Comprehensive Research on Intergenerational Support and Cumulative Inequality

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K20175
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: 0108:Sociology and related fields
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Matano Misaki 東京大学, 社会科学研究所, 特任助教 (00908345)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-08-30 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 社会的不平等 / 格差 / 親子関係 / 世代間支援

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study examined how intergenerational support in three generations shapes social inequality in the child's life course through a quantitative analysis of large longitudinal data. The results revealed the following two points. First, there are inequalities in the opportunities to experience life events such as marriage and childbirth depending on the parent-child relationship: whether or not a child receives support from his/her parents, and whether or not he/she provides support to his/her parents. Second, parents tend to invest more in their children's education when they have financial support from grandparents, and this tendency is more pronounced among parents with higher socioeconomic status. In other words, grandparental support may contribute to inequality in children's educational opportunities.

Free Research Field

社会階層論

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究では、人々のライフコースにおける社会的不平等・格差がいかに形成されるかを親子関係という経路に着目して実証的に検討した。これまで家族社会学の領域で展開されてきた親子関係研究と社会階層研究を架橋して新たな知見を得たことで、両分野のさらなる発展に寄与することができた。また本研究は、不平等がどのような側面でどの程度生じているかということにとどまらず、なぜそのような不平等が生じるのかというメカニズムの解明に踏み込んでいる。この点から日本社会における不平等の是正のための策を講じる一助となることが期待される。