Privileged dependence, precarious autonomy: Parent/young adult relationships through the lens of COVID-19
Journal of Marriage and Family
; 85(1):215-232, 2023.
Article
in English
| ProQuest Central | ID: covidwho-2236570
ABSTRACT
Objective:
This article identifies how social class differences in undergraduates' relationships with their parents shaped their responses to educational disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.Background:
The mechanisms through which parents transmit class advantages to children are often hidden from view and therefore remain imperfectly understood. This study uses the case of the COVID-19 pandemic to examine how young adults from different social class backgrounds expect, negotiate, and attach meaning to parental support.Methods:
This study draws from in-depth interviews with 48 Black and White upper-middle and working-class undergraduates from a single elite university, along with 10 of their mothers.Results:
Facing pandemic-related disruptions, upper-middle-class students typically sought substantial direction and material assistance from parents. In contrast, working-class students typically assumed more responsibility for their own-and sometimes other family members'-well-being. These classed patterns of "privileged dependence" and "precarious autonomy" were shaped by students' understandings of family members' authority, needs, and responsibilities.Conclusion:
Upper-middle-class students' greater dependence on parents functioned as a protective force, enabling them to benefit from parents' material and academic support during the transition to remote instruction. These short-term protections may yield long-term payoffs denied their working-class peers. Beyond the immediate context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the concepts of "privileged dependence" and "precarious autonomy" offer scholars a set of theoretical tools for understanding class inequality in other young adult contexts.
Children And Youth - About; Parents & parenting; Families & family life; Working class; Teaching; Students; Relatives; Social classes; Autonomy; Undergraduate students; Family support; Inequality; Social privilege; COVID-19; Black white differences; Young adults; Black white relations; Well being; Working parents; Class differences; Single mothers; Middle class; College students; Pandemics; Insecure; Peers; Mothers
Full text:
Available
Collection:
Databases of international organizations
Database:
ProQuest Central
Type of study:
Qualitative research
Language:
English
Journal:
Journal of Marriage and Family
Year:
2023
Document Type:
Article
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS