Socioeconomic reach and heterogeneity in the extended family: Contours and consequences

The extended family is a potential source of contacts and resources with implications for inequality and the formation of status groups. In this paper, we analyze the social and economic characteristics of extended families in the General Social Survey and the newly available Study of American Families, focusing on the diversity and reach of the kin network. We find that there is a strong status gradient: those with the highest education and occupational earnings tend to have the most diverse and far-reaching family networks. Network diversity and reach are found to improve financial security, even after controlling for individual characteristics. Our findings have implications for the capacity of the extended family to compensate for cutbacks in public transfer programs like social security and welfare. Those who are most vulnerable in terms of their individual characteristics tend to have families that are in a relatively poor position to provide support. (C) 2000 Academic Press.