Helicopter Parenting and Boomerang Children

How Parents Support and Relate to Their Student and Co-Resident Graduate Children

Anne West, Jane Lewis

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781138681545
• eBook ISBN: 9781134799145
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Sociology
• Index: Social Sciences

Drawing an unfavourable contrast between the position of students and graduates with that of their baby boomer parents has become a staple for media comment. Indeed, student indebtedness and difficulties in finding graduate jobs and housing typically contrasts markedly with their parents' experiences.

Broadening the investigation, 'Helicopter Parenting' and 'Boomerang Children' depicts how students and graduates are now likely to be close to their parents, receive considerable financial and emotional support from them and, upon graduation, return home. Using qualitative data from two interview studies of middle-class families, this title explores the impact of these changes on young people's transition to independence and adulthood and on intergenerational and intragenerational equality.

This enlightening monograph will appeal to undergraduate and postgraduate students interested in fields such as Social Policy, Family Sociology and Education.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1 Parents and students: financial support and student independence
• 2 Students and parents: communication, emotional and practical support, and independence
• 3 Co-resident graduates and parents: relationships, jobs and future expectations
• 4 Parents and co-resident graduates: financial arrangements, responsibility and independence
• Concluding reflections
• Index