Blackwell Reference Online

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Family living arrangements in the US and throughout much of the world are considerably more diverse, pluralistic, and fluid than they were just a few decades ago. We have witnessed profound demographic changes, including longer life expectancy, postponed marriage and childbearing, dramatic increases in both childbearing and childrearing outside of marriage, and substantial growth of singlehood, cohabitation, divorce, and remarriage ( Teachman et al. 2000 ). As a result, there has been a sharp increase in the visibility of diverse family forms such as single-parent (mostly single-mother) families, stepfamilies, households headed by gays and lesbians, and families living in poverty ( Rank 2000 ). These changes have stirred considerable debate surrounding the definition of family. For example, do two cohabiting adults and their dependent children constitute a family? Are they still a family without the presence of children in the household? What if the two adults are gay or lesbian? Beginning in the middle of the twentieth century, a strong value was attached to a “benchmark” family type in the United States, or what is commonly termed the “traditional” nuclear family. Following World War II, rapid social changes including men returning to the labor force, a post-war economic boom, an increasing standard of living, increases in marriage and birth rates, and a decline in the divorce ... log in or subscribe to read full text