Deck 9: Families and Children

Question 1

In 2011,births to unmarried women reached a record high of _____________ percent.

A) 14
B) 25
C) 41
D) 60

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The sociological definition of parents

A) is limited to the mother-father couple.
B) includes a specific number of parents.
C) requires one man and one woman.
D) is fluid, especially when the law does not set the rules.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

If a country has a fertility rate of more than 2.1 or so,the population will usually

A) grow
B) stagnate
C) shrink
D) explode

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The number of women reaching age 45 without having any children has increased by what percentage since the 1980s?

A) 10
B) 20
C) 40
D) 50

Question 5

The sociological definition of fertility focuses on

A) whether or not individuals are able to reproduce biologically.
B) the number of children born in a society or among a particular group.
C) the number of children an average woman wants in her lifetime.
D) the number of children fathered by the average man.

Question 6

While biological parents are the adults whose bodies produce a child,adoptive parents are

A) parents to a child they did not produce biologically.
B) not actually parents.
C) lacking the deep, natural connection with their children.
D) better parents than biological parents.

Question 7

Women who did not finish high school have an average of 2.6 children,compared with how many among those with bachelor's degrees?

A) .4
B) 1.8
C) 3.5
D) 4.0

Question 8

The price one pays for choosing the less lucrative available option is known as

A) high price
B) opportunity cost
C) clearance rate
D) sale option

Question 9

The relatively high fertility rate among Latinos partly explains the growth of their population in the country as a whole.What is one of the reasons for this pattern?

A) Latinos are descended from relatively older immigrants.
B) The Catholic church encourages family planning practices.
C) Groups with higher levels of education usually have higher fertility rates.
D) The Latino population includes many young, healthy adults.

Question 10

When Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi were considering having a child,references to them "starting a family" indicated that

A) childless couples somehow add up to less than a family.
B) gay marriage is now widely accepted in the United States.
C) lesbian parents can raise children just as well as heterosexual parents.
D) the media loves talking about children.

Question 11

Total fertility rates indicate that Latina women on average have almost how many children?

A) 1
B) 2.5
C) 4
D) 5

Question 12

What is one reason women with lower education levels tend to have more children?

A) Women continue their education after they have children.
B) Poor women want to take advantage of the welfare system, which provides more money per child.
C) Childrearing threatens higher incomes and career status.
D) Younger parents have more to lose financially than older parents.

Question 13

Within the broader growing trend of single parenthood,what is one way people become single parents?

A) Young adults, either alone or with a partner, are not ready to marry.
B) Older women decide to have children as a tax break.
C) Divorced people may be too selfish to marry again.
D) Gay and lesbian couples may refuse to conform to social norms.

Question 14

Forty-one percent of all children born in the United States are born to parents who aren't married,up from 28 percent in 1990.This trend is closely tied to

A) wealth inequality.
B) the legalization of gay marriage.
C) the growing immigrant population.
D) the decline of marriage.

Question 15

On average,American families have how many children?

A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
D) 4

Question 16

Although fewer parents are married now than in the past,why are many children involved with more than two parents?

A) People are more likely to have "parents of choice" in addition to biological parents.
B) A growing number of families include stepparents and siblings from parents' previous relationships.
C) The suburbanization of America has meant that children spend more time at other people's houses.
D) Younger people are reaching out to older people more with the aging of the Baby Boomer generation.

Question 17

More than a third of baby-boom mothers had four children each.By 2006,only about what percentage of women turning 45 had that number of children?

A) 12
B) 25
C) 30
D) 50

Question 18

Single parenthood is more common among which group?

A) American Indians
B) Latinas
C) Whites
D) Asians

Question 19

Barbara is a 35-year-old executive at a banking firm.What is the opportunity cost of her decision to have children?

A) She risks halting or losing her stature within the company or industry.
B) She will receive a tax break for having children.
C) She may be able to find a job that will pay her more since she will have higher expenses.
D) Having a child will give her time to go back to school.

Question 20

Why are first-generation Latino immigrants more likely to have children than families who immigrated in earlier generations?

A) The American education system lacks a sexual education curriculum.
B) The United States is polluted with environmental toxins that prevent fertility.
C) Latin American culture places high value on having children.
D) Latinos know they can get welfare from the U.S. government.

