Coordination Tasks and Negotiation Modes of Linked Lives in Entrepreneurial Families

The overlap of business and family roles, and how they are linked in entrepreneurial families, requires intergenerational negotiation. Biographical case reconstruction analysis of 32 narrative interviews of 12 German entrepreneurial families explores what coordination tasks need to be resolved and how family members negotiate their interlocking lives. The article finds that entrepreneurial families actively coordinate positions, life phases, and material transfers by means of a pedagogy of succession, life course evidence analysis, and entrepreneurial narratives. The article presents two innovations. First, it demonstrates how these families experience and cope with their linked lives under flexible working conditions and in multigenerational families. Second, it argues that research on linked lives should shift from focusing on outcomes to understanding emergence and operations, and it advances the use of the biographical case reconstruction method for this endeavor.     

Intergenerational Coresidence and Family Transitions in the United States, 1850 - 1880

This study uses a new source of linked census data (N = 6,734) to test theories proposed to explain the high intergenerational coresidence in 19th‐century America. Was it a system of support for dependent elderly, or did it reflect intergenerational interdependence? I focus on transitions from middle age to old age, and I assess key predictors of family transitions, including widowhood, retirement, disability, migration, and wealth. The results show that adverse events precipitated changes in the headship of intergenerational families but did not increase the likelihood of residing in an intergenerational family. The findings suggest that 19th‐century intergenerational coresidence was not principally a means of old‐age support; more often, probably, there was a reciprocal relationship between generations.     

Parental Housing Assistance and Parent‐Child Proximity in Italy

Many studies of intergenerational exchanges include parent‐child proximity as an exogenous explanatory variable. Proximity may itself be a consequence of intergenerational resource flows, however. We analyze patterns of economic transfers between generations and their relationship to parent‐child proximity in Italy. Parental support for a child's home purchase may influence the child's choice of location, whether to facilitate parent‐child contacts, grandchild care, or parent care. We examine the situation of married couples, focusing on housing help received and the association of that help with proximity to each spouse's parents. Using 1998 survey data and multinomial logistic regression models, we find that past housing assistance has a significant effect on current proximity to each spouse's parents, controlling for parents' survival, family composition, and other factors.     

Thinking intergenerationally: intergenerational solidarity,health and active aging in Hong Kong

This paper intends to provoke thoughts into intergenerational relations and future policies that can strengthen solidarity within families and community in order to face the challenges of aging population. It first provides an overview of intergenerational relations and the efforts to promote intergenerational programs in the specific context of contemporary Hong Kong. Through a sociological lens, it draws on a theoretical framework that explains how intergenerational relations are constructed. It also sets out the factors leading to cohesive or conflicting relations at the individual, family and community levels. The paper concludes by applying this framework to inform intergenerational programming, and to suggest ways to promote IP and to take intergenerational perspective into policy design towards a healthy and intergenerational cohesive community.     

Intergenerational Relations: The Views of Older Jews and Arabs

The aim of the current qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of older Jews and Arabs on intergenerational family relations. Interviews were conducted with 20 men and women, 10 in each group, ages 65 and older. Five themes emerged from the analysis of the interviews: family is the major component of meaning of life; two dimensions of intergenerational relations: solidarity and ambivalence; intergenerational communication; filial expectations; and home and family as sources of honor and respect. Similarities and differences between the two groups were identified and explained, using modernization theory and cultural context.     

Adjustment Strategies in the Family Business: Implications of Gender and Management Role

Four gender/role categories are compared to ascertain the influence that gender and management roles and related characteristics have on adjustment strategies selected during hectic times in the family or the family business. The five adjustment strategies involve reallocation of family or business tasks, intertwining tasks, using volunteer help and hiring outside help. Data are from the 1997 National Family Business Study (n = 673). Findings from multiple regression analysis indicate that, with the exception of intertwining tasks, there are not significant differences between men and women on adjustment strategies when controlling for family and business demands and human resources. Single-role managers are more likely to reallocate family resources to the business than are two-role managers, regardless of gender.     

Intergenerational Programs and Practices in China: Results Based on a Web Search Method

ABSTRACT

In the midst of an aging population trend and increased concerns about elder care, the Chinese government has developed policies that aim to strengthen family support systems and ensure older adult engagement in community life. One domain of related intervention that has received relatively little attention and systematic study in China is in the area of intergenerational programming. To gain a sense of the breadth and types of intergenerational programs emerging in China, the authors employed a web search method utilizing Google and Baidu search engines. Findings indicate a fair amount of program innovation and diversity as well as a need for additional programmatic and policy measures to strengthen and support intergenerational relationships in family and community contexts.     

