What are the parenting practices of multiracial people in Britain?

ABSTRACT

Since ‘mixed’ was first offered as an option in the ethnicity question in the 2001 England and Wales Census, Britain's recognition of, and interest in, mixed (or ‘multiracial’) people and families has not abated. Recent studies have focused primarily upon how mixed people identify themselves, or how parents racially identify their multiracial children. But Britain now has a population of multiracial individuals who are themselves parents, about whom we know very little. What are the particular concerns for multiracial individuals who are parents? Do multiracial people (who are parents) want to steer their children toward a particular kind of upbringing, and if so, toward what (and why)? This paper is an in-depth exploration of the various ways in which different types of multiracial people in Britain raise their children. Our main finding is that a significant majority of multiracial parents engage in parenting practices that emphasize a cosmopolitan ethos.

KEYWORDS:

• Multiracial
• parenting practices
• children
• parents
• upbringing
• cosmopolitan

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Leverhulme Trust [RPG 2012–443].