Brexit and Family Life

This study led by Dr Katherine Davies, was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council as part of their ‘Governance After Brexit’ programme of research. Participants from a diverse range of families contributed in a variety of ways to build a picture of how Brexit affected family life.

On

The project

We hear a lot about Brexit politics, but we know very little about how it is affecting people’s family lives.

In this project, we met and developed relationships with a diverse range of families, to explore how Brexit has affected family relationships over time.

Participants took part in interviews, kept diaries, recorded themselves watching television, and maintained contact with us through Whatsapp, Facebook, texts and email.

Through this, we have seen the ebbing and flowing of Brexit’s influence, and crucially how it is experienced through, and managed alongside, a host of other challenges within everyday family life.

We have an online exhibition as part of the Understanding Society festival at The University of Sheffield – My Year in Brexit Britain – which explores the stories of how three families have dealt with the impact of Brexit. It also invites you to give your own memories about this extraordinary year.

This project was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council as part of their ‘Governance After Brexit’ programme of research.

Team

We are sociologists interested in everyday life and family relationships.

Katherine’s previous work has included studies on the social significance of family resemblances, the complexities of shared living arrangements and the importance of sibling relationships.

Adam has previously studied how classed, gendered and racialised power relations influence live stand-up comedy settings. We both have a long-standing interest in qualitatively-driven methodological approaches.