Question 21

Which group of women is most likely to have an abortion?

A) white women
B) low-income women
C) married women
D) lesbian women

Question 22

The high frequency of unintended births,especially among women or couples with less education or fewer economic resources,partly results from

A) poor decision making.
B) lack of access to good-quality medical care.
C) higher rates of sexual promiscuity.
D) higher fertility rates.

Question 23

The main reason adoption became less common after the 1960s is that

A) stricter laws made adoption more difficult.
B) fewer babies were being relinquished by their birth parents.
C) the number of adoptive parents was decreasing.
D) there was a greater stigma associated with adoption.

Question 24

Research shows that by the time they reach adolescence,the great majority of adopted children

A) are falling behind on their standardized tests.
B) are more likely to use drugs and alcohol.
C) do not get along with their adoptive parents.
D) say they are glad they got to know their birth parents.

Question 25

In the past few years,American opinion of abortions has moved in which general direction?

A) More people consider themselves "pro-life."
B) More people consider themselves "pro-choice."
C) More people believe abortion should be illegal.
D) More people have no opinion.

Question 26

International adoption reached its peak in which year?

A) 1967
B) 1982
C) 2004
D) 2014

Question 27

The largest number of international adoptions came from which countries?

A) Mexico, India, Thailand, and Kenya
B) China, Russia, South Korea, and Guatemala
C) Canada, Germany, France, and Italy
D) South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, and Iraq

Question 28

When Arturo found out he was adopted,his peers teased him,saying that his real parents didn't care about him.Arturo has met his birth parents,and following research trends,how is Arturo likely to respond?

A) He will know that his birth parents gave him up for adoption for his own good.
B) He will agree with his peers since he resents his birth parents.
C) He will feel inferior to his peers who have better parents.
D) He will lie to his peers, saying that he was not adopted.

Question 29

What is one typical example that demonstrates how parents plan their births around their economic circumstances?

A) Grace, a 45-year-old, waited to have children until after the economic recession.
B) Joyce, a 25-year-old, waited to have children until after the economic recession.
C) Molly, a 19-year-old, decided to have children while she was on welfare.
D) Sunita, a 32-year-old, decided to have children while she had a high-paying job.

Question 30

Emily,a 25-year-old white woman,just found out she is infertile.What is one factor that may have led to her infertility?

A) her racial background
B) her high-paying job, which may have stressed her system too much
C) her history of sexually transmitted infections
D) her age, as young women are more likely to experience infertility

Question 31

What is one reason contemporary mothers might be unlikely to give their children up for adoption?

A) The stigma associated with unmarried motherhood has decreased.
B) It is harder to gain access to birth control.
C) Investigative news stories have shown that adoptive parents don't care for children as well as birth parents.
D) More women are being coerced by birth fathers to keep their children.

Question 32

Raising children is often expected to

A) pay off financially.
B) help provide long-term care for elderly parents.
C) drain parents of all time and energy.
D) give emotional and symbolic rewards.

Question 33

The decline in international adoptions was part of a worldwide trend in which the act was

A) praised as a beneficiary effort.
B) made more expensive.
C) closely scrutinized for ethical and legal violations.
D) restricted to only wealthy adoptive parents.

Question 34

Why has infertility been a source of stigma for women?

A) All women want to have kids.
B) It has been used to justify men's infidelity.
C) Men are not the cause of infertility.
D) It points to women's sexual inadequacy.

Question 35

Which of the following represents a typical response when people are asked why they had children?

A) "I was young, but I was ready."
B) "I had thought it out extensively, and this was the right time."
C) "It was part of my life plan with my partner."
D) "I really didn't want to have kids, but my partner did."

Question 36

In 2008,what percentage of pregnancies resulted in abortion?

A) 5
B) 18
C) 49
D) 82

Question 37

Falling rates of abortion may be due in part to which trend?

A) decreased use of contraception
B) increased access to abortion services
C) better insurance coverage for abortions
D) attacks on abortion providers

Question 38

Children are most likely to be adopted through which method?

A) private services
B) international adoption
C) coercion
D) foster care system

Question 39

What percentage of all pregnancies are identified as "unintended"?

