The Family Life Cycle

Family Life Cycle• Young adulthood: People live on own, marry,

and bear/rear children

• Middle adulthood: children leave home, parental responsibilities lessen

• Late adulthood: retirement, growing old, death of spouse

• Not a fixed progression, but provides an organized way to study family system changes over time

Leaving Home• Departures for Education tend to be at younger

ages– Full time work & marriage- Later

• ~1/2 of all young adults return

• Linked to more satisfying parent-child Interaction and successful transition to adult role

Joining of Families in Marriage• Nearly 90% marry at least once

• Increasing numbers remain single, cohabit, or do not remarry after divorce

Marital Roles• Findings suggest better to marry later than

earlier

• Traditional Marriage: clear division of husband/wife role. Head of household, economic provider. vs. Caring for partner and children, creating nurturing home

• Egalitarian Marriage: Sharing of power and authority. Balance of time and energy devoted to workplace, children, and relationship.

• In reality wives STILL do bulk of housework

Parenthood• Remaining childless is more accepted

• Decision to have children– Women with traditional gender role orientation

more likely to have children– Reasons for children by couples: Desire for a warm

affectionate relationship and stimulation and fun that children provide

– Disadvantages include: loss of freedom, financial strain

Transition to Parenthood• Parenthood leads to mild decline in marital happiness

and exacerbates traditional gender roles• Men who view themselves as nurturing show less

decline in marital satisfaction• Non-western cultures: Birth is less likely to threaten

marital satisfaction– Parenthood widely valued, family is central to women’s roles,

traditional roles are widely accepted

• In West: trend toward gender equality and isolation of the nuclear family leads marital and parenting roles to be closely linked