The Economic Deterioration of the Family: Historical Contingencies Preceding the Great Recession

The “Great Recession” in the United States exposed contradictions between the economic wellbeing of families and capital that developed in the decades prior to this latest downturn. Using social structure of accumulation theory, a qualitative institutional analysis, and quantitative time-series models, this article investigates historically-contingent relations between the nature of public assistance, family economic deterioration, and capital accumulation. To sustain the circuit of capital, I argue that the family propped up economic growth first through public cash assistance and then through private expenditures, the latter of which lead to the economic deterioration of families dependent on unprecedented levels of debt.