A) 15 percent
B) 25 percent
C) 30 percent
D) 50 percent

Question 40

How have adoption patterns in the United States shifted over the past half-century?

A) Adoption has become less common, but it is more open and acceptable.
B) Adoption has become more common and less acceptable.
C) Adoption has become easier, especially internationally.
D) Adoption has become unnecessary with the improvement of state support for poor families.

Question 41

What percentage of children live with a cohabiting parent at some point in their lives?

A) 5
B) 18
C) 40
D) 60

Question 42

In 2010 the number of childless adults aged 25 to 40 reached 48 percent,indicating what?

A) falling numbers of childless adults
B) growing numbers of childless adults
C) falling economic inequality
D) falling racial inequality

Question 43

In her book The Cultural Contradictions of Motherhood,sociologist Sharon Hays describes an ideology she calls intensive motherhood,which is

A) a growing trend among mothers to be highly authoritarian with their children.
B) the difficult period of emotional instability following childbirth, previously known as postpartum depression.
C) a cultural pressure on women to devote more time, energy, and money to raising their kids.
D) the way in which grandmothers are now more likely to perform mothering functions for their grandchildren.

Question 44

Jackson,age 10,just received his first cellular phone.What does this mean in relation to his parents?

A) He is less likely to think they are cool.
B) His parents will be more likely to know what he is doing.
C) He will feel no change in his sense of freedom.
D) He will feel disconnected from his parents.

Question 45

Parents try to provide which three broad categories of skills or resources to their children?

A) money, time, and care
B) prestige, a big house, and a good education
C) socialization, social bonds, and social network
D) discipline, authority, and love

Question 46

When did the term parenting become popular?

A) 1880s
B) 1900s
C) 1950s
D) 1970s

Question 47

There is reason to suspect that parents' insecurity has increased in the last few decades for which of the following reasons?

A) Because parents have fewer children, their investment in each one has grown.
B) The growing perception of economic security means that parents need fewer children to help support them in their old age.
C) Since the value of education has decreased, making it hard for everyone with a bachelor's degree to find a job, parents feel less pressure to have lots of high-achieving kin.
D) The media has increasingly shown children in a negative light.

Question 48

In the 1980s,more than 80 percent of parents agreed that spanking was sometimes necessary.In 2012,what percentage agreed?

A) 49
B) 62
C) 71
D) 90

Question 49

Henry and Lauren,who are infertile,have decided to call themselves "child-free" rather than "childless," indicating what?

A) Some people have embraced the concept as a lifestyle label.
B) There is growing stigmatization of people without kids.
C) There are higher levels of happiness among people without kids.
D) People with children have resentment toward those without children.

Question 50

Family transitions always have what component?

A) economic
B) racial
C) gendered
D) emotional

Question 51

Paul spends nearly every Saturday with his two children.This is very different from his parents,who rarely spent time with Paul and his four siblings.This shift reflects which goal of modern parents?

A) valuing children more highly as priceless individuals
B) investing more in fewer children
C) monitoring children's progress at every step
D) securing children's cooperation in their well-being

Question 52

The greatest expenses in raising children tend to come from

A) food
B) health care
C) clothing
D) child care and education

Question 53

Parents of a typical family with two children can expect to spend how much to raise each child up to age 17?

A) $20,000 -$40,000
B) $80,000 -$120,000
C) $160,000 -$370,000
D) $400,000 -$450,000

Question 54

From the 1960s to the 1990s-a period when women's employment rates grew rapidly-the time mothers spent with their children actually did increase.How was that possible?

A) Mothers engaged in less of other things, like sleeping and leisure.
B) Women started taking advantage of bring-your-child to work programs.
C) Flexible work opportunities allowed mothers to spend time with children and still get all of their full-time work and housework done.
D) Fathers took on much more housework, giving mothers more free time.

Question 55

In the early part of the twentieth century,it was incredibly dangerous to be a child,with almost 200 children killed in New York City streets in 1911.In 2009,only 14 children were killed in motor vehicle accidents in New York City,despite the growing population.What does this mean sociologically?

