A Qualitative Study of Parental Perspectives on Their Offspring’s Emerging Adulthood and Intergenerational Solidarity

Abstract Since emerging adulthood was first developed, research has grown exponentially, mainly on parent–child relations; however, the parental perspective remains largely unexplored. This study aimed to explore how parents perceive their children’s emerging adulthood and their views on the functional dimension of intergenerational solidarity. Open-ended interviews were administered to 88 Spanish and Portuguese parents (64.8% mothers) of emerging adults. The findings revealed that parents view their offspring as having reached adulthood, mainly because of their responsibilities and/or maturity. Furthermore, parents also considered that it is just as, or even more, difficult to become an adult today than it was in their time. Regarding intergenerational solidarity, five major themes emerged in relation to the help that parents provide their emerging adult offspring (all areas in which their child needs help; affective/emotional support; educational/professional support; financial support; help with important decisions), along with another five major themes in relation to the help that emerging adult offspring provide their parents (communication and relational symmetry; affective/emotional support; areas in which young people are more proficient; household chores; all areas in which parents need help). The results suggest the importance of considering parents’ in-depth perspective on their relationship with their children, to better understand family relationships during this developmental stage.