Life-table representations of family dynamics in the 21st century

• Main Authors: Gunnar Andersson, Elizabeth Thomson, Aija Duntava
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research 2017-10-01
• Series: Demographic Research
• Subjects: children; Europe; family dissolution; family dynamics; family formation; Generations and Gender Programme (GGP); life table; life tables
• Online Access: https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol37/35/

<b>Background</b>: A key resource for cross-national comparative research on family dynamics (Andersson and Philipov 2002) is seriously outdated. <b>Objective</b>: We provide an update of the life-table estimates by Andersson and Philipov (2002) based on data from the Generations and Gender Surveys and other related surveys in 18 countries across Europe and the United States. <b>Results</b>: Life-table estimates of family formation of women and men, union dynamics, and children's experience of family disruption and family formation demonstrate the degree of variation in family dynamics across countries. <b>Conclusions</b>: Our findings provide the basis for more in-depth research on the causes and consequences of differences in family dynamics across contexts. <b>Contribution</b>: The Appendix of the current manuscript is a new resource for comparative research on family dynamics in the early 21st century.