Researching Intergenerational Families: Conceptual and Methodological Matters

ABSTRACTThis paper presents a novel conceptualization of emotional support in intergenerational families. In a stratified random sample of 458 adults in Hamilton, Ontario, over half the respondents said that there was currently, or had been in the past, a person in their family to whom other family members turned for emotional support and personal advice. In the paper, this person is referred to as the “comforter.” Many people also identified the person who provided emotional support prior to the present comforter. On the basis of the data, a “position” of family comforter is inferred. The paper investigates the social correlates of the position, the type of activities associated with being the family comforter, and the pattern of succession as different generations in the family move in and out of the position. The paper demonstrates the family provision of emotional support at the level of the extended family. It is shown that occupancy, activities and succession of the comforter position are patterned by gender. Further, the data suggest that people seek emotional support from a generational peer.

Download Full-text

Stability and change in the intergenerational family: a convoy approach

Ageing and Society ◽

10.1017/s0144686x1000098x ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 31 (7) ◽

pp. 1084-1106 ◽

Cited By ~ 52

Author(s):

TONI C. ANTONUCCI ◽

KIRA S. BIRDITT ◽

CAREY W. SHERMAN ◽

SARAH TRINH

Keyword(s):

Economic Status ◽

Intergenerational Relations ◽

Personal Characteristics ◽

Care Giving ◽

Situational Characteristics ◽

Individual Family ◽

Diverse Individual ◽

The Individual ◽

Intergenerational Families

ABSTRACTThere have been fundamental changes in the intergenerational family, and yet families continue to be an important part of people's lives. We use the convoy model to describe the factors that influence supportive relations within intergenerational families, beginning with a description of the changing structure of the intergenerational family. We next outline support exchanges, detailing how personal characteristics, especially gender, race, age and socio-economic status, and situational characteristics, in particular family structure and intergenerational context, influence support exchanges. Instrumental and emotional family exchanges are described, with special attention to the unique circumstances of care-giving in intergenerational families. We also examine the importance of recognising differences in the quality of intergenerational relations, again noting the influence of personal and situational characteristics. Variations in support quality, e.g. positive, negative and ambivalent, and its influence on wellbeing are discussed. As families and individuals change, differences emerge at the individual, family and societal levels. We consider the implications of changes and stability in intergenerational relations and make recommendations about how best to envisage and plan future intergenerational family support. Societies with fewer resources as well as individuals and families with diverse individual histories must be innovative and creative in meeting the needs of older people as well as those of all family members.

Download Full-text

Intergenerational families in child welfare: Assessing needs and estimating permanency

Children and Youth Services Review ◽

10.1016/j.childyouth.2011.01.004 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 33 (6) ◽

pp. 1024-1030 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Jane Marie Marshall ◽

Hui Huang ◽

Joseph P. Ryan

Keyword(s):

Child Welfare ◽

Intergenerational Families

Download Full-text

UDMURT FAMILY IN 1959-1989: DEMOGRAPHIC ASPECT

Yearbook of Finno-Ugric Studies ◽

10.35634/2224-9443-2021-15-1-127-138 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 127-138

Author(s):

Sergei Nikolaevich Uvarov

Keyword(s):

Age Distribution ◽

Quantitative Composition ◽

Living Together ◽

Great Patriotic War ◽

Urban Settlements ◽

The Difference ◽

The Republic ◽

Families With Children ◽

First Time ◽

Intergenerational Families

The article analyzes changes in the number, size and structure of the Udmurt family in Udmurtia based on the population censuses of 1959, 1970, 1979, and 1989, based on a significant array of statistical data introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. For the first time, the size of families headed by the Udmurts was calculated in 1959. It was 4,1 people. in the republic as a whole, 3,5 people. - in urban settlements, 4,2 people. - in the countryside. For the first time in historiography, a grouping of Udmurt families was made, depending on the number of members living together. The typology is considered and the quantitative composition of Udmurt families with children according to the 1970 census is presented. At the same time, a comparison is made with the average republican family. It showed, in particular, that the Udmurt family was larger throughout the period under consideration, although the difference gradually disappeared. Most of the Udmurts had intergenerational families consisting of three generations and single-parent families. Moreover, in the latter, the parent was aged. Also, for the first time, the state of marriage among the Udmurts was analyzed: if for 1959 and 1970 in the sources it was possible to find only the number of married, then for 1979 and 1989 - also the number of divorced, widows who have never been married. Their age distribution is also shown. As a result of the study, it was concluded that the Udmurt family suffered more during the Great Patriotic War than the average republican family.

Download Full-text