Structural Heteropatriarchy and (Almost) Completed Fertility

• In Event: Structural Constraints on U.S. Fertility

Abstract

Scholars have called for more research on how social structures and social policies shape family structures, including fertility rates. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), this study examines the relationship between Structural Heteropatriarchy (SHP), a construct first published in Demography in 2022, which argues that LGBTQ stigma and structural sexism function together to reinforce traditional gender norms, and fertility at midlife. Add Health is a US-based longitudinal study that began when respondents were adolescents; they have been followed for over 25 years and were between 33 and 44 in Wave V. At the time of the interviews, all respondents’ residences were geolocated and merged with multiple contextual and policy databases used to create the SHP scale, a composite scale of state abortion policies, state policies that discriminate against lesbian and gay populations, and gender inequality at the neighborhood level (ranges 0=16). All regression models adjust for age, race/ethnicity, college degree, relationship status, childhood poverty, and urban environment. SHP in early adulthood was associated with an increased likelihood of having a child and a higher number of children among women (b=.02, p<.001) at midlife.

Author

• Bethany Grace Everett, University of Utah