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Research

I study the mundane everyday aspects of classed family inequality from a feminist perspective, using both qualitative and quantitative methods. My research on this topic can be organized into three related areas described below.

Childhood Family Responsibilities

This work builds on feminist research about the gender division of household labor by exploring the responsibilities children and adolescents hold to themselves and their families, how those responsibilities vary by financial struggle and social class, what those responsibilities mean for family life and later in the lifecourse, and how those responsibilities conflict with institutions and norms in the U.S. For this work, I draw from two main projects. First, I use 78 interviews with white mothers and adult daughters who identify as experiencing major financial struggles while the daughter was growing up, or never experiencing major financial struggles during that time. The second project uses both in-depth interviews and a state-wide survey of teachers to investigate teacher and staff perceptions of high school students' responsibilities and how these institutional actors adjust or accommodate around student responsibilities. Two manuscripts from these projects are currently in preparation, one is under review, and two more in the publication process are listed below:
  • Grant, Annaliese. 2022. “’Normal’ Childhood in the Lives of Financially Struggling White Daughters and Mothers.” Journal of Marriage and Family, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12872
  • Grant, Annaliese, Eric Grodsky, Maria Velazquez, Rosie Miesner, Elizabeth Blair, and Lyn Macgregor. 2022. “Individual Adjustments for Many and Structural Change for Some: Teacher and School Responses to Classed Out-of-School Responsibilities.” Children & Society, 1-18. doi.org/10.1111/chso.12617

Family Media Use and Social Class

Over the last two decades, low-income children, teens, and adults have all spent more time on average using media than middle- and high-income counterparts. While previous research frequently poses this as contributing to larger family inequality (widening class gaps and disadvantaging the low-income youth who use media most), modern research on the impacts of media use and screen time in the U.S. now acknowledges both the positive and negative impacts of media use. My dissertation research (and upcoming projects) investigates the positive and cultural components of media use in low- and middle-income families, the public discourse on media time and how family members navigate it, and the role of media time as a form of class habitus. Throughout this work, I also bring a particular attention to the gendered nature of family media use dynamics. One manuscript from this work is in preparation (and available upon request), and previous published work on these topics is below: 

Family Relationships and Childhood Wellbeing

Using nationally-representative survey data, this line of research investigates the role of parent-child relationships throughout the lifecourse, and how that relationship links to child and youth wellbeing. More recent research in preparation focuses on the importance of dyadic parent-child closeness on children's behavioral wellbeing. Published work in this area is below:
  • Zhang, Xing and Annaliese Grant. 2022. “Parent-Child Relationships and Mental Health in the Transition to Adulthood by Race and Ethnicity” Currents: Journal of Diversity Scholarship for Social Change 2(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.3998/ncidcurrents.1937