even close to possible. Thus, here I would like to express my deepest appreciations to all of you. To begin with, I would like to acknowledge and thank my supervisors Lluís Flaquer, Anna Garriga, and Almudena Moreno for the systematic guidance, effective support, and constant encouragement they provided throughout my dissertation process. In particular, I feel grateful for the support and mentorship by Lluís Flaquer on my journey as a doctoral student, and I could not have imagined a better supervisor for my doctoral study. Specifically, I would like to thank Brienna Perelli-Harris for her help and mentoring during my research stay in the University of Southampton, UK. I greatly benefited from her knowledge and advice in the field of demography. Another invaluable support to me is from my wonderful family. My parents, Guijun and Jing, always encourage me to pursue all the possibilities and support my every decision with their endless love throughout my life. In addition, I would like to thank my lovely husband, Linhu, who is always there for me and helped me make this adventure possible. I cannot thank them enough for the warmest inspirations. To my friends, Tomas, Emilia, and Yanli, thank you all for your encouragement and cheering during all the years, I will remember all the good time and bad time we spent together, that will become the indelible part of my memory. Last but not the least, I would like to thank my home country as well as Fudan University for offering me such a great opportunity to study abroad. i Contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. i Chapter 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2 Theoretical framework: Micro-level determinants of union status ............................... 22 2.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 22 2.2 Ideational changes ................................................................................................................ 22 2.2.1 The Second Demographic Transition theory ...................................................................... 22 2.2.2 Cohabitation and changing values ..................................................................................... 24 2.3 Socioeconomic circumstances and union status ..................................................................... 27 2.3.1 The economic independence hypothesis ............................................................................ 27 2.3.2 A theory of marriage timing .............................................................................................. 30 2.3.3 Costs of marriage and men’s economic opportunities ........................................................ 31 2.3.4 Women’s bargaining power .............................................................................................. 32 2.3.5 The role of cohabitation in union formation ...................................................................... 33 2.3.6 Empirical evidence ........................................................................................................... 34 2.4 Economic status and living arrangements of parents ............................................................. 37 2.5 Summary ............................................................................................................................... 41 Chapter 3 Theoretical framework: Macro-level factors related to union status ............................ 43 3.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 43 3.2 Family policy ........................................................................................................................ 44 3.2.1 Family policy regimes in Europe ....................................................................................... 44 3.2.2 The cross-national comparison of family policy ................................................................ 47 3.2.3 The role of family policy in the prevalence of cohabitation ............................................... 53 3.3 Legal harmonization between cohabitation and marriage...................................................... 54 3.3.1 Legal regulations on cohabiting partnership and parenthood in Europe .............................. 55 3.3.2 Cross-national differences in legal rights and obligations between cohabitation and marriage ......................................................................................................................................... 59 3.3.3 The role of laws in the prevalence of cohabitation ............................................................. 63 Chapter 4 Theoretical framework: Parental union status and economic well-being of children .. 66 4.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 66 4.2 Child poverty: Definition and measures ................................................................................ 66 4.2.1 Definition of child poverty ................................................................................................ 67 4.2.2 Measurement of child poverty ........................................................................................... 70 4.3 Child poverty in Europe ........................................................................................................ 73 4.4 Consequences of child poverty .............................................................................................. 76 4.4.1 Physical health .................................................................................................................. 76 ii 4.4.2 Mental health and behavioral problems ............................................................................. 78 4.4.3 Cognitive ability and academic achievements.................................................................... 79 4.5 Child economic well-being and parents’ union status ............................................................ 81 4.5.1 The social causation explanation ....................................................................................... 83 4.5.2 The social selection explanation ........................................................................................ 86 Chapter 5 Changing political, economic, and social context of the Spanish families ..................... 89 5.1 The political system .............................................................................................................. 89 5.1.1 Franco’s dictatorship......................................................................................................... 89 5.1.2 Transition from Francoism to democracy .......................................................................... 92 5.1.3 From the democratic transition up to the present ............................................................... 94 5.2 The structure of the labor market .......................................................................................... 96 5.3 Welfare state and family policy ........................................................................................... 101 5.4 Legal recognition of cohabitation ........................................................................................ 104 5.5 Cultural changes in gender and family attitudes .................................................................. 107 Chapter 6 Family transformations in Spain .................................................................................. 113 6.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 113 6.2 Evolution of cohabitation in Spain ...................................................................................... 114 6.3 Trends