To better explain family changes
around the world. The developmental idealism paradigm posits that the modern form of family
seen in Western Europe and the United States is considered desirable and attainable. As a result,
a set of beliefs and values about modern western families, including attributes of individualism,
marriage at a mature age, courtship as a part of the process leading to marriage, intergenerational
independence, gender equality, and planned and low fertility, will spread and provide a model for
people in other regions as societies develop (Thornton 2001, 2013).
Lesthaeghe and colleagues have argued that changes in religiosity and secularization in Western countries foster an orientation toward individual growth and gratification, which explains
postmodern family behavior and the prevalence of patterns such as cohabitation, high divorce
rates, below-replacement fertility, and nonmarital childbearing—what they have labeled the “second demographic transition” (Lesthaeghe 1983, Lesthaeghe & Neels 2002). This shift of mindset
will bring about a stronger emphasis on individual freedom of choice and a greater tolerance of
diversity. They later hypothesize that such ideational and behavioral changes will also spread to
other parts of the world (Lesthaeghe 2010).
In this review, we first describe trends in factors hypothesized to influence family formation and
then review the literature linking these factors to demographic behavior. However, emergence of
ultralow fertility and increasing singlehood in East Asia has drawn our attention to social contexts
within which marriage and family decisions are made, particularly the role of gender equity, or
lack thereof, that increases the tensions between women’s increasing economic opportunities and
the demands of family and childrearing (Brinton & Lee 2016, Raymo et al. 2015). We argue
that when examining these global theories in the context of Southeast and South Asia, it is also
important to account for other moderating factors. These include the historical context in which
family policies, kinship structures, and cultural and religious diversity are developed.
Explanation:
