Making Lithuanian Families Across Borders

This edited collection opens the door to understanding the representations and experiences of Lithuanian migrant families. The authors aim to highlight the most recent theoretical frames through which to understand the personal lives, family practices of migrants, and the ways family relationships could be perceived as ‘troubled’. The authors test and extend these ideas about family life with a focus on gender and intergenerational issues in the context of Lithuanian families across borders.

Fixing the housing crisis

This article looks at the intergenerational issues associated with housing in New Zealand. Election year is again upon us (Covid-19 permitting) and, with the problems surrounding KiwiBuild, housing affordability is under the spotlight. It is no secret that New Zealand has a housing affordability problem and many causes are feeding this. Two of these causes – capital taxation inconsistencies and infrastructure issues – will be the focus of this article. Inconsistencies in the taxation of capital income are a major source of the problem, causing intergenerational transfers from younger to older generations. A land tax is a possible solution. Complementary policies targeted at addressing infrastructure bottlenecks also have an important role to play.

Grandparents’ Perspectives on Parent-Adult Child Relationships During the Transition to Grandparenthood

Objective: The aim of this study on the transition to grandparenthood is to capture grandparents’ perspectives on their relationship and communication with their adult children when their adult children was expecting their first child or became new parents within the past year. More specifically, the study aimed to uncover 1) Intergenerational issues identified by grandparents during the transition to grandparenthood and 2) Factors influencing grandparents’ communication and relationships with their adult children during this time of family transition. Method: Participants were 19 grandparents in the U.S., 15 grandmothers and 4 grandfathers who were about to welcome the first child of one of their children (N = 8), who had welcomed the first child of one of their children in the past year (N = 10), or who had both a child who was expecting and a child who had welcomed their first child within the past year (N = 1). Qualitative data analysis was conducted on transcripts from the grandparent interviews utilizing the constant comparative technique and thematic analysis to identify categories and emergent themes. Results: Grandparent participants shared their perspectives on the intergenerational transmission of parenting practices, reflected on changes in parental roles over time, and identified communication facilitator and barriers during this time of transition. These categories and emergent themes are explicated in the results section along with supporting excerpts from grandparent interviews. Conclusion: The transition to grandparenthood impacts communication and relationships between grandparents and their adult children by shaping the content, frequency, and medium of communication. Understanding grandparents’ perspectives on this time of transition adds to existing research on families focused mainly on the adult child’s perspective.

Life in a continuous traumatic situation: perspective of the older population

ABSTRACTThe literature is divided with regard to how older persons cope with traumatic situations of war and terror, and few studies have focused on continuous exposure to traumatic situations. To fill the gap in existing knowledge, the present study examined how older people cope with a continuous security threat which includes periods of intensive attacks. Three focus groups were conducted among older residents of rural localities situated near the Israeli border with Gaza. Content analysis of transcripts from the group sessions revealed four main aspects that concern the older participants when they cope with situations of war: (a) moral issues; (b) emotional issues; (c) intergenerational issues; and (d) resilience and future challenge. The analysis revealed that the older participants’ coping patterns derive from a combination of their stage of life, the changing lifestyle in their communal rural localities, and the ways that the older residents and younger residents of the communities cope with exposure to a continuous security threat. The theoretical framework for discussion of the findings is based on social theories of trauma and resilience. In addition, recommendations are provided for interventions at the individual and community levels.