The Accordion Family Boomerang Kids, Anxious Parents, and the Private Toll of Global Competition

Why are adults in their twenties and thirties boomeranging back to or never leaving their parents' homes in the world's wealthiest countries? Acclaimed sociologist Katherine Newman addresses this phenomenon in this timely and original book that uncovers fascinating links between globalization and the failure-to-launch trend. With over 300 interviews conducted in six countries, Newman concludes that nations with weak welfare states have the highest frequency of accordion families. She thoughtfully considers the positive and negative implications of these new relationships and suggests that as globalization reshapes the economic landscape it also continues to redefine our private lives.

Katherine S. Newman is the James Knapp Dean of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences and professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins University. The author of ten books on middle-class economic instability, urban poverty, and the sociology of inequality, Newman has taught at the University of California-Berkeley, Columbia, Harvard, and Princeton.

Introduction

Chapter 1) The Slippery State of Adulthood
Chapter 2  Why Are Accordion Families Spreading?
Chapter 3) In-House Adulthood
Chapter 4) I’m OK, You Are Not
Chapter 5) When the Nest Doesn’t Empty
Chapter 6) Trouble in Paradise
Chapter 7) The Birth Dearth and the “Immigrant Menace”

Conclusion: The Messy Politics of the Accordion Family
A Note on Methods and Acknowledgments
Notes
Index