Operationalizing family Examples from the Millennium Cohort Study Lidia Panico Department of Epidemiology and Public Health University College London

Changing demographic context of parenthood Source: Office for National Statistics

Changing demographic context of parenthood Source: Office for National Statistics

Sociology and family 1950s sociology Feminist critique of the 1970s and 80s Today: individualism, diversity and “doing” family

Insights from demography Beanpole families Non-resident parents

At an individual level.. Levin and Trost (1992) Family Relations, Vol. 41, No. 3

How is family operationalised in quantitative studies? UK 2001 Census definition: “a married or cohabiting couple with or without child(ren) or a lone parent with child(ren). Child(ren) may be dependent or non-dependent.”

Structure of analysis How can we translate sociological theory empirically in the secondary analysis of a large, interdisciplinary data set? How can we adapt this to a health outcome? Does it affect child health?

Millennium Cohort Study Prospective cohort study 18,000 children born in 2000/2001 in the UK Over-sample of ethnically mixed and disadvantaged areas Home interviews Sweep months Sweep years Sweep years

Family structure HH socio- economic characteristics Networks Quality of relationships Health behaviours Child health and wellbeing Pooling and sharing of resources Family processes

Family structure HH demographic & socio-economic characteristics Networks Quality of relationships Health behaviours Child health and wellbeing Pooling and sharing of resources Family processes

Family characteristics

Diversity over the lifecourse

Proportion of households who experience a change in parents

Ethnic variation in family living arrangements

The larger family

Do family living arrangements affect child health? Mean birthweight by family living arrangement

Conclusion Different family structures have different socio- economic profiles Diversity of family structures over the lifecourse The importance of non-resident parents and grandparents Diversity over ethnic groups

Thank you Mel Bartley Yvonne Kelly Anne McMunn Amanda Sacker ESRC/MRC