Parenthood status of siblings, half-siblings and cousins and entry into parenthood. A horizontal kinship network approach

On June 27, Vera de Bel, Alyona Artamonova, Takayuki Hiraoka, Mirkka Danielsbacka, Antti Tanskanen, Marijtje van Duijn will present their work on “Parenthood status of siblings, half-siblings and cousins and entry into parenthood. A horizontal kinship network approach” at Sunbelt 2024, which will take place in at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh.

Abstract

Horizontal kinship ties last a lifetime, and life-course transitions of horizontal kin are known to be interconnected. Prior research, with a focus on siblings, has demonstrated their influence on various life events, including home leaving (Her, Vergauwen, & Mortelmans, 2022), marriage and divorce behavior (Buyukkececi & Leopold, 2021), and fertility (Buyukkececi & Leopold, 2021; Lyngstad & Prskawetz, 2010). However, siblings are just one example of individuals’ horizontal kin, and the impact extends to half-siblings and cousins, shaping both individual trajectories and those of their relatives. Moreover, the influence of horizontal kin may vary based on factors such as the degree of relatedness (full siblings, half-siblings, or cousins), kin’s gender ((half-)brothers, (half-)sisters, male or female cousins), and lineage (paternal or maternal side of the family). This study seeks to analyze the complete horizontal kinship network to understand how individuals’ entry into parenthood is associated with the parenthood status of their horizontal kin. More specifically, the study examines whether 1) close kin compared to more distant kin, 2) female compared to male kin, and 3) maternal compared to paternal kin have a stronger influence on an individual’s entry into parenthood. Utilizing unique registry data that documents the kinship networks of the entire Dutch (van der Laan, de Jonge, Das, Te Riele, & Emery, 2022) and Finnish population, the study will employ a multi-level model considering the nested structure and dependence of relationships (Snijders & Bosker, 2012; van Duijn, 2013). First results and a comparison between the Dutch and Finnish contexts will be presented.