Family Influences on Intermarriage Attitudes: A Sibling Analysis in the Netherlands

This study examined the influence of the family on native Dutch attitudes toward having ethnic minority members as kin through marriage using multiactor data from the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study (N = 1,652). Results from multilevel models showed that 28% of the variation in ethnic attitudes can be ascribed to the family. We investigated different pathways through which the family affects these attitudes; 60% of the family influence was explained. Results revealed that the intergenerational congruence of attitudes and the transmission of attitudes and structural and cultural positions are important mechanisms. Furthermore, family characteristics in adulthood—strength and warmth of family relationships—related to intermarriage attitudes, and the strength of family relationships moderated attitude congruence within families.     

Intergenerational solidarity between parents and adult children: a qualitative research among cohabiting and married children in Italy

The objective of this article is to compare the patterns of intergenerational solidarity between adult children who cohabit or are married and their own parents or their partner's parents through the analysis of 50 in-depth interviews. The research did not reveal any different behavioural patterns between cohabiting and married couples. Financial support provided by own parents or partner's parents and the presence of small children constituted positive factors which intensified the frequency of contacts and improved the quality of the relationship. In the event of illness of a parent, both the married and cohabiting couples provided assistance, especially when the illness was not disabling and there were no other kin relatives. When this was not possible, a private caregiver was hired or close family members provided assistance. Only those respondents who cohabited with a partner awaiting divorce were less willing to maintain contacts with their partner's parents. The presence of a family formed by previously married partners and the old age of the parents of the latter compromised the quality of the relationship and the willingness to provide assistance.     

Cultural Perspectives from Aotearoa/New Zealand

Abstract

Intergenerational programmes recognise the relationships between the young and old as mutually important to both age groups and to society in general. While intergenerational programmes are a fairly new venture in New Zealand, the early childhood curricu-lum-Te Whariki, the woven mat, is a document which is based on the relationships between people and their environment. It is an ecological model where the context of a child's life is a critical factor in determining well-being, a sense of belonging, communication, a desire to explore, and contribution to society. These are the living strands of Te Whariki which are woven together to provide a sense of place from which children can grow strong and confident. These strands also apply to older people as they move through life's changes. This paper will explore the ways in which Te Whariki is an intergenerational curriculum that can be applied to any context and any age.     

Factors Associated with Business and Family Success: A Comparison of Single Manager and Dual Manager Family Business Households

The purposes of this article are: (1) to identify internal/micro-level factors associated with perception of family and business success, and (2) to compare single manager and dual manager family business households with respect to factors that contribute to their perceptions of business and family success. The data are from a nationally representative sample of 673 family business households. Using a two-stage least squares regression procedure, the results show a unique relationship between family success and business success. Family success positively impacts business success, but not vice versa, and predictors of family and business success vary widely between household types.     

“Like My Grandparent,But Not”: A Qualitative Investigation of Skip‐Generation Stepgrandchild–Stepgrandparent Relationships

Families have become increasingly diverse and complex, which has made defining family membership more ambiguous. Issues surrounding family identity, belonging, and shared kinship are relevant in many types of complex families, but they are critically important for stepfamilies. In this study the authors examined stepgrandchild–stepgrandparent relationships; specifically, they explored how 27 stepgrandchildren (M age = 20.8) thought and felt about their relationships with 35 skip‐generation stepgrandparents (i.e., stepgrandparents who did not help raise stepgrandchildren's parents but who have been in the lives of stepgrandchildren from birth or early childhood). Most stepgrandchild–stepgrandparent relationships (n = 24/35) were described as emotionally close and supportive. Stepgrandchildren who perceived stepgrandparents as fulfilling traditional grandparent roles and whose parents modeled and facilitated warm, close relationships with stepgrandparents were most likely to perceive these intergenerational steprelationships as important. The findings have implications for kinship identification in diverse and complex families.     

Organizing for Intergenerational Learning and Knowledge Sharing

The increased age diversity in society challenges organizations to rethink the purpose and structuring of learning. This article proposes that an intergenerational learning (IL) approach can be useful for addressing the emergent needs, since IL implies a reciprocal process of learning and knowledge development. Taking an IL approach involves a shift from “succession of knowledge” to “co-creation of knowledge” in knowledge-sharing efforts. This shift becomes crucial as the digital generation enters the workforce. This paper presents insights from a case where students and entrepreneurs were engaged in an IL project to learn about business advantages and social media.     

Family Contingencies Across the Generations: Grandparent‐Grandchild Relationships in Holistic Perspective

Family relationships do not occur in isolation but rather are embedded within greater systems of family ties. In recognition of the need to study families holistically, we explore how relations between grandparents and grandchildren are contingent upon a matrix of intergenerational relationships. Using data from the Iowa Youth and Families Project, our analyses focus on person‐centered types of grandparent‐grandchild relationships and the legacy of social ties across the generations, as mediated by other family relationships. We find multiple dimensions of grandparents' involvement with their grandchildren to be associated with (a) whether the grandparents knew their own grandparents when they were young, (b) the grandparent's perceptions of contact and closeness with the target grandchild, and (c) nuances in the relationships of grandparents with the parent generation.     

