SEX OF CHILDREN, DIVORCE AND PATERNAL PARTICIPATION

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The proposed research focuses on sex differences in the life course experiences of children and provides important clues concerning the influence of parenthood on marital stability. Preliminary work using 1980 Current Population Survery data shows that couples with daughters experience higher risks of marital disruption than those with sons and, consequently, that girls are more likely than boys to experience the separation of their parents. We will replicate this research with 1985 CPS data and will test whether the association is concentrated within some subsets of the population. One hypothesized explanation for the association between the sex of children and the risks of marital disruption stresses that fathers' greater involvment in rearing sons than daughters, better integrates fathers into families with sons. We cannot test this hypothesis directly but will examine measures of paternal participation in childrearing to determine if fathers are indeed more involved in rearing sons than daughters. Preliminary analysis of data from the National Survey of Children (NSC) provides some evidence for this claim. The research proposed here would examine these data more fully and use them along with data from the National Survey of Families and Households to describe variability in paternal participation in childrearing across racial and socioeconomic groups. Specifically, is the relationship between fathers' involvement and the sex of children limited to or stronger for some subgroups of the population. Finally, we will examine the association between fathers' involvement with children and: 1) measures of marital satisfaction and conflict and 2) measures of child well-being. When fathers are more involved do marriages have more or less conflict? Is paternal participation associated with child well- being?