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 under review, one is forthcoming as a book chapter, and two more are published:
- Grant, Annaliese. 2023. “’Normal’ Childhood in the Lives of Financially Struggling White Daughters and Mothers.” Journal of Marriage and Family 85(1):116-133. 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 37(2):598-615. doi.org/10.1111/chso.12617
- Grant, Annaliese and Rachel Litchman, (forthcoming) "Caring Through It: Mothers' and Daughters' Perspectives on Disability and Interdependence in Financially Struggling White Families." in Disability and the Family: Challenges, Coping, Resources, and Resilience, edited by P.N. Claster and S. L. Blair. Leeds, UK: Emerald Publishing
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. This line of 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. Published work on these topics is below:
- Grant, Annaliese. 2024. "The Role of Socioeconomic Status in U.S. Children’s Co-Viewing Television and Family Member Relationship Quality Over Time," Journal of Children and Media. https://doi.org/10.1080/17482798.2024.2355166
- Grant, Annaliese. 2024. "The Classed Trajectory of Media Habitus: Television Time and Socioeconomic Status from Adolescence to Adulthood," Poetics 102(2024). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.poetic.2023.101860
- Grant, Annaliese. 2018. “Monster TV: Transformations of Horror for Teen Girls”, Trans-scripts 7. https://sites.uci.edu/transscripts/home/current-issue/
Family Relationships and Childhood Wellbeing
Using nationally-representative survey data, this line of research investigates the role of parent-child relationships throughout the life course, 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
Television and Audio-Visual Audiences
I am involved in a number of collaborative projects investigating how audiences are approaching the changing landscape of television and audio-visual content. Much of this work relies on novel surveys fielded online.
Public reports based on this research can be found here:
Public reports based on this research can be found here:
- Johnson, Catherine, Cornel Sandvoss, and Annaliese Grant. (2022). The Impact of Video-On-Demand on TV Viewing in the UK: Routes to Content After COVID-19 – Interim Report. Screen Industries Growth Network (SIGN). https://screen-network.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Routes-to-content-june-22.pdf
- Johnson, Catherine, Cornel Sandvoss, and Annaliese Grant. (2023). Ways of Watching: Categorising Television Viewers in an Age of Streaming. Screen Industries Growth Network (SIGN). https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/downloads/download/318/ways-of-watching-report-final
| Heartstopper Study |
| Streaming TV Study |