A study has found that divorce – through the step-families that often accompany it – is making American families 66 percent bigger.
The study from University of Massachusetts researcher Emily E Wiemers and others finds that, today, about 33 percent of US households with parents under age 55 feature at least one stepparent.
And the presence of stepchildren has increased the total number of children in a family by 66 percent.
A study called Stepfamily Structure and Transfers between Generations in U.S. considers how family restructuring in the form of the rise of stepfamilies is influencing familial relationships. Pictured is a stock photograph of a celebrating family
The study, called Stepfamily Structure and Transfers between Generations in U.S., considers how this family restructuring influences familial relationships and seeks to illuminate the extent to which biological relationships differ from step-relationships.
In particular, it looked at younger family members and their feelings of obligation to older family members, along with the inverse of older family members’ feelings of dependency on younger family members.
Of course, many factors influence a family’s closeness. However, the study found, in surveying tens of thousands of American family members, that at the margin, family ties are less strong with stepkin.
‘We find that family members are less likely to give time support in the presence of stepkin,’ the study notes.
The study found that stepkin are less likely to devote time to one another than they would biological kin. Pictured is a stock photo of families watching television
It found that, on average, couples with adult stepchildren are 11 percent less likely to give them time vs biological children.
Similarly, it found that stepparents are 13 percent less likely to receive time from adult children vs biological parents.
‘Although stepfamily members increase the size of families, we show that the increased availability of kin does not fully compensate for the weaker bonds among family members in step families.’
The study further notes: ‘The extent to which stepparents and stepchildren should be considered among the available kin is an important question for understanding the connections within U.S. families in light of the high rates of re-partnering after a first childbearing union dissolves.’
Both the UMass study and another called A National Portrait of Stepfamilies in Later Life call for further research into the topic as the country’s divorce rate continues to grow.