A) Children became increasingly intelligent, learning how to avoid dangerous situations.
B) New immigrants are more protective of their children.
C) There is less social inequality among children.
D) American children lost their economic value and achieved a new emotional value.

Question 56

Many adults influence the life of a child.The adults who have the most direct influence are

A) teachers
B) coaches
C) those who live with them
D) stepparents

Question 57

What percentage of preschoolers with mothers who have less than a high school education are identified as obese?

A) 10
B) 25
C) 40
D) 55

Question 58

When it comes to children's success in three major dimensions-being happy and well adjusted,doing well in school,and staying out of serious trouble-which parental stance has proven beneficial?

A) supportiveness
B) independence
C) lenience
D) humor

Question 59

Lucia was concerned about the well-being of her 11-year-old,who seemed increasingly anxious.What is a child well-being expert likely to prescribe for Lucia's daughter?

A) more play time
B) a better sleep schedule
C) more extracurricular activities
D) anti-anxiety medication

Question 60

When Jose was looking for a job,his father Jesus was able to get him an interview at a friend's company.Which category of skill or resource was Jesus providing to Jose?

A) social networks
B) social bonds
C) socialization
D) social status

Question 61

A very small fraction of children (less than 1 percent)

A) suffer from childhood obesity.
B) live with their grandparents.
C) have more than two adult caregivers.
D) live in the care of same-sex couples.

Question 62

National statistics show that most American families have one to two children,with two being the most common.These numbers are much lower than in the past,but while the falling birth rate is largely acknowledged,many other changes in the institution of the family are less commonly recognized.List at least one other trend and its social significance.

Question 63

Compare and contrast how the living arrangements of white,black,and Latino children have changed in the past 50 years.How do these changes relate to the concepts of diversity,inequality,and social change?

Question 64

List at least two methods of adoption available in the United States and the issues associated with them.

Question 65

A number of historical events undermined the dominance of the male provider ideal,such as the

A) increase in women's employment
B) diversity of family structures
C) economic value of children
D) falling birth rate

Question 66

Although Jeff has a high-paying job,he decided to take a lower-paying position so that he could spend more time with his kids,reflecting

A) economic insecurity
B) the male provider ideal
C) the involved father ideal
D) male privilege

Question 67

In part because of the legal,technological,or financial obstacles they must overcome to have children,same-sex couples have been shown to

A) be less likely to pursue adoption.
B) be unusually committed to parenting.
C) spend less time and energy on their children.
D) provide their children better financial support.

Question 68

Until the 1960s,the male provider ideal was the dominant conception of what a father should be.The current dominant American ideal is the

A) distant father
B) financially secure father
C) funny father
D) involved father

Question 69

Jasmine,a 34-year-old assistant professor,just found out she is pregnant.Define the concept of opportunity costs and explain what opportunity costs Jasmine might face.

Question 70

This chapter begins by considering the social meaning of "starting a family." What are the different ways that the family,the market,and the state all intervene in how people define "starting a family"?

Question 71

Trends show overall decreasing rates of fertility,but this pattern is differentiated across race/ethnicity and education.Explain two reasons why this might be the case.

Question 72

Jackie and Steven are an Asian American couple with a set of twins about to enter elementary school.Both Jackie and Steven are in their early 40s and work in a professional setting making six-figure salaries.Explain the three broad categories of skills or resources that parents attempt to provide their children-socialization,social bonds,and social networks-and consider how Jackie and Steven might provide those.

Question 73

Why might Jane,a new mother,not put her infant son on his back to sleep,despite abundant evidence that infants who do not sleep on their backs are at risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome?

A) Jane's husband told her not to.
B) Jane personally believes that babies sleep better on their sides.
C) Jane's religion does not allow children to sleep on their backs.
D) Jane lacks the education.

Question 74

This chapter notes that being a child used to be very dangerous.Boys as young as four worked as chimney sweeps in long,hot,narrow shafts,often at risk of burning and suffocation.Hundreds of children also died in the streets of New York City every year.Today,despite regular anxiety about children's safety,children are much less likely to die at a young age from work- or transportation-related deaths.Why is this the case,and what is the sociological significance of this shift?

Question 75

Compare and contrast the ideals of intensive mothering and involved fatherhood.