ECONOMIC INEQUALITY AND FAMILY CHANGE

From left to right:  Karen Benjamin Guzzo, Jennifer Silva, Andrew Cherlin, Timothy Nelson, Susan Brown,
and Wendy Manning

Economic Inequality and Family Change

Thursday, April 21, 2016
8:30 am - 2:30 pm
201 Bowen-Thompson Student Union

Agenda

As the economy has changed over the past few decades, individuals and families have been hit hard by rising income inequality.   Three expert scholars present their research documenting how the sweeping economic changes have affected family behaviors, using both macro-level data and in-depth qualitative interviews to portray the obstacles today’s men and women face as they try to form and maintain a family.  Drawing from years of fieldwork, Dr. Timothy Nelson addresses how low-income fathers struggle to stay involved in their children’s lives despite tumultuous relationships with their children’s mothers and difficulties in securing stable employment. Dr. Jennifer Silva uses qualitative interview data to explore how working-class young adults cope with the challenges of forming stable relationships in an unstable economy.  Using macro-level data, the symposium ends with Dr. Andrew Cherlin, who documents the aggregate shifts in employment and inequality and links these shifts to family formation

Guest Speakers:

"Inequality, Employment, and Family Formation among Young Adults"
Andrew Cherlin, Ph.D.
Griswold Professor of Sociology and Public Policy
Department of Sociology
Johns Hopkins University

"The New Package Deal: Low-Income Fathers and Their Children"
Timothy Nelson, Ph.D.
Senior Lecturer, Department of Sociology
Senior Scientist, Bloomberg School of Public Health
Johns Hopkins University

"Working-Class Family Politics: Narratives of Suffering, Redemption, and Blame"
Jennifer Silva, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Sociology
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Bucknell University