Political and economic transitions have profound impacts on societies, influencing gender ideologies, including gendered beliefs about parenting. This article examines such gendered parenting beliefs in Georgia, a post-Soviet country that has undergone significant socio-economic transformations in recent decades. Using a quantitative survey-based study ( N = 398), we investigate the relationship between age and other demographic variables and gender-essentialist beliefs about parenting (that is, the belief that women are biologically better suited for parenting), as well as the potentially intervening role of basic cultural values in this relationship. The findings reveal that age positively and income negatively predict essentialist parenting beliefs and that basic values partially explain this association. Through qualitative interviews ( N = 14), we further explore the beliefs of individuals from three different generations regarding maternal and paternal parenting roles. The analyses reveal the coexistence of traditional, egalitarian and ambivalent beliefs related to gender in the context of parenting. Overall, the findings highlight the tension between evolving gender norms and established cultural frameworks in Georgia. They suggest that shifts in parenting beliefs most likely occur gradually and are part of broader societal value transformations.
In 2020, people over the age of 70 were recommended to stay in quarantine-like conditions in Finland. Using Elias’s figurational theory, we explore how older people’s social, material and spatial bonds transformed during the pandemic. Our data comprise written accounts analysed through a case-study approach, combined with thematic analysis, enabling an in-depth view of everyday micro-level constellations. Our findings reveal the following: (1) the restrictions had strong impacts on people’s everyday figurations, as even if the social bonds did not break, they had to be adjusted to the guidelines and negotiated with other people; (2) material devices came in between people, enabling them to sustain social connections; and (3) people’s spatial bonds with their homes and surroundings became more important. These shifts highlighted the interdependence between individuals and their material and spatial environments. By focusing on everyday figurations, we uncover inequalities that might otherwise have remained invisible.
This article highlights the importance of intergenerational family relationships to understanding experiences of climate anxiety. Based on online qualitative research conducted in Britain in 2021, our findings reveal the extent of distress caused by the climate crisis in everyday life and how conversations within families about environmental issues remain challenging for people of all ages despite increased public discourse on the topic. Existing research argues that climate action is often the best solution to climate anxiety yet overlooks the ways that family dynamics can limit participation in that action. We argue that family relationships significantly influence experiences of climate anxiety, shape perceptions about the future and affect participation in action. Our specific attention to climate anxiety and its relationship to family life offers an original perspective to scholarship and aims to better understand the complex emotional, social and relational effects of climate breakdown.
This article aims to explore urban Mexican mothers’ experiences when feeding during the COVID-19 pandemic through a qualitative interview study. We recruited 21 coupled mothers in Guadalajara, Mexico. We employed critical qualitative inquiry to analyze the data. Results suggest that the pandemic modified social dynamics, causing stress and exhaustion among family members, though women remained accountable for feeding their families, indicating unchanged social norms. Interestingly, we documented positive effects from the pandemic, as some mothers were able to care for their children in ways that seemed impossible before the crisis (for example, cooking due to time availability), though for others, there were negative effects (for example, unaffordability of food due to lost income). Taken together, the findings highlight the importance of resources and opportunities for mothers to deal with the burden, as well as of promoting changes in gender roles so that men and women share the workload associated with parenting and housekeeping.
Amid China’s demographic crisis, the government has bolstered support for childcare for children under age three. Nevertheless, families continue to confront a childcare gap of approximately 2.5 years. To elucidate the disconnect between state aspirations and caregiving realities, this article integrates a review of policy evolution with an analysis of mothers’ lived experiences. Employing a familialism perspective, it traces the policy shift from de-familialism to implicit familialism and, finally, towards optional familialism. Drawing on interviews with 22 mothers in Guangzhou, the article reveals that while mothers possess diverse life-mix preferences, their choices are constrained by three key challenges: relational constraints stemming from weak state support and fragile intergenerational support; life-mix material gaps involving financial dependence or career sacrifice; and user deficits driven by the high cost of and low trust in marketised care. The article concludes by advocating for protected autonomy in the life mix and calling for policy support for both adult-worker and adult-carer models.
Compulsory romance refers to a systemic construct of kinship wherein romance and romantic feelings are considered a mandatory requirement, despite some people not experiencing them. This creates societies that centre romantic feelings and relationships over other types of interpersonal interactions, which are constructed as less important. The following article suggests that in taking an intersectional view of a societal situation, the ways it is influenced by compulsory romance need to be taken into account to create a full understanding of it. This article discusses this emerging concept by overviewing previous scholarship, linking it with feminist thought (as well as aromantic and asexual ideas of queer kinship) and evaluating its usefulness as a tool for research. It may therefore aid scholars interested in this field, as well as those working in the broader areas of humanities, social studies and policy making.
This article reports on a study conducted in the New England region of the US that examined young Latino family members’ support for older family members’ use of digital technology. We apply the community belonging framework and qualitatively analyze data from adolescent family members ( N = 29). The findings highlight late adolescents’ influence and adherence in meeting the needs of older family members’ digital technology use. Example outcomes include family members navigating language barriers, addressing digital literacy, and recognizing heightened digital connectivity resulting from digital technology support. Young Latino family members also reported improved self-efficacy in their roles as digital technology instructors. Across the research, we consider family members as learning partners and beneficiaries in promoting digital inclusion.
This article explores the lived experiences of family caregivers of people with dementia, focusing on how care is constructed, negotiated and morally perceived within everyday life. Drawing on in-depth interviews conducted in Northern Italy, the analysis reveals how caregiving is often naturalised and internalised as a moral duty, particularly among women, and closely tied to familial loyalty and affective debt. The article highlights the ambivalent nature of care: while it can strengthen emotional bonds, it also produces fatigue, invisibility and identity reconfigurations. Care is not freely chosen but emerges as a taken-for-granted response to implicit expectations, shaped by gender norms and cultural values. The findings underline the symbolic, emotional and political dimensions of caregiving, calling for greater public recognition and policy support. Ultimately, the article contributes to reframing care not as a private moral obligation but as a collective, situated and relational practice that requires structural visibility and institutional responsibility.
This article explores how children conceptualise the boundary between non-violent and violent sibling conflicts. It draws on three case studies from the Children's Well-Being in German-speaking Switzerland (2021-25) project, each involving potentially violent sibling conflicts. Following the initial interpretation, the cases were discussed in a focus group with newly recruited children. Popitz's power-informed understanding of violence served as a sensitising concept during the analysis. While I analytically frame the cases as involving violence, children in the focus group did not always reach a consensus. Generally, they identified certain behaviours as emotionally or physically harmful and proposed solutions, such as parental involvement or verbal communication, indicating that they perceived the situations as boundary crossing. Simultaneously, some children relativised the harm of particular behaviours, referring to age, birth order or socio-geographical discourse. The article raises further questions about the responsible actors, their obligation and the timing of involvement in children's potentially violent sibling conflicts.
This article investigates transforming intergenerational relationships within hazelnut-farming families in Giresun, Turkey, amid profound socio-economic changes. Addressing the paradox of simultaneous rupture in agricultural practice and continuity in belonging, the article draws on qualitative fieldwork conducted across 17 villages in 2023. Utilising a multi-method design that includes oral histories, expert interviews and participant observation, we employ a dual theoretical framework bridging the life-course perspective with intergenerationality. Analysis reveals that the rupture is an active family strategy driven by a 'save yourself' discourse, where elders deliberately disrupt knowledge transmission to propel youth towards formal education. However, families actively reconstruct the generational order to preserve belonging, transforming the hazelnut grove from a space of labour into a place of memory. Through digital connections and myths of return, families sustain rootedness, demonstrating that intergenerational bonds are resiliently renegotiated from material dependence to symbolic attachment.
This article contributes to understandings of post-separation family life by rethinking ex-couple relationships as continuing kinship ties. Unlike most of the literature, the article delves into the endurance of a post-separation relationship even in the absence of shared children, health crisis or other critical life-cycle events that could justify this bond. Through qualitative research based on 26 in-depth narrative interviews with both partners of ex-couples, the article depicts how kinship is done in a fluid and creative way, from the variety of daily routines to the deepest sense of identity and meaning. This article argues that separation could produce significant patterns of social continuity that could be further analysed in terms of kinship, despite its formal end, broadening the relevance of the concepts of voluntary kinship and family practices to various social relationships.
This article examines older individuals in Sweden who relocate to care for grandchildren with disabilities. Findings from semi-structured interviews show that life events in the lives of adult children, such as having a child with a disability, can prompt older individuals to move closer. These relocations typically occur when circumstances align in the lives of both generations and result from an identified care need not met by formal care. The article also explores the complexities of these moves, including the challenge of leaving other family members behind and establishing belonging in a new location. By situating the findings within a combined care ethics and linked lives perspective, the article both empirically and conceptually advances our understanding of how relational and moral dimensions across generations drive relocation among older individuals. Informal caregiving as a relocation motive challenges prevailing assumptions about who migrates and why in a welfare state.
