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Muhammad Saeed
Refining Reading and Writing Skills
Jennifer E. McSpadden
June 24, 2015
The Accordion Family: Boomerang Kids, Anxious Parents, and the Private Toll of Global
Competition
Why adults in their twenties and thirties never leave their parents homes in the first place
or fail to launch independent lives? Acclaimed sociologist Katherine Newman in her article The
Accordion Family: Boomerang Kids, Anxious Parents, and the Private Toll of Global
Competition diagnosed the problem by conducting interviews in six developed countries. She
focuses on the case of United States in her article. She came to the conclusion that there is a
strong connection between economic conditions and failure to launch independent lives. This
essay addresses the economic conditions that are the direct result of globalization which in turn
reshapes family system in these countries.
Economic conditions play an important role in launching an independent life. According
to Newman, an increase of 50 percent has been seen since 1970s in the proportion of people age
thirty to thirty-four that live with their parents. Furthermore the recession of 2008-2009 resulted
in wide spread job loss in the open market which resulted in increase in the number of kids who
tried to have independent lives but failed as they couldnt support themselves. The same could be
observed in divorcee mothers. As a consequence they have to come back to their parents homes,
because those were the only places of financial security for them.
Globalization is the driving force behind the economic conditions of the countries which
affects both blue-collar was well as white-collar workers. There is an international competition

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through the world which results in the insecurity of the employees. The firms reduced the
number of the employees and those who have still got their jobs are paid very less which results
in the economic crisis for the blue collar workers. The white collar workers on the other hand
spend huge amount of money on their kids education and they expect them to secure good jobs
in the open market but there competition is now even greater in the market which results in
delaying departure of the kids. These kids become a stigma for the family. Although they living
with their parents in their late 20s and 30s still they have a great desire to have strong footings in
the globalized economy and have their own independent lives.
Globalization has diverse effects on family system in both blue-collar workers as well as
white-collar workers. In fact white-collar workers are more affected than the blue-collar works in
a sense that white-collar workers have high expectations of their kids. They want their kids to go
into the world and make way for themselves so that they could be proud of their achievements
but when their kids fail to launch successful lives. They feel stigmatized in the society as their
kids could not succeed and had to come back to their parents family. On the contrary, the kids of
the blue-collar families had to depart late or if they have fail they have to come back to their
parents homes. Their families are already mentally prepared for late departure and coming back
in case of failure.
The economic conditions are reshaping the family system in the developed countries. The
white-collar families who considered the late departure of their kids or their failure to launch
successful lives as stigma on the family are now accepting the reality and they are more tolerant
than ever because they understand the challenges that their kids face in the globalized economy.
But now the question is, what if the kids never leave? What would be the relationship of the
parents and the kids? What if the kids are married and they have a family of their own? In that

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case it would be a kind of joint family system then what would be the relationship of family
members with one another? Whether there would be a kind of drama observed which could be
seen in the joint family system in the third world countries or the situation would be different.
These are the questions that need to be probed.

1. Introduction, Summary of the article, thesis statement

2. Second portion our response
a. Economic conditions
b. Globalization
c. Recession of 2008 and its affects
d. Competitive job market
3. Conclusion directions to future thoughts, questions for future thoughts
4. 500 words deadline Monday