Solidarity and ambivalence in parent-child relationships

Abstract

In this dissertation, new challenges for intergenerational family relationship research were formulated and empirically investigated. Major socio-demographic and socio-cultural developments have induced changes in Western family life. These were changes in the structure of families and changes in the nature of intergenerational family ties. Changes in family structure are the emergence and presumed decline of the nuclear family, increasing family heterogeneity, and the increasing significance of intergenerational bonds. Significant changes in the nature of intergenerational family ties are: the decreasing need for mutual dependency structures in the shift from obligatory to more chosen parent-child ties, the growing emphasis on emotions and relationship quality, accompanied by increasing complexities and the rising importance of negotiation within parent-child ties. Analyses were done with data from The Historical Sample of the Netherlands (HSN) and The Netherlands Kinship Panel Study (NKPS).