Now the Economy is Down, But It Will be Up Again

The current economic recession is the worst downturn since the Great Depression. For millions of Americans the downward spiral - comprising bankruptcies, stock market crashes and a massive decline of economic activity - implies an enlarged risk of being unemployed. But how do American families cope with the challenge of an occupational future that has become even more uncertain than it was before? Do parents (and grandparents) show a growing anxiety when looking at their own and their children's professional career? Or is there a common intergenerational view on the economic downturn helping to preserve an optimistic outlook on the family's occupational prospect?

These questions not only take center stage in the following text, they also play a crucial role in a study on contents and functions of family history narratives originally conceptualized to investigate the effects of the general structural socio-economic change becoming apparent since the 1970s. In spring 2008, a cross-national study (including the United States, Luxemburg and Germany) was launched to analyze how members of three-generation families develop, negotiate and convey personal occupational experiences and career aspirations against the background of substantial changes in the job market and in social regulations caused by the decline of industrial society and its successive substitution by a globalized informational society.

The original project approach gained further relevance as the interview phase started in summer 2008, when most indicators suggest that the subprime mortgage crisis had turned into a major downturn. In other words, the project has become a live recording of a recession whose current status includes data of interviews with ten middle-class American families. Even though the sample size is yet too small to draw any representative conclusions, and this text thus should be considered as a report on work in progress, our first results provide an insight into the various ways American families address and integrate the economic downturn in stories they tell about their own lives as well as their nearest relatives' job-related perspectives.

In line with the approach of social scientist and expert on memory studies Harald Welzer1, the process of bringing to mind past experiences within families should be perceived as an important social practice. This "conversational remembering"2 does not take place on a regular basis, as most families do not follow a strict schedule when talking about past experiences. Instead, the issue of the past is raised in form of narratives on the occasion of current or upcoming events that are considered relevant. Family narratives - according to Dan McAdams3, conceived as stories being told by family members about their family facing other relatives - "are not simple reproductions of personal life experiences, but rather are reconstructions of the past, through the use of interpretive 'plots' that are adapted from the repertoire of stories available and learned from the culture"4. As this reconstruction of the past apparently results from present and future needs, being themselves influenced by individual development and social change, family narratives are often fragmental, even inconsistent or, to quote family narratives specialist Bradd Shore, "heteroglossic"5. Thus, family memory permanently shifts.

It is obvious that collecting family narratives by means of interviews establishes a unique situation which contradicts the common conversational setting of a family since contents and "results" of this communicative act are jointly produced by its protagonists - the interviewer and the interviewee(s). According to this "intersubjective creation of data"6, the analysis and illustration of interview sections should also include questions and remarks by the interviewer. At the same time, the postulate of neutrality, which is still a frequent, but unrealistic demand vis-à-vis the interviewer in the field of empirical social research, can be rejected - not least because neutrality in social interaction is a self-contradiction.7

The empirical part of our qualitative study consists of interviews with three-generation families. Whereas this text bases on conversations with ten families, the project seeks to collect a total of 26 families most of them belonging to the middle class (middle class defined by means of income and self-definition, indicator generation being the middle generation). The selection criterion is by birth cohort of the youngest generation, which is between the age of 18 and 25 years and should be in an educational context. Choosing this particular age group aims at capturing developing and transitioning views and perspectives on work and life. The middle generation is usually part of the active work force, whereas the eldest generation is usually a retired grandparent. The members of the three generations are first interviewed individually on the occupational biography of their ancestors respectively descendants and on their own work biography. Later they are asked to draw a comparison between the generations concerning different or similar career decisions. After the individual conversations, all generations participate in a group conversation with the interviewer, where they are asked to discuss the validity of the statement "Our children will have a better life than us".

Most interviewees talk about the downturn and its potential individual and familial consequences only when directly being asked about the effects of the current crisis on their occupational career and their future economic situation. The tendency to conceal the question of the recession is especially observable in the early stage of the interview phase from June to November 2008, although the series of bad news about the precarious state of the US economy starting in summer 2007 has already culminated in several insolvencies and bankruptcies in summer 2008. In other words, the economic recession seems to have found its way into familial communication with delay.

This assumption is supported by various statements of members of different generations. 54-year-old Cookie Helmer, a retired administrative assistant from Merritt Island, Florida, explains that she does not fear the future. Her certitude derives from the belief that the current downturn represents only a single event in a continuous historical development:

Interviewer: "So you have a positive outlook on the future even though/"

Cookie Helmer *1954 (mother): "/Even though there are negative times. But there are ups and downs in life. It's a life experience. There are ups and downs. Right now the economy is down, but it will be up again."

Originated from the understanding that change is an integral part of life, this perception diminishes the specific threat of the current economic situation on everyday life in the near future.

