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Biomedical subjects

D T Lichter

Publications and source records attributed to D T Lichter.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Life course transitions of American children: parental cohabitation, marriage, and single motherhood.

We examine the life course transitions into and from families headed by unmarried cohabiting couples for a recent cohort of American children. Life table estimates, based on data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth mother-child files, indicate about one in four children will live in a family headed by a cohabiting couple sometime during childhood. Economic uncertainty is an important factor determining whether children in single-parent families subsequently share a residence with a mother's unmarried partner. Moreover, virtually all children in cohabiting-couple families will experience rapid subsequent changes in family status. Our estimates provide a point of departure for future work on children's exposure to parental cohabitation and its social and economic implications.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

[Living arrangements and economic well-being of American children].

"The objective of this paper is to evaluate the extent to which racial variation in children's economic well-being resides in divergent parental work patterns and/or family living arrangements. This is accomplished using recently-released data from the 1 percent sample of the Public Use Microdata Sample of the 1990 [U.S.] decennial census. The results indicate that racial differences in family structure undermine efforts to eliminate racial inequality among American children. Among blacks, for example, the high proportions of children living in female-headed families account for 60 percent of the difference from white children in poverty rates. Similarly, racial differences in parental work patterns contribute to (but cannot explain completely) racial variation in child poverty. Among black children in married-couple families, poverty rates are roughly twice those of their white counterparts, even though black children are more likely to have both parents working." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND SPA)

Black or African American↗
PubMed1993

Health and well-being among rural Americans: variations across the life course.

This study uses data from the 1988 National Survey of Families and Households conducted by the University of Wisconsin to examine spatial variations in physical, mental, and social well-being among young, middle aged, and elderly American adults. Rural residents of all ages were found to consistently rate their physical health more poorly than nonrural residents. Both young and old rural adults also rated themselves less happy than nonrural residents. However, middle-aged and elderly rural residents appear better off on the majority of six other indicators of well-being, and this group reports the highest proportion of adults with no health impairments. Finally, rural residents of all ages possess distinct advantages in terms of several measures of social ties.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Monitoring the metropolitanization process.

Alternative approaches have led to different interpretations of the metropolitanization process in the United States. We identify and illustrate several methods and procedures for monitoring metropolitan-nonmetropolitan population change using the 1950-1980 U.S. decennial censuses. Two basic approaches are compared: constant area approaches and component methods. In addition, we assess the effects of changing metropolitan definitions on metropolitan-nonmetropolitan growth. The results clearly reveal that the underlying mechanics of metropolitanization not only are complex but have changed substantially during the 1950-1980 period. We conclude with observations regarding the use of these procedures in future research.

Humans↗
PubMed1985

Racial concentration and segregation across U.S. counties, 1950-1980.

By presenting race-specific population concentration indexes for U.S. counties for the 1950-1980 period, this paper updates and extends previous analyses of 1900-1974 patterns of population concentration by Duncan et al. (1961) and Vining and Strauss (1977). Declines in population concentration persisted through 1980 only among the white population. Blacks continued to experience increases in population concentration between 1970 and 1980. These racially divergent patterns of concentration in the 1970s have translated into increases in segregation between blacks and whites across U.S. counties.

Black or African American↗
PubMed1982

The transition to nonmetropolitan population deconcentration.

A major aim of this study is to address our lack of understanding of rural-urban population change within nonmetropolitan counties of the United States. Specifically, we (a) examine trends between 1950 and 1975 in differential rural and urban growth rates within nonmetropolitan countries, and (b) examine the relationship between county location/function and within-county deconcentration. We show that the post-1970 period has not simply marked the net shift of population from metropolitan to nonmetropolitan areas, but has also ushered in a pattern of population deconcentration within most nonmetropolitan areas. It is also clear that traditional ecological base variables have been of diminishing utility in explaining deconcentration during the 1970s, suggesting that deconcentration is now evident in nonmetropolitan counties characterized by a broad spectrum of economic and sociodemographic traits.

Humans↗
PubMed1981

Components of change in the residential concentration of the elderly population: 1950-1975.

Changes in the absolute and relative size of the elderly population within metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas are decomposed into the underlying demographic components for three time periods: 1950 to 1960, 1960 to 1970, 1970 to 1975. Specifically, we examine the components of net migration and natural increase of those aged 0 to 64 and those 64 or older. Using published migration estimates for the U.S., this study demonstrates that elderly migration has represented an increasingly important component of the absolute growth of the elderly population within nonmetropolitan areas and a corresponding decline in large SMSAs. Although "aging-in-place" was a dominant component of change in he elderly percentage irrespective of residence, we show that the demographic components of the young also exercise an important and often overlooked effect on the aging process. Most prominent was the slowing of relative aging in remote nonmetropolitan areas, due largely to the post-1970 changeover from net outmigration to net inmigration of those less than 65 years of age.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

State abortion policy, geographic access to abortion providers and changing family formation.

CONTEXT: One of the goals in cutting welfare payments and setting time limits on welfare receipt is the reduction of out-of-wedlock childbearing among poor women. Yet such changes may increase the demand for abortion at the same time that access to abortion has decreased, throwing into doubt the potential effect of these changes on the proportion of women who are heading families. METHODS: State and county fixed-effects models were used to estimate the effects of factors influencing abortion availability--geographic access, parental notification requirements and Medicaid funding restrictions--on the county-level proportion of women heading households. RESULTS: The decline in geographic access to abortion providers during the 1980s accounted for a small but significant portion of the rise in the percentage of women heading families (about 2%). Restrictions on Medicaid funding for abortion accounted for about half of the increase in female headship among blacks, while new state parental notification requirements contributed modestly to the rise in the proportion of white women heading single-parent families. CONCLUSIONS: Welfare reform legislation and attempts to reduce the availability of abortion services in the United States appear to be working at cross-purposes. Cutbacks in access to abortion may have contributed modestly to the increase in the proportion of women heading households.

Abortion, Legal↗