Chapter 7 Families

Exam 3

Family

group of people related by blood, marriage or adoption who share primary responsibility for reproduction and rearing children.

Kinship

A social network of people connected by ancestry, marriage or adoption.

Families of affinity

People, with or without legal or blood ties, who feel they belong together and define themselves as a family.

Types of family:

a. Nuclear Family: a husband, a wife & children.

b. Extended Family: Three or more generations living in one household.

Changes in family composition:

Researchers identified several changes in family composition between 1960 & 2020:

a. Families composed of married couples with children declined

b. Families that have only one spouse present increased.

c. Individuals living alone or with other non-relatives increased

Divorce rates are about ____ times _____ than they were a century ago

4; higher

Why it was low?

Reasons:

1. Economy was bad

2. Women can work now. Before divorce=poverty

3. Personal failure and moral pressure/sin

Divorce Dates

*1950s &1960s: 2.2 to 2.6 divorces per 1,000.

* 1979 & 1981: 5.3

* Recently- stable. ~ 3 divorces per 1,000.

Reasons For High Divorce Rates

.

a. Social acceptance. The stigma decreased

b. No fault divorce laws.

CA- 1st state to enact this policy.

c. Transition extended to nuclear families

d. Increasing geographic mobility

e. Greater (economic) independence for women

f. Greater emphasis on personal fulfillment and happiness

Certain groups are more susceptible to divorce than others

a. Those who marry under the age of 20/young couples

b. Couple experiencing high levels of poverty

c. Those with a high school or some college degree

d Both working full-time

State Responses to High Divorce Rates: Covenant Marriage (CM)

: Arkansas, Arizona, and Louisiana adopted covenant marriage laws to make divorce harder and lower divorce rates.

: Covenant marriage requires mandatory premarital counseling

: Couples must seek counseling before divorce if marital problems arise.

: Divorce allowed only under specific grounds: abuse, adultery, felony conviction, abandonment (1+ year), living apart (2+ years), or habitual drunkenness.

Effects of Divorce: Economic Impact

• Men’s living standards often improve.

• Women’s living standards often decline due to lower earnings and childcare responsibilities.

• Men experience minimal economic decline compared to women.

Child Support After Divorce:

• Only about 51% of custodial parents receive a formal child support award.

• Of those awarded support, about 59% receive partial payments or no payments at all.

Enforcing Child Support Payments

1. Wage garnishment: A court orders employers to withhold child support directly from a parent’s paycheck. One who doesn’t pay child support must need a court order

2. 1998: Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act

Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act:

Made it a felony to avoid child support payment by moving across state lines or delaying payments for a long time

Alternative families

—

One parent Families

—

The US…

has one of the highest rates of children living in single-parent households among high-income countries

Percentages about one parent families

~15 million live with a single mother.

~3 million –with a single father. (2024)

States with highest and lowest

*Highest: Mississippi

*Lowest: Utah

What percentage of people believe the trend toward more single parenting is “a bad thing for society”.

60%

Teen Pregnancies

U.S- one of the highest teen birth rates among the developed countries.

: Rates have declined sharply over the past three decades.

Among teenage girls who become pregnant,

a. Few - rush to get married

b. Few- put their babies up for adoption

c. Few- miscarriages

d. Few- abortions

e. Majority- keep their babies

Grandparents as Parents:

Kinship care: refers broadly to children being raised by relatives or close family friends when their parents cannot care for them.

: ~ 8 million children.

Skipped generation:

Where grandparents are the primary caregiver, no biological parents there

: 1 million children

Reasons for skipped generation

death, illness, divorce, incarceration, substance abuse, child neglect or abuse, economic hardship or other family crisis.

Higher rates of skipped generation for which areas of the world?

In the south and in rural counties in parts of the Midwest and West

Cohabitation

~ 18 million Americans - in cohabiting relationships. (2024)

26% of young adults ages 25-34

36% between the ages of 30 and 39

10% -aged 50 and older

Cohabitation for race:

Race:

: 9% of Asian

: 21% Whites

: 14 % Hispanics

: 13% Blacks

What percentage of couples who marry for the first time that have lived together before marriage

66%

Reasons For Cohabitation:

a. Compatibility

b. Economic Benefits

c. Alternative to marriage: Intimate relationship without legal bonding

d. High divorce: Marriage seen as risky

Alternative to marriage: Intimate relationship without legal bonding

Cohabitation can be seen as involving a "pure relationship.”.

a. No legal obligation, b. Based on mutual satisfaction. c. More freedom to leave.

: Lasts as long as both are satisfied

Studies on Cohabitation:

a. Cohabiting couples, on a day-to-day basis, behave more like single persons than married persons.

b. Expect at some points to marry. Approximately 32 % break up in a year or less. 40%- marry, 28% continue.

Gay and lesbian Family Facts":

: About 1.2 -1.3 million same-sex couple households.

: Roughly 60% are married. About 40% are unmarried partners.

Same sex marriages extends…

Same-sex marriage extends legal rights, including hospital visitation, health insurance coverage, & child custody

Highest percentage of same-sex household couples

District of Columbia, DE, OR, MA, WA

Larger percentage of same-sex married couples

Are interracial compared to opposite-sex couples.

: Both partners have at least a bachelor’s degree

: More likely to have both members employed

Family

“Most violent institution in the society with the exception the military & the police.”

What is Domestic/Family Violence?

Can include violent or abuse act between family members or between women & men in intimate or dating relationships.

- Emotional, physical, or sexual abuse.

Mid 1970s

Wife beating- got attention.

