Causes and Consequences of Family Dynamics

The decline in fertility accompanied by increased non-marital fertility and delayed childbearing, the decrease in marriage rates and the increase in divorce rates have all contributed to dramatically changing family structures in Europe. Although previous research has studied these demographic changes extensively, we still know little about how union and fertility dynamics evolve over the individual life courses and how life courses within and between generations are linked. In collaboration with the State Institute for Family Research at the University of Bamberg (ifb), we study the causes and consequences of fertility and family dynamics in Europe from a life course perspective focusing not only on individual life courses but also on linked lives between children, parents, and grandparents.

Journal Articles

• Leopold, Thomas, Jan Skopek & Florian Schulz (forthcoming, 2018): Gender convergence in housework time: A life course and cohort perspective. In: Sociological Science.
• Leopold, Thomas & Florian Schulz (2018): Health and housework in later life: A longitudinal study of retired couples. The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gby015.
• Schulz, Florian & Henriette Engelhardt (2017): The development, educational stratification and decomposition of mothers' and fathers' childcare time in Germany. An update for 2001-2013. Zeitschrift für Familienforschung | Journal of Family Research 29(3): 277-297. [Supplement | Conference poster]
• Dechant, Anna & Florian Schulz (2014): Scenarios for the equal division of paid and unpaid work in the transition to parenthood in Germany. Comparative Population Studies 39(3): 615 - 644.
• Grunow, Daniela, Florian Schulz & Hans-Peter Blossfeld (2012): What determines change in the division of housework over the course of marriage? International Sociology 27(3): 289 - 307. doi: 10.1177/0268580911423056
• Leopold, Thomas, Ferdinand Geißler, & Sebastian Pink (2012): "How Far Do Children Move? Spatial Distances After Leaving the Parental Home", Social Science Research 41(4): 991-1002.
• Leopold, Thomas (2012): "The Legacy of Leaving Home: Long-Term Effects of Coresidence on Parent-Child Relationships", Journal of Marriage and Family 74(3): 399-412. doi: 10.1111/j.1741-3737.2012.00964.x
• Skopek, Jan, Florian Schulz & Hans-Peter Blossfeld (2011): Who contacts whom? Educational homophily in online mate selection. European Sociological Review 27(2): 180 - 195.
• Leopold, T., & T. Schneider (2011): "Family Events and the Timing of Intergenerational Transfers", Social Forces 90(2): 595-616.
• Leopold, T., & M. Raab (2011): "Short-Term Reciprocity in Late Parent-Child Relationships", Journal of Marriage and Family 73(1): 105-119. doi: 10.1111/j.1741-3737.2010.00792.x
• Leopold, T., & T. Schneider (2011): "Gifts, Bequests, and Social Inequality in West Germany", Schmollers Jahrbuch - Journal of Applied Social Science Studies 131.
• Leopold, T., & T. Schneider (2010): "Schenkungen und Erbschaften im Lebenslauf. Vergleichende Längsschnittanalysen zu intergenerationalen Transfers" (Intergenerational Transfers from a Life Course Perspective. A Longitudinal Comparison of Gifts and Bequests), Zeitschrift für Soziologie 39(4): 258-280.

Chapters in Edited Volumes

• Leopold, T., & M. Raab (2011): "Kurzzeitreziprozität in späten Eltern-Kind-Beziehungen", in: Berger, P. A., K. Hank, and A. Toelke (eds.). Reproduktion von Ungleichheit in Arbeit und Familie. Wiesbaden: VS
• Leopold, T., & T. Schneider (2011): "Intergenerationale Vermögenstransfers und soziale Ungleichheit: Schenkungen und Erbschaften in Westdeutschland", in: Berger, P. A., K. Hank, and A. Toelke (eds.). Reproduktion von Ungleichheit in Arbeit und Familie. Wiesbaden: VS
• Leopold, T. (2009): "Erbschaften und Schenkungen im Lebenslauf. Eine vergleichende Längsschnittanalyse mit dem Sozio-oekonomischen Panel", in: Engelhardt, H. (ed.). Bamberger Beiträge zur Soziologie, Band 02. University of Bamberg Press.
• Raab, M., C. Schmidt, & M. Ruland (2009): "Intergenerationale Austauschbeziehungen und ihre Determinanten. Ein europäischer Vergleich", in: Engelhardt, H. (ed.): Bamberger Beiträge zur Soziologie, Band 1. University of Bamberg Press.

Research Reports

• Schmidt, C., M. Raab, & M. Ruland: "Intergenerationale Austauschbeziehungen im internationalen Vergleich". pp. 143-166 in: Tanja Mühling and Harald Rost (eds.): ifb-Familienreport 2009 - Schwerpunkt Familie in Europa. Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Arbeit und Sozialordnung, Familie und Frauen.