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Sibship in Low Fertility Settings: A Microsimulation Approach

Odden, Colin
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1357237238

Abstract Details

2013, Master of Arts, Ohio State University, Sociology.
This thesis examines the variation in lifespan sibling availability in low fertility populations. Demographic transition has had profound effects on family structure, shrinking kin networks while extending the duration of kin ties. Siblings are unique among these ties in their duration, degree of shared contexts, and salience for various outcomes (such as support of aging parents). While low fertility yields smaller sibships ceteris paribus, sibship distributions can vary among low fertility populations. Indeed, the variety of unique sibships – sib sets with only sibling dyads of a particular type – increases as fertility decreases. The composition of sib sets is dynamic, too: lifespan sibling availability varies, depending upon mothers’ fertility patterns. This study uses kinship microsimulation to model the lifespan composition of individuals’ sib sets, focusing on three critical life course stages: during childhood, at orphanhood, and near death. The microsimulations illustrate how sib set composition is linked to its roots in women’s fertility by varying: (i) women’s age at first union, (ii) women’s average number of children, and (iii) variance among women in number of children. The thesis demonstrates that low fertility allows for diversity and lifespan variation in sibship size (average and distribution). This finding has applicability to current and future low-fertility populations, especially in light of indications that low fertility in some non-Western societies may have a different structure than observed in the West and East Asia.
John Casterline, PhD (Advisor)
Edward Crenshaw, PhD (Committee Member)
Zhenchao Qian, PhD (Committee Member)
71 p.
Demography; Sociology
siblings; sibship; life course; family demography

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Odden, C. (2013). Sibship in Low Fertility Settings: A Microsimulation Approach [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1357237238

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Odden, Colin. Sibship in Low Fertility Settings: A Microsimulation Approach. 2013. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1357237238.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Odden, Colin. "Sibship in Low Fertility Settings: A Microsimulation Approach." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1357237238

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1357237238
916
© 2013, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.
Release 3.2.12