Racial and Ethnic Differences in Extended Family Households

• Published in: Sociological perspectives Vol. 43; no. 2; pp. 211 - 229
• Main Author: Kamo, Yoshinori
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA University of California Press 01.07.2000; SAGE Publications; Sage Publications; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: African Americans; Asian Americans; Censuses; Comparative analysis; Demographic economics; Difference; Ethnicity; Extended Family; Families; Families & family life; Family members; Family Structure; Hispanic Americans; Hispanics; Homes; Households; Minority & ethnic groups; Older adults; Parents; Race; Racial Differences; Single mothers; Socioeconomic factors; Sociology; U.S.A; Whites
• ISSN: 0731-1214; 1533-8673
• DOI: 10.2307/1389794

Prevalence of extended family households and factors associated with them are examined for non-Hispanic whites, African Americans, Asians, and Hispanics using data from the 1990 U.S. Census. Nuclear family households and three distinct types of extended family households (upward, downward, and horizontal) are identified, and racial/ethnic differences in the distribution of these types are noted. I contend that household extensions occur as a result of a combination of economic, demographic, and cultural factors. To examine economic aspects of household extension, I first examine income distributions across various household types. Then, using multinomial logistic regression, I identify economic, demographic, and cultural factors related to the three different types of extended family households. Even after racial/ethnic differences in demographic and economic variables are accounted for, preferences for downward extension among African Americans, upward extension among Asians, and horizontal extension among Hispanics still remain, suggesting an independent effect of racial/ethnic culture regarding household extension. /// [Spanish] A través de información del Censo de Estados Unidos de 1990, se examinan los factores asociados con el predominio de los hogares de familias extensas de blancos no hispanos, afro-americanos, asiáticos, e hispanos. Se identifica la familia nuclear y tres tipos de hogares de familias extensas (ascendente, descendente y horizontal) asi como diferencias raciales y étnicas en su distribución. Sostengo que la extensión de las familias ocurre debido a la combinación de factores económicos, demográficos y culturales. En primer lugar, se examinan aspectos económicos de la extensión de familias y la distribución de ingreso a través de varios tipos de familias. Después, a través del uso de la regresión logística multinominal, se identifican factores económicos, demográficos y culturales relacionados con tres tipos de diferentes hogares de familias extensas. Aún después de las diferencias étnico/raciales en las variables demográficas y económicas en cuestión, se observa que prevalecen las preferencias por una extensión descendente entre afro-americanos, la extensión ascendente entre asiáticos, y la extensión horizontal entre hispanos, sugiriendo un efecto independiente de una cultura étnico/racial en relación a la familia extensa. /// [Chinese] (Unicode for Chinese abstract). /// [Japanese] (Unicode for Japanese abstract).