Intergenerational relations

The demographic transition within societies has affected the shape of the family from horizontal to vertical. That is, the size of generations has become smaller but the number of living generations has increased. The European Commission (2005) has recently highlighted solidarity between generations as one of the crucial dimensions for Europe's development. A genuine European research tradition on intergenerational relations, however, is far from being established though several promising approaches do exist.

Studying intergenerational relations in Germany in a European and multidisciplinary perspective therefore represents one emphasis in research on population ageing. Our current research focuses on the exchange of material and immaterial resources between generations, as well as the regulation of intergenerational relations with its implications for solidarity, conflict, and ambivalence between generations.

Publications

Journal Articles

• Leopold, T., F. Geißler, & S. Pink (forthcoming): "How Far Do Children Move? Spatial Distances After Leaving the Parental Home", Social Science Research.
• Leopold, T. (forthcoming): "The Legacy of Leaving Home: Long-Term Effects of Coresidence on Parent-Child Relationships", Journal of Marriage and Family 74(3).
• Leopold, T., & T. Schneider (2011): " Family Events and the Timing of Intergenerational Transfers", Social Forces 90(2): 595-616.
• Leopold, T., & M. Raab (2011): " Short-Term Reciprocity in Late Parent-Child Relationships", Journal of Marriage and Family 73(1): 105-119.
• Leopold, T., & T. Schneider (2011): "Gifts, Bequests, and Social Inequality in West Germany", Schmollers Jahrbuch - Journal of Applied Social Science Studies 131.
• Leopold, T., & T. Schneider (2010): " Schenkungen und Erbschaften im Lebenslauf. Vergleichende Längsschnittanalysen zu intergenerationalen Transfers" (Intergenerational Transfers from a Life Course Perspective. A Longitudinal Comparison of Gifts and Bequests), Zeitschrift für Soziologie
  39(4): 258-280.

Chapters in Edited Volumes

• Leopold, T., & M. Raab (2011): "Kurzzeitreziprozität in späten Eltern-Kind-Beziehungen", in: Berger, P. A., K. Hank, and A. Toelke (eds.). Reproduktion von Ungleichheit in Arbeit und Familie. Wiesbaden: VS
• Leopold, T., & T. Schneider (2011): "Intergenerationale Vermögenstransfers und soziale Ungleichheit: Schenkungen und Erbschaften in Westdeutschland", in: Berger, P. A., K. Hank, and A. Toelke (eds.). Reproduktion von Ungleichheit in Arbeit und Familie. Wiesbaden: VS
• Leopold, T. (2009): "Erbschaften und Schenkungen im Lebenslauf. Eine vergleichende Längsschnittanalyse mit dem Sozio-oekonomischen Panel", in: Engelhardt, H. (ed.). Bamberger Beiträge zur Soziologie,  Band 02. University of Bamberg Press.
• Raab, M., C. Schmidt, & M. Ruland (2009): "Intergenerationale Austauschbeziehungen und ihre Determinanten. Ein europäischer Vergleich", in: Engelhardt, H. (ed.): Bamberger Beiträge zur Soziologie, Band 1. University of Bamberg Press.

Research Reports

• Schmidt, C., M. Raab, & M. Ruland: "Intergenerationale Austauschbeziehungen im internationalen Vergleich". pp. 143-166 in: Tanja Mühling and Harald Rost (eds.): ifb-Familienreport 2009 - Schwerpunkt Familie in Europa. Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Arbeit und Sozialordnung, Familie und Frauen.