A bright outlook on the future can also be achieved through an optimistic downward mobility. Jennifer Gierer, a 25-year-old Las Vegas native and descendant of a family of entrepreneurs who is looking forward to go to nursing school, is one example for this willingness to adapt to changing economic conditions without loosing her positive attitude and outlook. She even insists that she does not want to worry about the effects of the current development when the interviewer questions her point of view:  

Interviewer: "So would you say - this is a very general question - do you have a positive outlook on the future or would you say that you are afraid of the future?"

Jennifer Gierer *1982 (granddaughter): "No, I have a positive outlook on the future."

Interviewer: "How do you draw that positive energy? Or from where do you take that confidence? I mean in times of difficult financial times or whatever."

Jennifer Gierer *1982 (granddaughter): "I have just always been like a cat, I always land on my feet [laughs]. So, it gets rough, it gets hard, but you try and adjust to it. I mean if I have to make adjustments in my life, I have to do it, I'd rather be happy than be dwelling on negative and bad things."

A further reason for positive expectations is the faith in the value of good education. 19-year-old college student Jessica Short from Atlanta, Georgia, seems to be convinced that accessing a graduate school and obtaining a doctoral degree serves as a job guarantee. The economic crisis of today does not concern her too much, which might be due to the fact that her mother and grandmother successfully work and have worked in university settings and have pursued their careers in academia:

Jessica Short *1989 (granddaughter): "But I think I expect to do generally well in life. I want to be comfortable, and I do have a general expectation of what my life should be like and it doesn't involve lots of economic hardship. I kind of expect that if I go to grad school, I will find a job. Ah, and I think that, well I hope that I have enough options laid out so that finding a job is not the hardest thing I have to do, just one of the steps."

In contrast, her mother Lisa Short, a university professor, is not that optimistic with regards to her daughter's prospective earnings. Lisa Short is one of the few interviewees who do not link the issue of salary and income to her nearest relative's efforts, but to general economic conditions.

Lisa Short *1952 (mother): "(...) I am guessing Jessica's standard of living will be kind of equal to ours but in many ways also enriched because of all the travels and experiences she has had. In terms of money, a lot of that is going to depend on economic forces [pause] beyond her control."

As these quotations only illustrate how members of different generations estimate their own and their family's prospect, a major part of the research project is still neglected: the importance of intergenerational communication in construing a shared view on the individual and collective economic and occupational future.

When commenting or referring to the current economic situation within family talk, comparisons and/or analogies are often made to the Great Depression, or other tough times in the family's history. This interview excerpt from the Gerber Family from Orlando, Florida, refers to their past experiences to create a positive future outlook, a stance that is traceable in most family interviews:

Interviewer: "I got the feeling you were saying nowadays it is almost hard to keep the status quo you parents and grandparent built up, home education, those things. Now the economy is down..."

James Gerber Sr. *1929 (grandfather): "It will go back up." (...)

Nancy Gerber *1932 (grandmother): "We have lived through the ups and downs through the last fifty years and it comes back."

James Gerber Jr. *1957 (father): "I think every generation had had their boogie man. (...). Now it's global warming and depression. Every generation has their challenges. (...)"

Their life experience and knowledge - grandfather Gerber is a retired engineer, his wife had been a homemaker and his son James Gerber Jr, is an education specialist with NASA - serves as marker to predict a positive future and identifies the current situation as a phase, and a trend ("boogie man"), thus enhancing and providing a more positive future outlook for their youngest generation.

In terms of generativity and passing on knowledge among the generations, some interviews showed specific narratives and stories based on redemption, meaning that obviously disappointing or tragic biographical events and breaks in success are reinterpreted as positive chances and learning experiences for preceding generations. Psychologist Dan McAdams describes this as a specifically American trait of retrospective sense-making, calling this phenomenon a 'redemption narrative'.8Here one example from a schoolteacher from Florida and mother of two teenagers, who explains that she owes everything to her academic education which made her financially independent after her first husband had left the family:

Joyce Black *1965 (mother): "I try to take what I've learned and pay attention to, to try to teach my children and hopefully through my experience - hopefully they will have a better life, and learn from my experiences."

Along the lines of passing on life experiences, some families directly refer their parents and their experiences from the Great Depression to today's economic development within the family communication. In terms of generativity, they are trying to establish references to their historic past and pass their learning experiences on to proceeding generations. This example from 71-year-old Sheila Short, a retired teacher from Atlanta, Georgia, shows that generational bridges of understanding are created through shared experiences, exempting her granddaughter, who hasn't lived through 'harder times' yet:

Sheila Short *1937 (grandmother): "I think for me, this national economic downturn is a throwback to my parents, who lived through the depression. And all the aunts and uncles did too, so there was a great sense of this. I think Carl and I both have this feeling that we are not too far removed from that great depression, and what that did to people's lives, or at least how they lived their lives during it. I think Lisa [Author's Note: her daughter] felt, because we were that way, she has in her life felt at times that there were financial constraints on her, and I don't think Jessica [Author's Note: her granddaughter] has felt that so much on her. (...)"

