The Family Life Cycle and Social Change

The early designs of the family life cycle featured successive stages in the progression of primary marriages. But as variant family forms have increased more complex designs have been created. Glick provides updated information on recent changes in selected stages of the family life cycle and in social developments that have contributed to these changes. He attributes changes in the family life cycle stages to postponement of marriage; differences in marriage childbearing and child rearing; divorce remarriage and single parenting; and to changes in family life after the children leave home. Glick says that marriage is postponed because many young adults are taking more time to advance their education and occupational careers. But other young adults see little to be gained by additional education and as a result are likely to find themselves in jobs with little future advancement. The latter who are delaying marriage are also reducing their life chances. Research shows a steady decline between 1972 and 1986 in the relationship between being married and reported happiness. Research also shows a trend toward an increasing proportion of reportedly happy never-married men and a decreasing proportion of reportedly happy married women. The decreasing birth rate also contributes to changing life cycle stages. OConnells research shows that 20-25% of the women born in the 1950s and 1960s are expected to bear no children as opposed to 11% in 1960. The skyrocketing costs of child rearing are another factor: Espenshade found that the cost of bringing up 2 children to age 18 was about $208000 based on 1981 data. 1 of the main reasons the original model for the family life cycle has become outmoded is the upsurge in divorce and decline in remarriage. Now too for the 1st time in history most people in our society live until they are old. More families of 4 and 5 generations still have mutual awareness but get together less often then formerly because migration scatters them. Some social changes that affect family life include advancements in educational level and the resulting erosion of traditional perspectives increase in female labor participation the need for adequate child care the rising income for the already relatively high income married-couple families and also the growing proportion of relatively low-income families maintained by a woman.