Abstract
“Family” is a common component of models of social capital constructed by experts, and this model is no exception. Here, Jones examines “family values,” including commitment, happiness, and family satisfaction. The data reveal that family commitment, as measured by a combination of marriage and parenthood, has declined substantially since the 1970s, with a more marked decline for males than females. Family satisfaction is shown to peak at midlife, with women generally exhibiting more satisfaction in family life, while marital happiness declines at midlife then recovers later. In every decade, white Americans exhibit higher mean levels of family commitment and marital happiness than do black Americans, and family satisfaction and marital happiness are greater among college graduates.
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Notes
- 1.
For the main effect of decade, F = 206.393, p < .001; for the interaction effect, F = 5.762, p < .001.
- 2.
18.7% of males had a 0 score in the Seventies which in the Aughts had swelled to 26.5%; female 0’s in the Eighties were 16.7% compared to 16.8% more currently.
- 3.
For the main effect of decade, F = 14.716, p < .001. The mean scores on this dichotomous variable (1 = very happy, 0 = pretty happy/not too happy) only dropped .016 for females and .007 for males from the 1980s to the 2000s.
- 4.
For the main effect of sex, F = 38.493, p < .001.
- 5.
For the main effect of sex, F = 64.985, p < .001.
- 6.
See Social Capital in America, op. cit., 37.
- 7.
For the main effect of decade, F = 351.585, p < .001; for the interaction effect, F = 40.884, p < .001; for the main effect of age, F = 3476.282, p < .001.
- 8.
For the main effect of decade, F = 11.656, p < .001; for the main effect of age, F = 24.743, p < .001.
- 9.
For the main effect of age, F = 28.561, p < .001.
- 10.
For the main effect of race, F = 278.559, p < .001; for the main effect of decade, F = 74.877, p < .001.
- 11.
For the main effect of race, F = 184.232, p < .001.
- 12.
For the main effect of race, F = 106.999, p < .001.
- 13.
For the main effect of decade, F = 125.771, p < .001; for the interaction effect, F = 14.993, p < .001.
- 14.
For the main effect of decade, F = 22.160, p < .001; for the interaction effect, F = 6.290, p < .001.
- 15.
For the main effect of education, F = 14.011, p < .001.
- 16.
For the main effect of half-decade, F = 8.480, p < .001. Most of the conclusions about the course of marital happiness reported in this chapter are supported by Mamadi Corra, Shannon K. Carter, J. Scott Carter and David Knox, “Trends in Marital Happiness by Gender and Race, 1973 to 2006,” Journal of Family Issues (2009, 30), 1379–1405.
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Jones, B.J. (2019). Family and Family Satisfaction. In: Social Capital in American Life. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91180-9_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91180-9_4
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