Taken together, Hypotheses 1 and 2 suggest a link between the unequal relations that mothers and fathers maintain with maternal and paternal grandparents and lineage differentials in the quality of grandchildgrandparent relations. "How would you describe your current relationship with each of the following people?" E-mail: Search for other works by this author on: We implemented this approach by using fixed-effect models, a statistical framework that allowed us to focus on within-family differentials in cross-generational relations (Greene 1993, \[\mathrm{RQ}_{\mathrm{ij}}=\mathrm{{\alpha}}_{i}+\mathrm{{\beta}}x_{\mathrm{ij}}+\mathrm{{\epsilon}}_{\mathrm{ij}}\], \(\mathrm{{\alpha}}\ =\ .05.\ \mathrm{Mo}\ =\ \mathrm{mother}{;}\ \mathrm{Fa}\ =\ \mathrm{father}{;}\ \mathrm{Mat}\ =\ \mathrm{matrilineal}{;}\ \mathrm{Pat}\ =\ \mathrm{Patrilineal}{;}\ \mathrm{Eq}\ =\ \mathrm{Equal}\), \(\mathrm{{\alpha}}\ =\ .05.\ \mathrm{Mo}\ =\ \mathrm{mother}{;}\ \mathrm{Fa}\ =\ \mathrm{father}{;}\ \mathrm{Mat}\ =\ \mathrm{matrilineal}{;}\ \mathrm{Pat}\ =\ \mathrm{Patrilineal}{;}\ \mathrm{Equal}\ =\ \mathrm{Eq}\), Validation of an Adapted Version of the Veterans RAND 12-Item Health Survey (VR-12) for Older Adults Living in Long-term Care Homes, Refinement of an emergency department-based, advance care planning intervention for patients with cognitive impairment and their caregivers, Feasibility of the Palliative Care Education in Assisted Living Intervention for Dementia Care Providers: A Cluster Randomized Trial, Preparing for the Future While Living in the Present: Older Adults Experiences Creating a Legacy of Values, Why rural-to-urban migrant workers in China continue working after age 60: A qualitative analysis, About The Gerontological Society of America, Explaining Matrilineal Advantage: The Role of Parents in the Middle, Alternative Perspectives on Matrilineal Advantage, Receive exclusive offers and updates from Oxford Academic, Assistant Professor in the Section of Infectious Disease, Academic Pulmonary Sleep Medicine Physician Opportunity in Scenic Central Pennsylvania, Grandchild (G3) report of quality of relations with each grandparent (G1). Standard errors are in parentheses. The key independent variables are maternal lineage ( \(1\ =\ maternal,\ 0\ =\ paternal\) ) and two measures of the quality of relations between grandparents and the middle generation (as perceived by the latter group). In the present study, we found that many of the mothers who favored the maternal side in their relations with the grandparent generation had husbands who shared the same preferences. Scores range from, Coded 1 if grandparent is male; 0 otherwise, Copyright 2023 The Gerontological Society of America. This follows from the bilateral nature of kinship ties in Western societies, which give both sides of the family equal rights to a grandchild (Cherlin and Furstenberg 1991). Note also that the congeniality of G2G1 relations had independent effects for fathers and mothers, suggesting that it is important to consider both parents when analyzing the quality of ties between grandparents and grandchildren living in intact families (see Appendix, Note 12). In her article Matrifocality and Womens Power on the Miskito Coast, anthropologist and professor at the University of Kansas Laura Hobson Herlihy describes a matrifocal society on the coast of Honduras. Means for Grandparent (G1) Characteristics and Measures of the Quality of Their Relations with Grandchildren (G3) and Parents (G2) by Lineage of Grandparent. Data for this study are drawn from the Iowa Youth and Families Project (IYFP), a panel study of intact families in rural Iowa (Conger and Elder 1994). The dependent variable is relationship quality, a measure of the affective dimension of grandchildgrandparent bonds (Rossi and Rossi 1990). Therefore, the resulting coefficients would be a composite of between- and within-family relationships. Definition: Matrifocality is a concept referring to households that consist of one or more adult women and their children without the presence of fathers. The concept of the matrifocal family was introduced to the study of Caribbean societies by Raymond Smith in 1956. Herlihy found matrifocality among the Miskitu people, in the village of Kuri, on the Caribbean coast of northeastern Honduras in the late 1990s. Some societies, particularly Western European, allow women to enter the paid labor force or receive government aid and thus be able to afford to raise children alone,[10] while some other societies "oppose [women] living on their own. The concept of location may extend to a larger area such as a village, town or clan territory. Advantages Family members often develop patience, cooperation, and creativity in thei new roles. 1. This is noted more as among people of Africans in the regions. As our first task, we estimated the magnitude of the lineage differential in grandchildgrandparent ties, net of variation in grandparent characteristics (Model 1). The grandparent perspective could yield different insights if grandparent ratings of their relations with grandchildren differ systematically from grandchildrens' perceptions. Economic advantage. 9. Alternatively, lineage differentials in father and mother relations with the grandparent generation could be the product of a single underlying process, with both parents jointly deciding to direct their attention to the same or different sides of the family to maximize the gains that may accrue from intergenerational relationships (Becker 1981; Berk and Berk 1983). Equal to 1 if at least one type of support is provided. The children born of these families are usually raised by the mother's family, which means the father has little to do in the raising of his children. This suggests that the impact of support was mediated by congeniality (see Appendix, Note 10). 