In conversation with: Dr Emma Hyde (ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow)
In conversation with Dr Emma Hyde, discussing her recent Postdoctoral Fellowship award from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
This October, Dr Emma Hyde began her post as an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow. Emma previously completed her PhD in the school, supervised by Professor Sarah Irwin and Dr Daniel Edmiston. Her doctoral research qualitatively explored trends of prolonged co-residence between young adults and their parents in the UK, situated in the context of unaffordable housing, economic insecurity, and austerity. Over the summer of 2026, Emma also worked with Professor Mark Davis on the ESRC-IAA-funded report, 'Making Places Better, Together: The Civic Impact of Community Municipal Investments'.
In this interview, Emma shares her fellowship plans and research insights.
Please tell us about your fellowship and what you’re working on at the moment.
The ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowships are awarded each year across the regional Doctoral Training Partnerships. The 9-month fellowship is designed to support those who are in the immediately postdoctoral career stage by providing dedicated time to develop publications and networks.
During my fellowship, I will focus on expanding the reach and impact of my PhD through varied outputs and dissemination activities. Currently, I am working on the first of two planned journal articles. Whilst UK literature has largely focused on class-advantaged graduates who have returned to the parental home, my thesis examines co-residence across diverse class, socioeconomic, and cultural contexts. Through two-generation interviews, the research also captures the under-explored perspectives of parents. The publications will demonstrate the unequal opportunities and constraints shaping co-residence and home-leaving, offering insights into classed norms and moral practices of intergenerational support. Alongside blogs and policy engagement, I hope to contribute new empirical and conceptual understandings of inequality in housing and transitions to adulthood.
The fellowship will also strengthen collaborations built during my PhD, enabling a research visit to the University of Oslo where I will present work to the Scandinavian Network for Family and Parenting Research and the Youth Research Group within the Norwegian Social Research Institute (NOVA).
Why is this area of research important right now?
Young people have been disproportionately impacted by the crisis in UK housing. The number of young adults living with parents into their late twenties and thirties has continued to rise since 2007/08, attracting major political concern around declines in homeownership and life chances. However, inequalities are also widening within younger generations as housing opportunities become increasingly tied to parental wealth and assistance. Very little is known about how these structural changes are experienced and navigated by young adults and parents from diverse circumstances. Whilst co-residence can provide an economic ‘safety net’, it is crucial to interrogate how inequalities may be further entrenched within intimate family relationships and practices of support.
What advice would you give to students interested in this field?
I would encourage students to engage with the relational dimensions of young people’s experiences and life transitions, reflecting on aspects of family, community, institutions, and place in their research questions. I would also really encourage students to explore interdisciplinary approaches and connect with others working across the intersecting aspects of young adulthood.
Please get in touch by email if you would like to know more about the fellowship or research project.
We extend our thanks to Dr Hyde for sharing her time and insights.
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