Brothers' Keepers: Situating Kinship Relations in Broader Networks of Social Support

Abstract

The authors evaluate the importance of kin in providing four different dimensions of social support: emotional aid, services, financial aid, and companionship. The authors analysis uses both quantitative and interview data from the East York (Toronto) studies of social networks. Kin comprise slightly less than half of these networks: an average of five ties out of twelve. Parents and adult children are highly supportive network members, providing high levels of emotional aid, services and financial aid (they avoid companionship, however). Siblings complement and substitute for parents and children, especially in the provision of services. Because there are many more ties between siblings than there are between parents and children, siblings (along with friends and neighbors) provide a substantial proportion of the support East Yorkers receive. By contrast, extended kin tend to be the least supportive and least companionable of network members. If kinship systems did not keep extended kin in contact, few would be active network members.