Research

My main areas of research are: citizenship; sociology of the family and intimate relations; sociology of gender; poverty; social policy; and research methods

I primarily engage in research on families and gender as institutions and/or social structures, as well as relational experiences, behaviours, and processes of everyday living. I am especially interested in researching how families and gender relations are connected to and/or shaped by the social policy and programs of the Canadian welfare state. In doing so, I examine systemic and everyday inequality. In theorizing individuals’ experiences of inequality, e.g. poverty, I consider both structural constraints on sociological formations as well as individual agentic attempts to create social order. Most of my research is empirical and multi-method.

Current Projects

Income Inequality in Mid-Life, Looking Toward the Later Years: A Canada/U.S. Longitudinal Comparison

As co-investigator on this SSHRC Standard Research Grant, I am exploring (with a team of senior and junior researchers) the relationships between income inequality and health among Americans and Canadians in mid-life as they anticipate their later life. Select research questions of interest include: To what extent do well-being risks exist both for those who will be in later life in the coming decades and those responsible for their supports? 3) Is a new intergenerational contract emerging? What are the policy implications of increasing income inequalities over the life courses of those now in mid-life as they age in the differing policy contexts of Canada and the U.S.? We incorporate into this research the challenges brought about by the recent economic recession with its implications for later life well-being.

Managing Poverty Intergenerationally in Diverse Families: Piecing Together a Network of Social Support

As Principal Investigator on this Standard Research Grant, I am exploring (with a team of senior and junior researchers) how families manage income insecurity through a wide network of support exchanges and how this may differ depending upon racial/ethnic identities and family structures. Central research questions include: How are diverse families piecing together social support networks consisting of state and community supports and intergenerational exchanges?

Are there differences in the amount, type, source, and quality of social support networks among diverse families and across generations?  Whether and how inter-generational are exchanges of instrumental and expressive support ameliorating or exacerbating income insecurity? The context for this research is the growing gap between the rich and poor, the increasing racialization of poverty, and the changing welfare state in Canadian society.