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Operationalizing family Examples from the Millennium Cohort Study. Lidia Panico Department of Epidemiology and Public Health University College London l.panico@ucl.ac.uk. Changing demographic context of parenthood. Source: Office for National Statistics.
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Operationalizing family Examples from the Millennium Cohort Study Lidia Panico Department of Epidemiology and Public Health University College London l.panico@ucl.ac.uk
Changing demographic context of parenthood Source: Office for National Statistics
Changing demographic context of parenthood Source: Office for National Statistics
Sociology and family • 1950s sociology • Feminist critique of the 1970s and 80s • Today: individualism, diversity and “doing” family
Insights from demography • Beanpole families • Non-resident parents
At an individual level.. Levin and Trost (1992) Family Relations, Vol. 41, No. 3
How is family operationalised in quantitative studies? UK 2001 Census definition: “a married or cohabiting couple with or without child(ren) or a lone parent with child(ren). Child(ren) may be dependent or non-dependent.”
Structure of analysis • How can we translate sociological theory empirically in the secondary analysis of a large, interdisciplinary data set? • How can we adapt this to a health outcome? • Does it affect child health?
Millennium Cohort Study • Prospective cohort study • 18,000 children born in 2000/2001 in the UK • Over-sample of ethnically mixed and disadvantaged areas • Home interviews • Sweep 1-- 9 months • Sweep 2-- 3 years • Sweep 3-- 5 years
Pooling and sharing of resources HH socio-economic characteristics Family structure Family processes Quality of relationships Child health and wellbeing Health behaviours Networks
Pooling and sharing of resources HH demographic & socio-economic characteristics Family structure Family processes Quality of relationships Child health and wellbeing Health behaviours Networks
Do family living arrangements affect child health? Mean birthweight by family living arrangement
Conclusion • Different family structures have different socio-economic profiles • Diversity of family structures over the lifecourse • The importance of non-resident parents and grandparents • Diversity over ethnic groups
Thank you Mel Bartley Yvonne Kelly Anne McMunn Amanda Sacker ESRC/MRC