Social mobility in the context of fathering: The intergenerational link in parenting among co-resident fathers
Introduction
The transfer of skills and socioeconomic resources from parents to children is a significant contributor to intergenerational inequality in the United States (Tomes, 1981). While parenting practices are a key mechanism by which these assets are transmitted across generations, the transmission of parenting itself is an important aspect of intergenerational stratification (Kerr et al., 2009, Simons et al., 1991). For instance, parent–child similarities in harsh parenting expose offspring to a greater risk for developing externalizing behavior problems and lower levels of well-being (McKee et al., 2007). Such patterns indicate that some families reap benefits from multiple generations of effective childrearing patterns, while others remain in a cycle of disadvantage due, in part, to the transmission of harsh parenting practices.
Over the past 30 years, cultural beliefs of childrearing have shifted such that men are expected to be involved in their children’s lives (Carlson, 2006). Given that fathers play a central role in child development (Marsiglio et al., 2000), it is essential to ask if men obtain their parenting skills from their fathers. An emerging body of work examines the transmission of parenting between fathers and their adult sons (e.g. Gaunt and Bassi, 2012, Hofferth et al., 2012). However, many of these studies overlook systematic differences in the strength of the transmission process by assuming the relationship between fathering received and fathering given is linear. I argue that we must move beyond this basic characterization to also consider the possibility of reworking, which can be viewed as a form of upward mobility in parenting. In this context, reworking indicates that men practice warmer, more involved fathering in spite of receiving harsh or distant parenting, such as severe physical punishment. I link a long line of stratification research that emphasizes social mobility (Breen and Jonsson, 2005, Solon, 1992) to parenting theories (e.g. Masciadrelli et al., 2006) to shed light on the ways men nurture the next generation.
To fully capture the fatherhood experience, I ask if men’s perception of the fathering they received as children is associated with their existing paternal self-assessments and behaviors. A descriptive analysis of this kind is valuable for a number of reasons. Although research indicates short-term benefits of a strong father–child relationship, such as academic success and fewer problem behaviors (Bronte-Tinkew et al., 2006, Carlson, 2006), the long-term effects—including the parenting styles children adopt when they adults—are less understood. If men do not acquire the skills or behaviors that promote healthy family dynamics, disparities in human capital acquisition and socioemotional well-being may span across generations.
I draw on nationally-representative survey data containing two generations of men, grandfathers and resident fathers of the 2001 birth cohort, to test the following: First, is there a link between men’s perceptions of the fathering they received and their self-assessed parenting ability? If so, does this relationship suggest a simple transmission process or is there systematic mobility across generations? I also consider whether men who do not identify ever having a father figure have more or less favorable paternal self-assessments than men who had a father figure while growing up. The inclusion of these men facilitates a more complete understanding of how one’s parenting is formed in the absence of a father figure. Due to concerns that the link between perceptions of fathering practices and men’s self-assessments may reflect other forms of intergenerational capital transmission, such as socioeconomic status or health, I control for these indicators in my analysis. Finally, I consider whether these correlations translate to men’s engagement with their children, measured by verbal stimulation, physical play, and caregiving.
Section snippets
Parenting across generations
A well-developed line of social science research documents how capital, beliefs, and behaviors are transferred from one generation to the next. Parents and their adult children exhibit marked similarities in divorce, marital aggression, and fertility behaviors (e.g. Amato, 1996, Barber, 2001). Abuse and harsh parenting are also transmitted across generations, where parents who repeatedly experienced harsh parenting as a child are likely to use a similar form of parenting on their offspring (
Data
Data for this study come from the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B). The survey contains data on two generations of men – the grandfathers and fathers of the 2001 U.S. birth cohort. Both resident and non-resident fathers complete a self-administered questionnaire at each wave of data collection; the self-administered aspect is particularly important in reducing social desirability bias and item nonresponse (Tourangeau and Yan, 2007). Topics
Descriptive statistics
Table 1 contains selected descriptive statistics of the measures of interest and covariates. We see that 77% of co-resident men self-assess as very good or above average fathers. The average level of perceived warmth is around 19 (SD = 4.13), with a range of 6–24. Approximately 9% of men report not having a father or father figure while growing up. Measures of paternal stress and the three indicators of paternal engagement (verbal stimulation, caregiving, and physical play) are standardized to
Discussion
In an effort to better understand the origins of paternal perceptions and behaviors, there have been attempts to explore the transmission of fathering across generations (e.g. Gaunt and Bassi, 2012, Hofferth et al., 2012). Although such studies contribute to our understanding of family processes and parenting, scholars have generally overlooked systematic differences in the strength of the father–son correlation in parenting; the relationship between fathering received and fathering given is
Acknowledgments
This research was carried out using the facilities of the Center for Demography and Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and was supported by a Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship (#CHK-7020411). The author is extremely grateful to the anonymous reviewers at Social Science Research for their fruitful and directive comments. The author would also like to acknowledge Marcia Carlson, Jeremy Fiel, David Kaplan, Jenna Nobles, and Christine Schwartz for advice and comments. The opinions
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