Affording the Luxury of Negotiation: Primary Caregivers’ Rules for Adolescents

Asta Breinholt , University of Michigan
Paula Fomby, University of Michigan

This study analyzes which patterns of rule setting exist among primary caregivers of adolescents, and whether these patterns are associated with family income. Using data from the PSID-CDS 2014, we perform a latent class analysis to identify patterns of rule setting and apply multinomial logistic regression to analyze their relationship with family income. We find four patterns of rule setting: (1) general and monitored rules, (2) clear and enforced rules, (3) having rules, but letting the adolescent makes her or his own choices, and (4) no rules with the respect to the use of electronic devices, but mixed in other areas. Primary caregivers in the top family income quintile are strikingly less likely to have clear and enforced rules compared to primary caregivers in any other family income quintile. This preliminary result speaks to previous theory and empirical studies suggesting that parent-adolescent negotiation is a luxury afforded by the best-off.

See extended abstract

 Presented in Session 70. Parenting