Research Group

Kinship Inequalities

At a Glance Projects Publications Team

Project

Differences in Kinship Structure by Socioeconomic Status (Dissertation)

Amanda Martins, Diego Alburez-Gutierrez

Detailed Description

Family networks are significant sources of support, resources, and socialization for individuals. Disparities in mortality and fertility schedules among different groups produce variations in kinship structure that may affect the provision of informal support by kin. This variation in availability among groups constitutes one form of kinship inequality.

It is well known that fertility and mortality rates vary by socioeconomic status (SES). This correlation suggests that kin structure may change depending on the focal individual's socioeconomic status. We thus can expect different experiences in kin loss and availability across SES groups. The phenomenon of kin loss and variations in kinship structure among SES groups remains understudied and potentially contributes to our understanding of family dynamics in contemporary populations.

This project estimates differences in kinship structures between socioeconomic groups in Denmark, Brazil, and selected low and middle-income countries. It addresses the following questions: How many years do individuals live with their relatives, and how many of these years are spent in good health? How many years of “shared lifetime” does an individual lose due to the premature death of a relative? How does kinship structure vary by educational level in low- and middle-income countries?

We use cohort life-table methods to estimate healthy and unhealthy life expectancy and person-years of shared lifetime from aggregated data. In order to estimate kin counts from mortality and fertility schedules, we use matrix demographic methods. We benefit from high-quality data in Denmark by using Danish register data, which includes demographic and socioeconomic information for all residents. For Brazil, we combine data from censuses and vital registration systems.