2 provides the differentials for social support. Note: Estimates from the Iowa Youth and Families Project. However, Table 1 clearly shows that a high proportion of fathers and mothers (between 40% and 68%) provided social support to either their parents or parents-in-law. Matrifocality or matricentric is the family structure which is centered around the mother and her children, in such a family the father has a minimal and insignificant role to play in the household and almost no participation in bringing up the children. They allow us to conduct a first test of a basic within-family model of maternal advantage, one that future researchers can replicate for other ecologies and subpopulations. Christopher G. Chan, Department of Sociology, 573 Bellamy Building, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306. Thus, matrilineal advantage in grandchildgrandparent relations reflects lineage differentials in relations between parents and grandparents. We also emphasize that it is important to consider mothers as well as fathers when explaining matrilineal advantage because either parent can create advantages and disadvantages favoring maternal and paternal grandparents. The matrifocal family structure has the potential to provide a great number of advantages on Caribbean civilizations. Chi-square goodness-of-fit test statistically significant at \(\mathrm{{\alpha}}\ =\ .05.\ \mathrm{Mo}\ =\ \mathrm{mother}{;}\ \mathrm{Fa}\ =\ \mathrm{father}{;}\ \mathrm{Mat}\ =\ \mathrm{matrilineal}{;}\ \mathrm{Pat}\ =\ \mathrm{Patrilineal}{;}\ \mathrm{Equal}\ =\ \mathrm{Eq}\) . This suggests that G2G1 relations mediate some of the influences of health on G3G1 relations. Although the effects of social support were not statistically significant in any of the models, fathers' and mothers' congeniality had strong positive effects, indicating that the more congenial or friendly the relationship between parent and grandparent, the more positive the relationship between that grandparent and a grandchild. For example, a grandchild with 4 available grandparents would contribute 4 cases to the analysis. In a society with bilateral kinship patterns, focusing on the actions and relations of the middle generation with grandparents is, in our view, the best strategy for explaining the matrilineal bias of grandchildren with two parents. However, spousal differentials could also be connected. For instance, it may enable women to take on more responsibilities and give them a greater voice in the management of their households. In the aftermath of divorce or marital separation, maternal grandparents usually visit more frequently, provide extra financial support, and act as surrogate parents in an effort to insulate their grandchildren from the harsh consequences of change (Cherlin and Furstenberg 1991). In contrast, only 33% of the grandparents in the IYFP sample resided within 25 miles of the grandchild, with only 18% having contact at least on a weekly basis. The concept of the matrifocal family was introduced to the study of Caribbean societies by Raymond Smith. Controlling for these variables removed the sources of patrilineal advantage, thereby increasing the estimated effect of maternal lineage (see Appendix, Note 11). [6] Men's absences are often of long durations. Most of the joint activities that involve grandparents and young grandchildren, such as babysitting or going out, require the cooperation, assistance or, at the very least, the consent of parents (Matthews and Sprey 1985; Robertson 1976). On the other hand, controlling for variations in mothers' support and congeniality reduces the effect of maternal lineage on grandchildgrandparent relations by a substantial amount, indicating that the matrilineal bias in parentgrandparent ties explains a large portion of matrilineal advantage in grandchildgrandparent relations. We examine these hypotheses empirically by using data from the Iowa Youth and Families Project, a study of two-parent families in rural Iowa. Specifically, they suggest that the kinkeeping role of mothers, in and of itself, does not promote the observed maternal advantage in grandchildgrandparent ties; rather, it is the differential support and attention that G2 mothers accord to parents and parents-in-law that explains why maternal grandparents have an advantage when it comes to relations with grandchildren. There are no particular advantages or disadvantages to an extended family. Key Words: Grandparenting, Intergenerational relations, Kinship. Social support, on the other hand, may affect grandchildgrandparent relations by creating opportunities for close ties to develop or by involving parents and grandparents in a system of exchange, with grandparents establishing close ties with a grandchild in return for help received from parents (Hogan, Eggebeen, and Clogg 1993). The link between G1G2 relations and G1G3 ties could also reflect the causal effect of grandchildgrandparent relations on the quality of ties between the grandparent and middle generation. "Matrifocality." The Matrifocal family is very prominent in the Caribbean. These lineage differentials in parentgrandparent relations are linked to lineage differentials in the quality of grandchildgrandparent ties. An extended family exists. For some grandchildren, variations in fathers' relations favoring the paternal side also create an advantage in ties to paternal grandparents. Another possible explanation for the nonsignificance of social support is that there may have been insufficient variation in the measure itself. On the one hand, it could refer to a single-parent home where the mom is raising her children. Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. the family. Mean family income in 1990 was at $39,729 with over 93% having enough money to cover basic household needs. In matrifocal families, the structure that exists is due to the fact that the women heading the households are often independent economically and thus are able to provide for their children and also take decisions for the household. On the other hand, 34% of fathers had friendlier relations with their parents, whereas only 26% have more congenial relations with the maternal side of the family. In summary, we argue that matrilineal advantage in grandchildgrandparent relations results from differences in the way mothers and fathers in the middle relate to the members of the grandparent generation, and we expect to find confirmation for a number of hypotheses. Introduction. The effect of congeniality provides further support for Hypothesis 2 by showing that grandchildren perceived better relations with grandparents who have friendlier ties with mothers. As Table 1 shows, grandchildren perceive better relations with maternal grandparents, rating them .22 points higher on the measure of relationship quality. The model specifies relationship quality (RQ) between grandchild i and grandparent j as a function of a set of intercepts (i.e., there are 343 s, one for each grandchild i) and predictors (xjs) that include relations between grandparents and the middle generation as well as other control variables (see Appendix, Note 7).