Child Gender and Family Behavior

描述（由申请人提供）：最近的研究表明，孩子的性别对广泛的家庭结果有重大影响。有儿子的婚姻往往更稳定和传统，表现出更大的父亲参与，并产生更大的满意度，为双方的合作伙伴比婚姻的女儿。拟议工作的目标是通过审查对儿童性别的反应，提高我们对父母身份和家庭过程的理解。为此，我们将：（1）对儿童性别对美国家庭的广泛结果的影响进行全面的实证研究，（2）开发包含儿童性别的家庭行为理论模型，（3）生成可测试的假设，区分不同的家庭模型并实施这些测试。这项工作的一个重点是儿童性别对未婚父母之间关系的影响。另一个是性别对父亲家庭教养和工作行为的影响。由于父亲的行为似乎对孩子的性别特别敏感，我们的研究结果将有助于阐明父亲在家庭中角色的性质。 我们的经济模型纳入了父母对男孩和女孩的偏好差异以及抚养男孩和女孩的生产力差异。六个数据集，包括PSID，NLSY 79，消费者支出调查和脆弱家庭研究，用于解决一组具体的研究问题。其中包括：（1）儿童性别对婚姻和非婚姻关系的稳定性和质量以及对新关系的形成的影响;（2）性别对父母在婚姻和家庭中的投资的影响;（3）母亲和父亲的相对福利;以及（4）资源分配给儿童。父母的投资反映在家庭公共产品的支出、父母专业化的衡量标准和功能失调行为的指标（如父母的药物滥用）上。关于儿童活动和环境的详细数据反映了父母资源分配的各个方面。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Recent research has demonstrated that a child's gender has a significant impact on a wide range of family outcomes. Marriages with Sons tend to be more stable and traditional, exhibit greater father involvement, and generate greater satisfaction for both partners than marriages with daughters. The objective of the proposed work is to improve our understanding of parenthood and family processes by examining responses to child gender. To this end, we will: (1) conduct a comprehensive empirical study of the impact of child gender on a broad range of outcomes for U.S. families, (2) develop theoretical models of family behavior that incorporate child gender, and (3) generate testable hypotheses that distinguish among alternative models of the family and implement these tests. One focus of the work is the impact of child gender on the relationships between unmarried parents. Another is the effect of gender on fathers' family parenting and work behaviors. Since fathers' actions appear to be particularly sensitive to child gender, our results will help illuminate the nature of fathers' roles within the family. Our economic models incorporate differences in parental preferences towards, and differences in productivity in raising, boys and girls. Six data sets, including the PSID, NLSY79, Consumer Expenditure Survey, and the Fragile Families study, are used to address a set of specific research questions. These include: (1) the effect of child gender on the stability and quality of both marital and non-marital relationships and on the formation of new relationships; (2) the effect of gender on parental investments in marriage and family; (3) the relative well-being of mothers and fathers; and (4) the allocation of resources to children. Parental investments are reflected in expenditures on household public goods, measures of parental specialization, and indicators of dysfunctional behavior (such as parents' substance abuse). Detailed data on children's activities and environment capture various dimensions of parents' resource allocation.