Intergenerational Relations of Young Adults
Author: Bertogg, Ariane C, bertogg@soziologie.uzh.ch
Department: Institute of Sociology
University: University of Zurich, Switzerland
Supervisor: Marc Szydlik
Year of completion: In progress
Language of dissertation: German
Keywords:
Young Adulthood
, Parent-Child-Relatio
, Intergenerational
, Closeness
Areas of Research:
Family Research
, Youth
, Education
Abstract
In general, previous studies on intergenerational family relations of adults have either surveyed the whole population or they have especially focused on the second half of life. These research agendas are due to available data sets on adult generations.
However, recent relevant additions to the Swiss TREE survey (“Transition from Education to Employment”) now offer the opportunity to investigate intergenerational family relationships of young adults. Therefore, this project focuses on 26 year-old children and their mostly middle-aged parents. Special preference is given to emotional closeness, contact, coresidence and financial transfers between parents and children. Among others, the research addresses the following questions: how connected are young adults to their middle-aged parents? Are there similar patterns such as in the elderly population? Additionally, the research considers the role of factors such as education, employment, financial background, geographical distance to parents, gender and health, in creating inter-generational cohesion. In addition, does the divorce of parents and its point in time play a relevant role in the relationships between parents and children? Are there other life events which affect family cohesion? Are there long-term consequences of critical phases like unemployment? Can one identify significant diversities between the different regions of Switzerland?
The structure of the data allows us to analyze mother-child-dyads and father-child-dyads separately and the longitudinal design makes it possible to take into account cross-sectional information as well as trajectories and their impact on children's relationships with their parents at such a dynamic stage in the life cycle.
