GGS-II Wave 2 Questionnaire: User module "Intensive parenting"

The GGS-II Wave 2 questionnaire was restructured to include new thematic sections, with space allocated for user-driven innovations. In 2023, an open call invited researchers to submit new content modules. This paper presents the user module “Intensive parenting”.

Norms encouraging "intensive parenting” have become pervasive in many wealthy countries and across social strata, pressuring parents to take increased personal responsibility for ensuring children’s well-being and success. These norms have been argued to be motivated by concerns about protecting children’s future social status. How strong and universal these norms are across diverse contexts is unknown due to a lack of comparative data. The extent to which these norms have proliferated may differ depending on state support of parenthood and childbearing and the extent of recent increases in inequality.

Questions measuring multiple dimensions of intensive parenting norms and attitudes in GGS data would allow exploration of their prevalence and composition across contexts and differences according to social class, gender, cohort, parenthood status, family structure, and family background. We would be further able to identify family profiles mapping household division of labor onto intensive parenting attitudes. The implications of intensive parenting norms for demographic and social outcomes are also poorly understood. The structure and content of GGS facilitates assessment of how intensive parenting norms are related to: 1) multiple dimensions of adults’ well-being, 2) childbearing plans, and 3) labor market engagement following childbirth.