Still Launching? Moral Understandings of Financial (In)Dependence in Young Adulthood

For decades, parents and pundits have decried young adults’ “failure to launch.” Others point out that while many young adults aspire to traditional markers of adulthood, structural conditions, such as high housing costs and student loan debt, act as barriers to achieving those milestones. Missing from this conversation is how parents and children negotiate financial relationships and the moral meanings of financial dependance and independence. Doctoral student in sociology Elena van Stee will examine how college graduates and their parents understand and negotiate financial dependence and independence. She will conduct interviews for her study.