Transnational caregiving within African families, particularly in the context of aged care, is an underexplored area, especially regarding the impact of migration. This article examines caregiving arrangements in Zimbabwean transnational families, focusing on how migration reshapes traditional caregiving practices. By utilising the concepts of family solidarity and normative obligation, the article explores how gendered expectations of duty influence the negotiation of caregiving roles across borders. Drawing on qualitative interviews with Zimbabwean migrant care workers in the UK and their families in Zimbabwe, the article highlights the intersection of migration, caregiving, gender dynamics and power relations, offering insights into how caregiving norms are reconfigured. The findings reveal the complexities and adaptability of caregiving within Zimbabwean transnational families, shedding light on the transformative impact of migration on family roles and the resilience of African caregiving practices in transnational contexts.
On any given day, tens of thousands of people are in custody in Canada's correctional systems. Serving time in prison affects the person incarcerated and their family and/or loved ones psychologically and emotionally. To explore how, we interviewed 15 adults residing in Ontario with family members incarcerated in Canada. Our focus was on the adult family members' experiences and the effects of having a family member in prison on their well-being. Our findings reveal the potential reach and penetration of a family member's experience and the associated toll on their psychological and emotional well-being, particularly the toll of limited and costly phone calls with their incarcerated loved ones and feelings of grief and loss.
Parental dissolution generally affects the mental health of children. Given the prevalence of second parental dissolutions, we examine how family instability affects the mental health of emerging adults. Using the UK Household Longitudinal Study (including the British Household Panel Study and Understanding Society), we employ propensity score matching to compare four groups: those experiencing none, one early, one late or two parental dissolutions. We test four hypotheses positing a greater negative effect of a second dissolution related to the order of the divorce, age, gender and siblingship size. Overall, we find no statistically significant differences in mental health among the four groups, including those who experienced no parental dissolution. Consequently, all hypotheses are rejected. Results indicate that those experiencing two separations show greater mental health homogeneity compared to those experiencing one. This result can be the start of further exploration of this complex topic.
This article examines how COVID-19 border restrictions affected three family types requiring cross-border mobility (globordered families): intended parents and their baby born to a surrogate from another country, binational living-apart couples and transnational multigenerational families. Hundreds of social media posts and tens of media reports from various worldwide sources related to campaigns initiated by members of these family types (March 2020-February 2022) were systematically studied using critical online discourse analysis. Two key themes emerged. First, temporal familial physicality establishes the necessity of physical co-presence across existential, periodic, lifecycle and dependency dimensions. The second theme, contested hierarchies, exposes the deep familial, gendered and economic hierarchies challenged by these families' resistance efforts. Findings demonstrate national and international law's failure to adequately address the diverse needs of less privileged globordered families and call for legal frameworks to move beyond unification-separation and citizen-alien binaries and develop more nuanced mechanisms to promote temporal cross-border familial physicality.
This article examines digital parenting in the age of datafication. Based on in-depth interviews with 22 parents, the article explores the digital experiences of Australian families with at least one child aged eight years and under. Findings reveal that datafication has changed the way children experience digital technologies and how it is mediated by families. The article discusses the tensions parents must navigate, including providing digital opportunities while protecting their children from online harms, the lack of choice parents have regarding the digital platforms mandated by education and care providers, and the unsettling realisation that most digital experiences mean the erosion of their families' privacy and the commodification of personal information. Given that parents are just one part of any data assemblage, their priorities must compete with an array of countervailing forces. The article explores how datafication is changing 'digital parenting' and how parents navigate these changes.
This article provides an in-depth exploration of the experiences of eight Muslim women who were divorced or sought to be divorced in Scotland. Scotland is distinct within the UK in facilitating the civil registration of marriage by a religious celebrant, but divorce may still require separate legal and religious procedures. We found that participants were disempowered when husbands utilised Islamic processes to end marriages, leaving women without financial support and to initiate legal proceedings. Scottish family law creates a new set of challenges, especially when children are involved and/or finances have to be agreed upon. Civil and Islamic processes were weaponised to control women's marital and financial status, a phenomenon that can be understood through a gendered lens and within the context of domestic abuse and coercive control. Further research is needed to understand how far the experiences here are representative within and outside the Muslim community in Scotland.
This article examines the child’s agency and opportunities for influence in young children’s fictional narratives of everyday child–parent conflicts. We explore identifiable story types, how children describe the child character’s agency and influence, and how boys’ and girls’ descriptions differ. The data (104 conflict stories) were gathered with 45 White Finnish children (aged three to six years) using the Story Magician’s Play Time method. Three main story types, two with one subtype, were identified: (1) complying and solidarity, (2) resisting, and (3) negotiating and apologising stories. The stories emphasised not only children’s devalued position within intergenerational relations but also their opportunities to blur or even reverse the traditional child–parent hierarchy. However, when deploying hostile resistance, the child expressed solidarity or apologised only in the girls’ stories. Children’s stories offer adults valuable insights into how children understand the child’s agency and influence in child–parent conflicts from a gendered perspective.
