Access to and Use of Social Capital among Married Couples in Hong Kong Gina Lai and Danching Ruan

1. Access to and Use of Social Capital among Married Couples in Hong Kong Gina Lai and Danching Ruan Department of Sociology Hong Kong Baptist University May 30, 2008 Presentation at the International Social Capital Conference, Taipei, Taiwan, May 29-30, 2008. This research is supported by a grant from the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Project No. HKBU2032/02H).

2. Research Background • Marriage and network change • a. Network integration • Bridging function of marital partner and cross-network linkages • Affective interdependence and mutual friendship • Benefits • Marital identity • Marital satisfaction • Marital stability • Enhanced access to social capital • Network restructuring • Tendency towards gender homogeneity of social ties • Network structure and social capital • Network diversity (Erickson, Lin) • Importance of male ties (Erickson)

3. Research Issues • How might the network changes induced by marital coupling influence the access to spouse’s social capital? • Getting into the spouse’s social network + access? • Change in the gender composition of social ties • Would the access to spouse’s social capital promote the use of it? • Any gender differences?

4. Data • Sample • 801 Chinese married couples residing in Hong Kong at the time of the survey • Sampling method: Two-stage random sampling • Households • Married couples • Data collection method • Separate face-to-face interviews with husbands and wives • July to September, 2005

5. Socioeconomic Characteristics of Couples. * p<.05; ** p<.01; *** p<0.001

8. Getting into Spouse’s Social Network: Kin Ties. * p<.05; ** p<.01; *** p<0.001

9. Getting into Spouse’s Social Network: Friendship Ties. * p<.05; ** p<.01; *** p<0.001

10. Changes in Personal Network.

11. Measurement of Social Capital • A modified version of Lin’s Position Generator suitable for the local context • A list of 15 occupations spanning across the structural hierarchy • Whether they know a kin, friend, and/or an acquaintance in the occupation • Whether they know a man and/or woman in the occupation • Whether they know the person(s) directly or indirectly through their spouse • Network diversity: Number of social positions reached

12. Access to Social Capital. * p<.05; ** p<.01; *** p<0.001

13. Access to Social Capital. * p<.05; ** p<.01; *** p<0.001

14. Predicting the Access to Social Capital through Spouse • Duration of marriage • Parental status • Relative status • Education • Employment status • Birthplace • Religion • Age gap • Getting into spouse’s social network • Acquaintance with spouse’s kin • Contact with kin • Joint activities with spouse’s kin • Acquaintance with spouse’s friends • Contact with spouse’s friends • Change in the numbers of male and female friends

15. Regression of Number of Social Positions Reached through Spouse.

16. Regression of Proportion of Social Positions Reached through Spouse.

17. Getting Help from Spouse’s Social Ties in the Past Year

18. Predicting the Likelihood of Getting Help from Spouse’s Social Ties • Duration of marriage • Parental status • Relative status • Education • Employment status • Birthplace • Religion • Age gap • Getting into spouse’s social network • Acquaintance with spouse’s kin • Contact with kin • Joint activities with spouse’s kin • Acquaintance with spouse’s friends • Contact with spouse’s friends • Change in the numbers of male and female friends • Number and proportion of social positions reached through spouse

19. Logistic Regression of Getting Help from Spouse’s Kin Ties in the Past Year

20. Logistic Regression of Getting Help from Spouse’s Friends in the Past Year

21. Summary of Findings • Both men and women are able to get into their spouse’s social network. • Men tend to know more of their spouses’ friends than do women. • But respondents are more likely to have contact with their own kin ties than their spouses’ kin. • Respondents also tend to have limited contact with their spouses’ friends. • There is no gender difference in the access to social capital, directly or indirectly through spouse. • Getting into the spouse’s social network would facilitate the reach of social capital through spouse. • Change in the gender composition of social ties due to marriage brings differential impacts on the access to social capital through spouse for men and women. • Network integration would facilitate the use of resources embedded in spouse’s social network, but the access to social capital through spouse does not encourage the use of it.

22. Concluding Remarks • Marriage tends to promote the sharing of social capital between husband and wife, particularly among better-educated couples. • Due to the gendered change in network composition associated with marriage, women may have a greater reliance on marriage for access to social capital than do men. • Access to social capital through spouse does not seem to generate a tendency to use it. • Personal networks resourceful enough • Difficulties in mobilizing spouses’ social ties • Proximity or availability of helper is more important • A more refined classification of social relationships is needed to ascertain the social bridging role of spouse.