Especially the eldest generation seems worried about their grandchildren, since they have not grown up to deal with and be prepared for economic hardship, rather they have been sheltered from it, but now face the direct consequences and realities of a new economic crisis in the United States. In contrast to this, it is striking that, even though especially the parent and grandparent generation have fears concerning the economic developments and it's dealing among younger generations, that they all exempt their own children from precisely these negative developments. Overall their fears are generally addressed towards 'others of this generation', as this example shows:

Lisa Short *1952 (mother): „I think for many people in her [Author's Note: her daughter's] generation, maybe not necessarily her particular high achieving people who can do all kinds of things, that group is probably going to be fine, as a generation, there are a lot of people who will have a really hard time keeping up the standard of living their parents gave them."

They feel that their children are well prepared to face and cope with new, harder times. This positive belief in their youngster's future stems from their educational preparation as well as from actively promoting family values creating guidance and guidelines of behavior and coping strategies, a practice they see declining in other families and at society at large. The positive future outlook of the youngest generation can be also derived from their personal life stage and their families' perceptions of them. The profile of the youngest generation depicts the young adults in educational settings (attaining college degrees etc.), making parents and grandparents optimistic about their future due to their education attainment.

Joyce Black from Merritt Island, Florida, believes that her degree in education and working as a teacher helped her through these difficult times. A life lesson she wants to pass on by promoting education as a means to battle and prepare for harder times:

Joyce Black *1965 (mother): "My son will do fine, he is well prepared. We taught him how to work for something and we made sure that he has a solid education."

Some members of the youngest generations does not refer direct impacts of the economic crisis to their own life, but implicitly states that they are unsure about keeping the family pace or tradition of an upward mobility. One example is 25-year-old Jason Helmer from Merritt Island, Florida, a sales assistant in a local store. He feels like he can not live up to the expectations and standards of his parents who have held prestigious government and airline jobs:

Jason Helmer *1982 (grandson): "Yeah it's a task. You want to exceed the status quo. I'm not going to be able to do that."

Since occupational biographies have changed much within the three-generation time span (e.g. job and education opportunities tied to gender and/or socio economic changes), the families have the urge to create understanding and coherence among its family members. Even though mostly the grandparents' life scripts do not serve as role models for younger generations any longer, family values and traditions take on a central role within the family communication. Here is an example for generationally fabricating family values, as the Fidler Family from Palm Bay, Florida, speaks about their perspectives on work:

Jessie Sr. *1930 (grandfather): "I always used to work. In other words, I hustled. I'd work one job, two jobs, made money for the family to better ourselves."

Jessie Jr. *1954 (father): "Growing up, it was just really natural for me to idolize my father and everything he was about, what he stood for, work ethic, and discipline and commitment and loyalty to family. So, I just followed in his footsteps."

Michael *1986 (grandson): "I think, as a family, the work ethic is pretty strong as far as wanting to be the best that we can be in our fields and everything. (...) and me starting off in a totally different field, but I'm hoping go all the way up to the top."

Jessie Sr. Fidler worked his way up being a fireman and small businessman. He instilled values and strong work ethics such as honest work and ideas of 'you have to work for what you want' in his children. His son is a police officer in Palm Bay, Florida, and his grandson has made it all the way into Medical School, currently attending his third year. As this, and as several other examples show, they are especially aware and proud of their generational upward mobility. In this perspective, family narratives on values strengthen generative family bond, thus making family a central location for creating an orientation matrix, supporting personal and family coherence and identity. 

Even though the life scripts and socio-economic context has undergone drastic generational changes, it seems that the institution of family continues to serve as a fundamental reference point for the individual: Family has lost nothing of its relevance. Family narratives on the past take on the function of reducing and disambiguating complex situations and conditions to clear value statements, presenting ordinal and navigational functions, a function that becomes especially visible in times of economic hardship and family crisis.

Against all odds, in light of rapidly changing technologies, the family's values are not eroding with each successive generation; rather the family values are preserved through generations and serve distinct orientation functions for younger generations. Most families believe that values are deteriorating in society at large, but that their own families remain strongly rooted in the values of their elders. Historic family references to 'harder times' (e.g. Great Depression) are often taken - at least, when the topic of the current recession is raised by the interviewer -, whereas the experiences often do not exceed to the youngest generation that is now confronted with consequences and realities of a severe economic crisis.

Despite the current downturn and its assumed consequences for the youngest generation, there is still a noticeable confidence amongst parents and grandparents that their own children or grandchildren will have a positive future. This belief seems to stem from the education attainment of their descendants. However, the idea that "good education" equals "a positive outlook" is also widely spread in the youngest generation. If this inter-generational consensus is part of a shared family narrative or if it derives from different factors has to be verified or falsified - as well as other assumptions taken so far - by the ongoing data collection and research process.