Kinscripts/Kin labour

Kinscripts is a theory to describe the roles and responsibilities that individuals have and hold toward their families through the life course (Bailey 2014; Stack and Burton 1993).

Kinscripts are constructed through family 1) ideologies, 2) norms, and 3) behaviours over the life course.

Kinscripts involve:

1) kin-work: the labour or tasks families need done to survive generation to generation

2) kin-time: the time-based sequencing of family transitions (e.g., transition to parenthood or grandparenthood or transition to marriage or divorce)

3) kin-scription: the process of assigning kin-work (or kin labour) to family members

Stack, Carol B. and Linda M. Burton (1993). Kinscripts. Journal of Comparative Family Studies 24(2): 157-170.