Resource Compensation from the Extended Family: Grandparents, Aunts, and Uncles in Finland and the United States

Abstract

<p>The majority of studies on social and educational mobility neglect the role of the extended family. We argue that this misses important ways in which extended family members may help compensate disadvantage in children’s immediate family. Moreover, existing studies on extended family members have focused on grandparents, with only a couple of studies considering aunts and uncles. We examine the role of both grandparents’ and aunts and uncles’ resources in Finland and the United States using longitudinal panel data (Finnish Census Panel and the Panel Study for Income Dynamics (PSID)). Our results suggest that aunts and uncles’ resources contribute more than those of grandparents. Moreover, we find evidence for extended family compensation in completing upper secondary education and the avoidance of low pay in both countries. The results suggest that compensation by aunts and uncles takes place for the avoidance of marginalization and is particularly likely when both parents and grandparents have low resources.</p>