Family
Two or more people related to each other by genetics, adoption, marriage, or in some interpretations, by mutual agreement.
Family is broadly defined as any two people who are related to each other through a genetic connection, adoption, marriage, or by mutual agreement. Family members share emotional and economic bonds. The term nuclear family is used to refer to family members who live together and share emotional, economic, and social responsibilities. The nuclear family is often comprised of a married couple who are parents to their biological or adopted children; all members live together in one household. This type of nuclear family is increasingly referred to by social scientists as an intact family, signifying that the family had not been through a divorce, separation, or death of a member. The U.S. Bureau of Census statistics on families are presented in the accompanying tables.
In addition to the nuclear family, other complex and diverse combinations of individuals lead to what social scientists call blended or nontraditional families. When a family has experienced divorce or death leaving one parent to be primarily responsible for raising the children, they become a single-parent family. (The terms broken family and broken home are no longer widely used because of their negative connotations.)
| Type of household | 2000 Number in 1,000 | Percent of total* | 2005 Number in 1,000 | Percent of total | 2010 Number in 1,000 | Percent of total |
| Source: U.S. Bureau of Census, Current Population Reports, P25-1129. |
| *Percents calculated from Bureau of Census projections. |
| All families | 71,669 | 100% | 74,733 | 100% | 77,895 | 100% |
| —with children under 18 | 33,117 | 46% | 32,699 | 43% | 32,203 | 41% |
| Married couple families | 55,496 | 77% | 57,371 | 77% | 59,308 | 76% |
| —with children under 18 | 24,686 | 34% | 23,958 | 32% | 23,126 | 29% |
| Single father with children under 18 | 1,694 | 2.4% | 1,797 | 2.4% | 1,888 | 2.4% |
| Single mother with children under 18 | 6,737 | 9.4% | 6,944 | 9.3% | 7,189 | 9.2% |
Following the end of one marriage, one or both of the ex-spouses may enter a new marriage. Through this process of remarriage, stepfamilies are formed. The second spouse becomes a stepparent to the children from the first marriage. In the family formed by the second marriage, the children from each spouse's first marriage become step-siblings. Children born or adopted by the couple of the second marriage are half-siblings to the children from the first marriage, since they share one parent in common.
In some cases, a stepparent will legally adopt his or her spouse's children from a previous marriage. The biological father or mother must either be absent with no legal claim to custody, or must grant permission for the stepparent to adopt.
In situations where a single parent lives with someone outside of marriage, that person may be referred to as a co-parent. Co-parent is also the name given to the partner in a homosexual relationship who shares the household and parenting responsibilities with a child's legal adoptive or biological parent.
The home which was owned by the family prior to a divorce or separation is referred to as the family home in many state laws. In court settlements of divorce and child custody issues, the sale of the family home may be prohibited as long as the minor children are still living there with the custodial parent. The sale of the home may be permitted (or required to pay the noncustodial parent his or her share of its value) if the custodial parent moves or remarries, or when the children leave home to establish their own residences.
The term extended family traditionally meant the biological relatives of a nuclear family; i.e., the parents, sisters, and brothers of both members of a married couple. It was sometimes used to refer to the people living in the household beyond the parents and children. As family relationships and configurations have become more complex due to divorce and remarriage, extended family has come to refer to all the biological, adoptive, step-, and half-relatives.
Government agencies and other statistics-gathering organizations use the term head of household to refer to the person who contributes more than half of the necessary support of the family members (other than the spouse); in common usage, the head of household is the person who provides primary financial support for the family.
For Further Study
Books
Bernardes, Jon. Family Studies: An Introduction. New York: Routledge, 1997.
Elkind, David. Ties That Stress: The New Family Imbalance. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1994.
Eshleman, J. Ross. The Family: An Introduction. 7th ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1994.
Kephart, William M. and Davor Jedlicka. The Family, Society, and the Individual. 7th ed. New York: HarperCollins, 1991.
Strong, Bryan and Christine De Vault. The Marriage and Family Experience. 4th ed. St. Paul: West Publishing Co., 1989.
White, James M. Dynamics of Family Development: A Theoretical Perspective. New York: Guilford Press, 1991.
Audiovisual Recordings
Ohio Cooperative Extension Service. Changing Families, Challenges and Opportunities. Columbus, OH: Ohio Cooperative Extension Service: The Ohio State University, 1988.
(Four sound cassettes, covering the subjects of latchkey families, single-parent families, strengthening step-families, and two-income families.)
Organizations
Family Service Association of America (FSA), formerly the Family Welfare Association of America)
Address: 11600 West Lake Park Drive
Milwaukee, WI 53244
Telephone: (414) 359-1040; toll-free (800) 221-3726
(Organization providing information services for families related to social functioning and mental health. Publications include The Family Guide to Child Care: Making the Right Choices.)
Step Family Foundation (SFF)
Address: 333 West End Avenue
New York NY 10023
Telephone: (212) 877-3244
(Disseminates information on step families, provides counseling and training service, and published informational materials.)
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