Letting Go: Parenting Teens and Young Adults in a Time of Uncertainty

Adolescence is widely viewed as the most difficult stage of parenting. Yet despite its importance, we have a limited grasp of what it actually takes to help teens through adolescence. In Letting Go, Demie Kurz offers a deeper understanding of the demanding work of parenting teens and sheds new light on what it takes to produce a ＂successful child.＂ Based on numerous interviews with a diverse group of mothers, Kurz details the negotiations with teens and young adults as well over control, trust, and letting go to offer an invaluable portrayal of the of the real dilemmas contemporary parents face day-to-day. At a time when the transition to adulthood has become longer and more challenging, Letting Go offers a nuanced, candid portrait of the deeply emotional dynamics involved in raising adolescents and young adults, and the ways social policy can play a key role in helping young people succeed.

Demie Kurz is a Research Affiliate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the former Co-Director of the Gender, Sexuality & Women’s Studies Program at Penn and a Co-founder of the Carework Network, an international organization of researchers, policymakers, and advocates involved in various domains of care work. Her books and articles have focused on challenges facing contemporary American families and social policies that would better support families.