Manufacturing hope and despair: the school and kin support networks of U.S-Mexican youth

ABSTRACTAnalysis of the kin support networks of rural elderly, resident in Staffordshire and Hampshire, indicated that the most important factor affecting both the patterns and relationships of the kin network is the residential mobility of the nuclear family and its members. The study revealed the importance of recognising three broad groupings of elderly: the indigenous aged, who typically possess an extended local kin network; the retired inmigrants who had relocated their households to be near kin; and the retired inmigrants without nearby kin. When these groupings are introduced the importance of the dichotomy between local/non-local kin and between former kin-separation/non-kin-separation becomes apparent. These dichotomies hold important implications for the family relationships of the rural elderly, for their use of the kin network and of the formal support system, and for their interaction with the wider community.

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African American Elders: The Support Network of Generational Kin

Families in Society The Journal of Contemporary Social Services ◽

10.1177/104438949407500203 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 75 (2) ◽

pp. 82-89 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Irene Luckey

Keyword(s):

African American ◽

Low Income ◽

Service System ◽

The Elderly ◽

Support Networks ◽

Support Network ◽

Functional Roles ◽

Formal Service ◽

Care And Support ◽

Kin Support

The informal support networks of African American elders have an important impact on the effectiveness of social service interventions. The author identifies and discusses critical functions performed by second-and third-generation adult kin (niece, nephew, and grandchild) in the care and support of low-income African American elderly. Complementary functional roles and tasks performed by grandchildren, nieces, or nephews assist the elderly as well as the primary caregiver in interacting with the formal service system. Practitioners need to be knowledgeable about and sensitive to the complexities of kin support networks of African American elderly.

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Kin Ties and Market Integration in a Yucatec Mayan Village

Social Sciences ◽

10.3390/socsci10060216 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. 216

Author(s):

Joseph V. Hackman ◽

Karen L. Kramer

Keyword(s):

Market Integration ◽

Census Data ◽

Family Formation ◽

Support Networks ◽

Net Income ◽

Yucatec Maya ◽

Income Disparities ◽

Economic Production ◽

Kin Support ◽

The Face

The importance of kin relationships varies with socioecological demands. Among subsistence agriculturalists, people commonly manage fluctuations in food availability by relying on family members to share resources and pool labor. However, the process of market integration may disrupt these support networks, which may begin to carry costs or liabilities in novel market environments. The current study aims to address (1) how kin are distributed in household support networks (2) how kin support varies as households become more engaged in market activities, and (3) how variation in kin support is associated with income disparities within a Yucatec Maya community undergoing rapid market integration. Using long-term census data combined with social networks and detailed household economic data, we find that household support networks are primarily composed of related households. Second, households engaged predominantly in wage labor rely less on kin support than agricultural or mixed economy households. Finally, kin support is associated with lower household net income and income per capita. Understanding how kin support systems shift over the course of market integration and in the face of new opportunities for social and economic production provides a unique window into the social and economic drivers of human family formation.

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