Probabilistic projections of distributions of kin over the life course

Joe Butterick, Jakub Bijak, Erengul Dodd, Peter W F Smith and Jason Hilton
Additional contact information
Joe Butterick: University of Southampton
Jakub Bijak: University of Oxford
Erengul Dodd: University of Southampton
Peter W F Smith: University of Southampton
Jason Hilton: University of Southampton

Demographic Research, 2026, vol. 54, issue 9, 263-308

Abstract: Background: Mathematical kinship demography is an expanding area of research. Recent papers have explored the expected number of kin a typical individual should experience. Despite the uncertainty of the future number and distributions of kin, just one paper investigates it. Objective: We aim to develop a new method for obtaining the probability that a typical population member experiences one or more of some kin at any age through the life course. Methods: Combinatorics, matrix algebra, and convolution theory are combined to find discrete probability distributions of kin number. We propose closed form expressions, illustrating the recursive nature of kin replenishment, using composition of matrix operations. Our model requires as inputs age-specific mortality and fertility. Conclusions: We derive probabilities of kin number for fixed age of kin and over all possible ages of kin. From these the expectation, variance, and other moments of kin number can be found. We demonstrate how kinship structures are conditional on familial events. Contribution: The paper presents the first analytic approach allowing the projection of a full probability distribution of the number of kin of arbitrary type that a population member has over the life course.

Keywords: matrix models; stochastic kinship; branching processes; Markov models (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J1 Z0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:dem:demres:v:54:y:2026:i:9

DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2026.54.9

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