Sociology
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Item SHAPE OF CARE: PATTERNS OF FAMILY CAREGIVING ACTIVITIES AMONG OLDER ADULTS FROM MIDLIFE TO LATER AGES IN CHINA AND THE U.S.(2022) Duan, Haoshu; Chen, Feinian; Sociology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation consists of three papers that investigate the long-term family caregiving patterns among Chinese and American older adults. Family caregiving has long been an essential fabric of long-term care services. Due to the prolonged life expectancy and the declined family size, older adults today are more likely to care for multiple family members for longer years than the previous cohorts. However, studies on caregiving predominately focus on singular care experiences over a short period time. As older adults transition into and out of multiple care roles, the overall caregiving patterns are overlooked. Leveraging two rich longitudinal datasets (the China Health and Retirement Study and the Health and Retirement Study), this dissertation aims to fill this current research gap by developing long-term family caregiving typologies. The first paper develops a care typology for Chinese older adults, and thoroughly assesses how gender, hukou status, living arrangement, and significant life transitions are associated with the long-term caregiving patterns. In the second paper, using linear mixed-effects models, I continue exploring the positive and negative health consequences of each caregiving pattern among Chinese older adults. The third paper focuses on developing a long-term family caregiving pattern for American older adults. In addition to prolonged life expectancies and the decline in family size, the U.S. has experienced complex transitions in family structures over the past few decades, leading to more diverse family networks and international relations in later life. After establishing the long-term care typology, the third paper pays closer attention to the variations of family caregiving patterns across the War Babies cohort, Early Baby Boomer, and the Middle/Late Baby Boomer cohort. Moreover, I explore how gender, race, and socioeconomic status are linked with these patterns. In the context of global aging, this dissertation highlights the heterogeneity in the family caregiving experiences and identifies the most vulnerable demographic groups who shoulder the heaviest care burden over time. In the end, the findings from the dissertation provide guidance for the investment and design of long-term care services in rapidly aging contexts.Item JOB PLACEMENT AND JOB SHIFT ACROSS EMPLOYMENT SECTORS IN CHINA: THE EFFECTS OF EDUCATION, FAMILY BACKGROUND, AND GENDER(2006-08-28) Wu, Lijuan; Desai, Sonalde; Sociology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation investigates the impact of the market-oriented economic reform in China on one aspect of the labor market outcomes--individuals' access to different employment sectors, that is, the state and collective sector, the private sector, and the sector of family contract farming. Using the first wave (1989) and the fourth wave (1997) of the CHNS data, this study examines the effects of education, family background, and gender on the job placement among the employment sectors for young workers (age 17 to 24) and the job shifts across the employment sectors for older workers (age 25 to 44). The change of these effects on young workers' job placement from 1989 to 1997 is also examined. It is found that education is important in determining young workers' employment sectors and older workers' destination of employment sector if they change jobs, and the better-educated workers are more likely to work in the state and collective sector. The social capital effect of family background overwhelms the practice of risk diversification and young workers are more likely to work in the employment sector in which they have some family connections. While young women have some advantage in entering the private sector than young men, older married women are disadvantaged in transferring to the private sector than older married men and women farmers are less likely to leave the family farm than male farmers. The findings suggest that the access to different employment sectors is not equally distributed among Chinese workers. The hierarchy of employment sectors is reproduced through the procedure that assorts individual workers to different employment sectors. In addition to achieved characteristics such as human capital, ascribed characteristics such as family background and gender are important factors in understanding the procedure of social stratification in the reform-era.