Relationships between Adolescents and Grandparents in Switzerland: Conjugal Separation and Lineage Effects

The growing instability of unions is leading to increased diversity in kin relationships and in ties between family members. Intergenerational relationships are affected by these transformations which may both strengthen or weaken the links between children, parents and grandparents. When parents separate, is one side of the family preferred over the other, or do the parents seek to maintain a balance in their children's relationships with the two family lineages? Alexandre PILLONEL, Cornelia HUMMEL and Ivan DE CARLO examine this question using data from a statistical survey of adolescents in Switzerland. They show that grandchild-grandparent relationships can take a wide variety of forms. The authors observe that the parents' separation does not necessarily disrupt the grandchildren's relationship with one or other side of the family, and that the matrilateral bias observed when parents are separated also exists when the family is intact. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]