Demographic Changes and Parent–Child Relationships

Abstract

This tutorial describes demographic changes and their implications for parenting and parent–child relationships. First, we discuss 2 major sociodemographic changes—declining fertility and increasing longevity—from the point of view of social demography. Second, we elaborate on implications of demographic changes for parenting and intergenerational relationships from sociological and psychological perspectives. This discussion of parenting and parent–child relationships addresses changes from a life-span perspective, taking into account contextual factors. Finally, we present examples of empirical investigations of relations among sociodemographic changes, parenting, and parent–child relationships.