Lithuanian families’ experiences of social and material insecurity

This presentation will be based on a qualitative and quantitative study on Lithuanian families’ experiences of insecurity related to material and social issues. Drawing on the theoretical framework of precarious employment, lives and time as an indicator of precarity, I analyze 88 biographical interviews and National survey (N-3005) with individuals of the specific birth cohort of 1970-1985 in Lithuania. Analysis suggests that by privatizing all risks and assuming all responsibilities for their welfare, Lithuanian families have adopted the family model promoted by neoliberal economies. To adjust to the culture of individualized risks and to maintain acceptable living standards related to children’s education, leisure and work, these families invent strategies that often turn into a tiresome job. The senses of precarity, insecurity and instability required families to invent new ways to reorganize their unstable lives and find new coping strategies to cope with everyday risks or crisisSociologijos katedraVytauto Didžiojo universiteta