HOUSEHOLD COMPLEXITY AND FAMILY HETEROGENEITY IN CHILDHOOD IN CONTEXTS OF RAPID CHANGE: THE AMERICAS FROM 1960 TO 2010.
Resumo
The second half of the 20th century was marked by profound family transformations in the Americas. While part of the literature interprets these changes as clear signs of the emergence of a second demographic transition, others perceive them as a phenomenon that accentuates inequalities in opportunities and demonstrates concern about the impact of these transformations on children's well-being. McLanahan (2004) states that family transformations associated with the second demographic transition have generated opposite results for children at the top and bottom of the social pyramid. Children from advantaged social environments enjoy greater social capital; more adults invest time and resources in them, while their peers from disadvantaged backgrounds are more exposed to social vulnerabilities. Cherlin (2013) and Furstenberg (2016) also address the divergent destinies among children. Both talk about the differences in family behavior according to the socioeconomic status and educational level of the adults involved, documenting that consensual unions and reproduction outside consensual unions grow at a faster rate among the poorest and least educated Americans. This evidence has led Furstenberg (2016) to argue that a “dual family system” exists in the United States, but it is uncertain to what extent this pattern also holds true for other developed countries. Beaujot et al. (2013) described a similar evolution of socioeconomic polarization in the Canadian family system and identified high selectivity in marriage as a potential reason for the phenomenon. Oliveira et al. (2019) found a significant increase in family heterogeneity in Brazil between 1970 and 2010 in all social groups. However, the highest levels of family heterogeneity are observed among the poorest, black, and least educated people.
Considering the background described above, this article uses two indices to discuss the complexity of household arrangements in the Americas from 1960 to 2010. The first is the Index of Overall Headship, proposed by Burch (1980), and the second is the Heterogeneity Family Index for children from 0 to 9 years old, previously used by Oliveira et al. (2019) for the Brazilian case. The Index of Overall Headship ranges from 0 to 1 and captures the complexity of household arrangements considering the proportion of adults who form their own household. The greater the number of adults sharing the same household, the greater its complexity. When it is close to zero, there is a low propensity for adults to form separate households. So, the lower the index, the greater the complexity of household arrangements. The Heterogeneity Family Index for children varies from 0 to 100, but it indicates how dispersed children are in the different household arrangements. The closer the index is to 100, the greater the diversity of family experiences during childhood. All results are synthesized in constructing maps that help identify regional patterns on the American continent.
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