The Accordion Family: Boomerang Kids, Anxious Parents, and the Private Toll of Global Competition

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Why are adults in their twenties and thirties boomeranging back to or never leaving their parents' homes in the world's wealthiest countries Acclaimed sociologist Katherine Newman addresses this phenomenon in this timely and original book that uncovers fascinating links between globalization and the failure-to-launch trend. With over 300 interviews conducted in six countries, Newman concludes that nations with weak welfare states have the highest frequency of accordion families. She thoughtfully considers the positive and negative implications of these new relationships and suggests that as globalization reshapes the economic landscape it also continues to redefine our private lives.

Reviews

Klinenberg and Newman flesh out their subjects with expertise and devotion, but neither forgets that accordion family and going solo are always less definitive terms than rich and poor.New York Times Book Review

Brilliant and important. Robert B. Reich, author ofAftershock: The Next Economy and Americas Future

Newman reveals that while the causes of children moving back home are somewhat universal different cultures have very disparate ways of redressing the issue.starred notice in Library Journal feature

"Combining personal interviews with careful analysis of economic trends, and paying close attention to differences in cultural values and political structures, Newman sheds new light on the complex trade-offs that recent changes in intergenerational relationships and residence patterns involve for young adults, their parents, and society as a whole."Stephanie Coontz, author of The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap

"In this wide-ranging book, Katherine Newman shows that the ages at which young adults leave their parents' homes are rising in developed countries around the world. She brilliantly demonstrates that the global forces behind this change are everywhere the same but that each nation interprets it in its own cultural way. Newman's insightful presentation of the stories of accordion families challenges us to re-think what it means to be an adult today."Andrew Cherlin, author of The Marriage-Go-Round: The State of Marriage and the Family in America Today

Author Bio

Katherine S. Newmanis the James Knapp Dean of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences and professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins University. The author of ten books on middle-class economic instability, urban poverty, and the sociology of inequality, Newman has taught at the University of California-Berkeley, Columbia, Harvard, and Princeton.