{"id":12899,"date":"2020-03-29T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-29T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/?p=12899"},"modified":"2020-03-28T09:42:39","modified_gmt":"2020-03-28T14:42:39","slug":"social-distance-family-capital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/social-distance-family-capital","title":{"rendered":"Social Distance & Family Capital"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

[This article originally appeared in SALVO (www.salvomag.com<\/a>) on March 27, 2020; it is reproduced here with permission. \u2013 Ed.]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Americans are living these days in a Brave New World, one in which best-laid plans have gone up in smoke overnight while most \u201cshelter-in\u201d and nervously swipe through Facebook, Twitter, or other media of choice looking for some hope that the COVID-19 pandemic may soon be over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the while, many wonder, how could this have happened to America? How could the richest, most powerful country in the world be brought to its knees in a matter of days? And how long will it last?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Multiplying online every day are accounts of hospitals in Lombardy and Veneto\u2014on the verge of collapse, patients waiting for scarce ventilators, others lined up in hallways because there are no more rooms. And many are claiming the U.S. is on its way to that. Americans are scared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These weeks have been unnerving, to say the least, and so many different sources are claiming different things\u2014the pandemic is near its end, it has just begun; this will last another month, this will last another year. But amidst it all, I have noticed a slim sliver of goodness. For in between the talking heads debating who is to blame, or the social media acquaintances putting forth this or that expert medical opinion, there has been another trend worth observing. And that is that on Facebook, on Twitter, in our text threads\u2014you name it\u2014people are embracing some really creative ways to hang out with their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NPR reported this week<\/a> on how families across the country are handling social distancing and quarantine.[1] The story mentions Bennett VanOudenallen, a teacher from Cincinnati, Ohio, who is learning how to teach remotely while also hanging out with his daughters, ages 8 and 9. He told NPR, \u201cWhile searching for some new ways to communicate and share content with my students, my daughters and I began singing songs together. . . . Then they illustrate those songs using markers on a piece of glass. They have to do the entire drawing as the song plays and then we post it on YouTube. They are taking requests from their friends.\u201d The family calls the series \u201cCoranaissance,\u201d a combination of the words \u201cCoronovirus\u201d and \u201cRenaissance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another story subject\u2014also a first-grade teacher\u2014is using Monopoly to teach her son problem solving and strategy. And a mom of small children made bagels from scratch with her daughter because the store ran out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while sources say<\/a> that the nation is nowhere near depleting its food stores[2], mass hysteria has meant that for now, many are having to get creative with what they can find. Yeast and flour are nowhere to be found\u2014and while deeply annoying, it\u2019s also a sign that people are actually prepared to bake their own bread if need be. For now, though, my Facebook feed is full of friends baking with their children, making their own play-dough, building forts, taking long nature walks outside. My own family has had numerous Zoom and FaceTime chats with other extended family; we have played new board games, and soon, I will endeavor to help shepherd our small sons through their school\u2019s remote learning program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn\u2019t where we wanted to be or what we wanted to be doing, but maybe the time with family isn\u2019t half bad. There\u2019s a term used a fair amount in business literature\u2014\u201csocial capital.\u201d The dictionary definition<\/a> of social capital is: \u201cthe networks of relationships among people who live and work in a particular society, enabling that society to function effectively.\u201d[3] People depend upon people, and social capital is the term that captures those elusive relationships that enable us to do our jobs, start new ventures, have children, etc. As a recent paper puts it, \u201csocial capital is productive, enabling the achievement of otherwise unattainable outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there is yet another aspect of social capital, or another component. And that is family capital<\/em>. In business terms<\/a>, \u201cFamily capital was defined as total owning-family resources composed of human, social, and financial capital.\u201d[4] Family capital<\/a> \u201cis both available to and created by members of the family unit.\u201d[5] An example, in business, would be a married couple who decide to jointly start a new venture\u2014he in one role, she in another. One study finds a significant relationship between access to family capital and the likelihood of new-venture startup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why? People in families depend upon each other\u2014whether for companionship, help with household tasks, financial resources, health care, or other needs. Families provide an indispensable resource for those looking to engage in start-ups. Marcia Barlow writes<\/a>, \u201cUnlike many societal entities, a family has the ability to take resources, however limited, and use them in the most efficient manner. The nature of family allows it to intimately know the people involved and allow the resources to go to their highest and best use.\u201d[6]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is never more apparent than in a crisis. Families are best positioned to care for each other, entertain each other, provide companionship, comfort, structure, and education. During the current, tragic COVID-19 pandemic, families are rediscovering some of their innate strengths. Parents are tapping into creative abilities they didn\u2019t know they had\u2014bread-baking, singing, writing, painting\u2014and teaching their children handicrafts while simultaneously learning alongside them. Families are relying on each other for daily needs in a very real way\u2014juggling working from home with childcare, or with homeschooling, or supervising remote learning efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us hope that we remember this strength, when this dark time has passed. And may God help us all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/a> Brooklyn Riepma, \u201cWhat Some People Are Doing To Fill The Social Distancing Space,\u201d NPR<\/em>, March 19, 2020, available at https:\/\/npr.org\/2020\/03\/19\/817778984\/what-some-people-are-doing-to-fill-the-social-distancing-space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2]<\/a> Russell Redman, \u201c\u2018No Nationwide Shortages of Food,\u2019 FDA Says,\u201d Supermarket News<\/em>, March 18, 2020, available at https:\/\/supermarketnews.com\/retail-financial\/no-nationwide-shortages-food-fda-says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[3]<\/a> \u201cSocial Capital,\u201d Lexico.com, powered by Oxford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[4]<\/a> Sharon M. Danes et al., \u201cFamily Capital of Family Firms: Bridging Human, Social, and Financial Capital,\u201d Family Business Review<\/em>, April 6, 2009, available at https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1177\/0894486509333424?journalCode=fbra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[5]<\/a> Peter Rodriguez, Christopher S. Tuggle, and Sean M. Hackett, \u201cAn Exploratory Study of How Potential \u2018Family and Household Capital\u2019 Impacts New Venture Start-Up Rates,\u201d Family Business Review<\/em>, May 8, 2009, available at https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0894486509335342.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[6]<\/a> Marcia Barlow, \u201cFamily capital: The fuel that drives development,\u201d MercatorNet.com<\/em>, November 16, 2016, available at https:\/\/mercatornet.com\/features\/view\/family-capital-the-fuel-that-drives-development\/18993.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sequestered Households Tap into Deep Reservoirs Still Available<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":12901,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"subtitle":"Sequestered Households Tap into Deep Reservoirs Still Available","format":"standard","video":"","gallery":"","source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override":[{"single_blog_custom":"","sidebar":"","second_sidebar":"","share_position":"","share_float_style":"","post_date_format":"","post_date_format_custom":"","post_reading_time_wpm":"","zoom_button_out_step":"1","zoom_button_in_step":"1","number_popup_post":"1"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"","single_post_gallery_size":""}],"trending_post_position":"","trending_post_label":""},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":""},"jnews_social_meta":{"fb_title":"","fb_description":"","fb_image":"","twitter_title":"","twitter_description":"","twitter_image":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[804,510,805],"tags":[1587,911],"class_list":["post-12899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","category-family","category-foreground","tag-covid-19","tag-family"],"yoast_head":"\nSocial Distance & Family Capital - 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