Childhood Autism and Proactive Family Coping: Intergenerational Perspectives

This article considers the value of intergenerational and specifically, grandparental support, in the management of adaptive tasks posed by raising a young child with autism. The tasks addressed range from accessing early intervention to enhancing family social functioning. We note unique social, financial, and health-related stressors faced by families of children with autism. We outline an innovative, stress theory-based framework, the Autism Proactive Intergenerational Adaptation (APIA) Model, which delineates the role of grandparents in contributing to family adaptation to the stresses of raising a child with autism. We focus on proactive family coping strategies in building resilience and ameliorating the adverse impact of stressors on quality of life (QOL) for individual family members and for the family unit. We discuss barriers and facilitators of intergenerational alliances involving grandparental participation and support.     

Intergenerational Coresidence and Nearness in Korea and Japan: Unbalanced Aspects of Family Changes

Abstract  This study aims to explain similarity and difference in geographic proximity between elderly parents and their children in Korea and Japan. Using data sets from two nationally representative surveys conducted in Korea and Japan, this study examines the extent to which needs and kinship of elderly parents and regional constraints influence intergenerational coresidence and nearness.
Results highlight a complex feature of intergenerational relationship in Korea and Japan. Advanced economic and health conditions of Korean elderly parents increase the likelihood of living with children. For Japanese elderly parents, however, coresidence with children is significantly likely to occur in response to their disadvantaged economic status. These results suggest that the elderly Korean are more likely than the elderly Japanese to lack not only economic and health resources but also opportunities in obtaining family support in a time of need.
Characteristics of children, however, show a similar trend between the two societies. Both societies maintain a strong son preference for extended family living arrangement. Eldest children in both societies are more likely than their siblings to live with or near elderly parents. However, children of younger cohorts in both societies are significantly more likely than those of older cohorts to maintain a disperse geographic network indicating a significant change in family attitude among different cohorts.
Finally, this study finds a more disperse family network among rural elderly parents than urban elderly parents in both societies reflecting the fact that massive rural-to-urban migration of young population has contributed to geographic segregation of kinship in these societies.     

Family networks and solidarity: continuity and change

At the end of the 1960s it had become obvious that the family as an object of analysis could not be reduced to the nuclear family. During the following decades, the focus of analysis has shifted from the statistical concept of household, implicitly related to the nuclear family to ties between households and intergenerational relationships. At present, it appears that the individual would shape her entourage of parents and significant others by combining affinities, space, distance, and proximity. This opens a new way of looking at the family with new tools for observation and new definitions. This themed section includes six articles based on surveys on the family networks conducted by researchers from different European countries and Quebec, where some fundamental questions related to this new approach are discussed. It appears that family networks play an important role in supporting social change and that they reveal the crucial role played by women hidden in the household and nuclear family paradigm. Finally, the question of continuity of the generational chain is analyzed in the change-oriented baby-boom generation.     

Employee work-to-family role boundary management in the family business

Family-owned organizations present a unique opportunity to study work-to-family boundary management. Boundary theory suggests that work-to-family boundary dynamics may be different in family businesses, and that family businesses are not a neutral ground for individual employees’ segmentation preferences. The present study draws on the sociocognitive processes underlying boundary theory to explain how the family business context may affect family and nonfamily employees’ work-to-family role management differently. The study examines the work-to-family role boundary configurations of 149 family and non-family employees in family businesses. Results suggest that family employee status buffers against undesirable effects of segmentation preferences in the family business context. For family employees, segmentation preferences were associated with lower work-to-family conflict and unassociated with turnover intentions. For non-family employees, segmentation preferences were associated with higher work-to-family conflict and turnover intentions. Implications for work–family theory and family business successorship and work–family policy are discussed.     

Life Course Stage in Young Adulthood and Intergenerational Congruence in Family Attitudes

We investigated how intergenerational congruence in family‐related attitudes depends on life course stage in young adulthood. Recent data from the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study were used; the present sample included 2,041 dyads of young adults and their parents. Findings are discussed in terms of the elasticity in intergenerational attitude congruence in response to young adults' life course transitions. Our results suggest that intergenerational congruence in attitudes about partnership (e.g., marriage, cohabitation, divorce, women's and men's family roles) decreases after young adults have left the parental home and increases when young adults enter parenthood. Congruence concerning intergenerational obligations was not related to young adults' life course stage.