Accomplishments in past 36
months
Dr. Trent works on the social demography of fertility and family. In the most recent period, she has expanded her scope beyond the US to India; and she expects in the near future to begin research on China. In the area of fertility behavior, one of her recent projects examines its determinants in India using data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS). A recent publication from this project (in the Journal of Biosocial Science) finds that literacy, age at union, belonging to a scheduled tribe, urban residence, standard of living, age, and contraceptive behavior have significant effects on the likelihood of abortion. However, these effects differ for southern and northern Indian women. A study of fertility in the US uses data from the first and second waves of the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH) to examine the effects of respondents’ stated values for having children on later fertility.
Trent’s research on family behavior focuses on marriage, marital quality, divorce, and other family relations. One study of marriage in India, using the NFHS, examines marriage patterns, their correlates, and women’s decision-making power. Multiple measures of women's status have effects on age at marriage and the age and education differences between spouses. Such measures, along with characteristics of marriage, also have significant effects on women's ability to make autonomous decisions. A US-based project, using the first two waves of the NSFH, focuses on divorce. One analysis investigates how various indicators of marital problems, such as the frequency and nature of marital arguments and method of resolving disputes, are related to marital stability. A recent publication (in the Journal of Divorce and Remarriage) examines the extent of agreement between wives and husbands in the perceived likelihood of divorce, and the degree to which such perceptions are related to subsequent divorce and to changes in labor supply and fertility. Results indicate considerable consistency between spousal perceptions and subsequent divorce, although the wives’ perceptions are significantly better predictors than the husbands’. Moreover, married women who expect their marriages to dissolve are more likely than others to increase their hours worked per week and their weeks worked per year, but the expectation of divorce has a much weaker effect on married men’s economic behavior. Wives’ anticipation of divorce is associated additionally with a lower likelihood of childbearing, even among couples who remain married. A final project focuses on adult sibling relationships. In a recent paper in Journal of Marriage and Family, also using NSFH data, the social interactions of adult siblings are examined. This study examines affective closeness, contact, and helping among adult siblings and finds that most sibling relationships involve frequent contact and positive feelings. Sister pairs phone and exchange advice more often than do other sibling pairs. Women are more likely than men to report feeling close to or getting along with their siblings, although there are no consistent differences in visiting by sibling dyad gender composition. Patterns for giving and receiving help appear to reflect gendered forms of intimacy and of household labor.
Externally funded research
None.
Work
in progress and pending/planned research projects
Trent has a grant application pending: “Sex Ratios and Family Life in China” (NSF, Scott J. South, PI and Katherine Trent, Co-PI). The proposed research will use multilevel data from the Chinese Health and Family Life Survey to examine the effect of local sex ratios on family formation behavior, women’s socioeconomic status, and internal family dynamics.
Contribution
to the population research program
Trent’s research contributes to the Center’s signature theme on the life course. She has collaborated with several CSDA colleagues, including Scott South, and Glenna Spitze.
Use of infrastructure cores and activities
Trent routinely uses the computing infrastructure, statistical consultation, and information resources available through CSDA. Her proposal to NSF was submitted with assistance from the Administrative Core.