Gender inequality in intergenerational contact after parental separation in the digital era

Abstract

Objective

The goal of this brief report is to analyze parent-adult child contact frequency in intact and non-intact families by focusing on parent and child gender and the type of contact.

Background

Parental separation increases gender differences in parent–child relationships, with separated fathers having less frequent contact with their adult children compared to separated mothers. We investigate whether the father–mother gap in post-separation contact varies according to parent–child gender mismatch and the type of contact, that is, face-to-face, phone, or digital (e.g., via video calls).

Method

We use data on Italian families from the Family and Social Subjects survey to examine parent–child contact frequency among 6770 adult children aged 30–55 (11,041 parent–child dyads). We estimate random and fixed effects models on the probability of having frequent contact with biological parents in intact and non-intact families (parental separation before age 18).

Results

Fathers' reduced contact frequency compared to mothers is particularly evident with daughters, more pronounced in face-to-face and phone contact than in digital contact, and greater among younger daughters at the time of separation. Gender differences in phone and digital contact are larger for fathers who have also less frequent face-to-face contact compared to mothers.

Conclusion

We interpret these findings by focusing on the centrality of mother–daughter ties and the loyalty that children have with the same-gender parent. We also suggest that different types of contact reinforce gender differences between parents and may lead to a polarization of older parents with “strong” and “weak” family ties.