SYG-1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 39: Household Division
WHY DOES MARRIAGE MATTER? HYPOTHETICAL EXPLANATIONS
Some benefits of marriage terminate with the death of a spouse (eg. caregiving,
companionship, direct emotional support), but some advantages persist beyond death of a
spouse faily & friedship irles of deeased spouse, wife’s or husad’s ki.
WHY DOES RACE MATTER? HYPOTHETICAL EXPLANATIONS
Race is a proxy for diversity in marital cultures and marital contexts rather than a causal factor
in its own right.
Black spouses have a clear advantage over white spouses with respect to social integration &
social support in widowhood because of pronounced differences in household composition in
old age – Unmarried elderly blacks are almost twice as likely to live with relatives (robust to
socio-economic controls).
Shared living arrangement reduces mortality among the widowed through increased household
income & economies of scale; relatives fulfilling care-giving needs; mitigating loss of social
integration from death of spouse.
WHY DOES RACE MATTER? HYPOTHETICAL EXPLANATIONS
Widowed blacks may enjoy survival advantages over widowed whites because of greater social
support from persons who DO NOT live in the same household.
Past studies have shown the following:
Blacks, despite having smaller social networks, maintain closer social contact with
network members & count more family members in their networks;
Non-co-resident relatives play a central role in the care of the elderly;
Elderly Blacks enjoy more social support because of a more inclusive definition of
friendship;
Blacks have higher levels of religious participation than whites
WHY DOES RACE MATTER? HYPOTHETICAL EXPLANATIONS
Black spouses may experience a smaller widowhood effect than white spouses because married
black couples (blacks married to blacks) adhere to a less rigidly gendered division of labor:
Black wives, historically, have been more likely than white wives to participate in the
labor force & to contribute a larger share of the household income;
Black husbands, compared to their white counterparts, perform a greater share of
household labor & child rearing.
Task-specialization within marriage creates mutual dependency among couples, and this
becomes of liability in the case of death of a spouse.
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Document Summary
Some benefits of marriage terminate with the death of a spouse (eg. caregiving, companionship, direct emotional support), but some advantages persist beyond death of a spouse (cid:894)fa(cid:373)ily & frie(cid:374)dship (cid:272)ir(cid:272)les of de(cid:272)eased spouse, wife"s or hus(cid:271)a(cid:374)d"s ki(cid:374)(cid:895). Race is a proxy for diversity in marital cultures and marital contexts rather than a causal factor in its own right. Shared living arrangement reduces mortality among the widowed through increased household income & economies of scale; relatives fulfilling care-giving needs; mitigating loss of social integration from death of spouse. Widowed blacks may enjoy survival advantages over widowed whites because of greater social support from persons who do not live in the same household. Blacks, despite having smaller social networks, maintain closer social contact with network members & count more family members in their networks; Non-co-resident relatives play a central role in the care of the elderly; Elderly blacks enjoy more social support because of a more inclusive definition of friendship;
