Family Capital and the Invisible
Transfer of Privilege: Intergenerational
Support and Social Class in Early
Adulthood
Teresa Toguchi Swartz
Abstract
Sociologists have long recognized the relationships between family background
and social class attainment. However, by neglecting the multiple ways in which
families and parents provide advantages and the extent to which these advan-
tages extend into adulthood, they may still be underestimating the role of fam-
ilies in the reproduction of class inequalities. This chapter explores these impacts
under the conceptual rubric of family capital. A new battery of interviews with
a diverse collection of young adults is used to illustrate these points and offer
suggestions for future research and analysis. © Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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NEW DIRECTIONS FOR CHILD AND ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT, no. 119, Spring 2008 © Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com) • DOI: 10.1002/cd.206
This research was supported by the Research Network on Transitions to Adulthood
funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (grant 00–00–65719-
HCD).
Swartz, T. T. (2008). Family capital and the invisible transfer of privilege: Intergenerational
support and social class in early adulthood. In J. T. Mortimer (Ed.), Social class and tran-
sitions to adulthood. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 119, 11–24.