Feminist argued

Violence against women is a political issue, including domestic violence and rape.

Strategies to end domestic/family violence

a. Expanded victim support (hotlines, crisis centers, and legal aid)

b. Challenged social norms that exist or tolerate male violence

c. Promoted equality and individual rights within families

d. Encouraged shared decision-making in relationships

Some Statistics: (According to CDC & FBI reports)

: Every minute 20 people are the victims of Intimate Partner Violence.

: A woman is beaten every 9 seconds.

: ~ 2 million women –raped each year.

:15 million couples (Out of 59 million) experience at least some violence and more than 3 million - serious episodes of assault. 6 million unmarried partners living together, the rate of domestic violence is even higher.

: 1,500 women are killed and 2 million injured in domestic violence annually

: 1/3 of all women who are murdered die at the hands of a partner or ex-partner.

:16 of every 100 spouses physically attack their husband or wife. 1 out of every 6.

Husbands

Are more likely to severely assault their wives than the other way around.

Rationalize their violent act in one of 3 ways:

1. Blaming the victim for provoking the offense

2. Minimizing the harm done to the victim

3. Attributing the violence to some problems beyond their control

The highest rates of violence are found among:

a. Families with low incomes.

b. Blue-collar-workers

c. Husband-unemployed

d. People with less education

e. Families with above average numbers of children

f. No religious affiliation

g. People under 30

Researchers have linked the following factors to family violence:

1. Limited financial resources/low income/socio-economic status.

2. Social & structural stress: Frustration over lack of resources (poverty, unemployment).

3. Social isolation or racism.

Women who suffer domestic violence:

a. are 3 times as likely to engage in risky sex

b. Develop “posttraumatic stress disorder”- depression, anxiety, helplessness.

c. Develop battered women syndrome: loss self-esteem, feeling trapped, terror of violence.

are 3 times as likely to engage in risky sex:

70% - more likely to drink heavily than other women.

80%- more likely to have a stroke,

70% - more likely to have heart disease or arthritis and 60 percent more likely to have

asthma

Enacted Stalking laws-

Prohibit a partner or ex-partner from following or

threatening an individual.

CA was the first state to enact this law

Mandatory Arrest Policy

Police may arrest abusers without a warrant when probable cause exists, regardless of the victim’s wishes.

Child Abuse & Neglect

Almost 1,500 U.S children are murdered yearly, about half committed by family members or known individual (CDC)

Child abuse:

• Domestic violence and child abuse often occur.

• Children exposed to partner violence face higher abuse risk.

• Parents are the primary perpetrators.

Highest abuse among:

• African American, American Indians families.

• The youngest children (birth to 1 year)

• Children with disabilities

Lower abuse among:

• Asian American Families

• Children reared in lesbian families

Causes of child abuse:

• Stress

• Drug or alcohol abuse

• Poverty

• Chronic health problems

• Social isolation

Children- Sexual abuse: Common among those:

a. Children whose parents or stepparents- themselves abused as children.

b. Younger children ages between 7 and 13

c. Girls

d. Children living in poverty

e. Children living with a stepparent or a single mother with a cohabiting male

f. Children with parents or other family members who abuse alcohol or other drugs.

Protecting Children:

• Passed laws.

• Child Protective Services

Child Protective Services:

a. Investigate reports of abuse & neglect

b. Provide families with social support & intervention

c. If parents abusive, place the child in a foster home, in the care of relatives, or in a residential treatment center.

Elder Abuse & Neglect:

• Many elderly people may prefer “Intimacy at a distance”

• Many value emotional closeness, but both older & younger generation often prefer to live apart although nearby

Highest rate of elderly abuse:

a. People in poor families where members are addicted to alcohol or other drugs.

b. People who were victimized as children.

Causes of elder abuse & neglect:

1. Stressful jobs especially for sandwiched generations

Sandwiched generation refers to the middle-aged adults who are squeezed between raising their own children and caring for their aging parents.

2. Severe personal problems like alcoholism, drug addiction, unemployment, etc.

3. Abusers are beset with money problems or financial dependent on their victims.

Suffer

Depression & sleep disorders. Likely to be withdrawn, shirking from contact with young adults like those who have abused them.

Different Policies That Impact Families:

—

Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993:

• 12 weeks unpaid, job-protected leave

• Maintains group health benefits during leave.

• Applies to public agencies & private employers with 50+ workers.

• About 2/3 of eligible workers do not use FMLA due to unpaid leave or fear of job loss.

• Employees who have not worked 1,250 hours in the past year are not eligible for FMLA.

2008 FMLA amendment:

Up to 26 weeks of unpaid leave to care for an injured or ill

service member (including Guard/Reserves).

Feb. 2015

FMLA protections extended to workers in same-sex marriages.

In 2015:

Obama approved up to six weeks of advances paid sick leave for federal employees for

childbirth, adoption, or family illness.

* As of January 2026:

3 states + D.C have enacted mandatory paid family and medical

leave programs

Policy: For Teen Pregnancy

1996: Welfare Reform Act:

Included two key provisions affecting teen parents’ access to welfare benefits.

a. Teen parents work requiremnts

: Must participate in school, job training, or employment

b. Living Requirements for Teen Parents to Qualify for Welfare Benefits:

: Teens under 18 must live with an adult or supervised guardian to receive welfare

Federal Employee Paid Leave Act (FEPLA) (December 1019)

• Granted federal employees 12 weeks of fully paid parental levae for childbirth, adoption, or family illness

• Some states have expanded family and medical leave beyond federal FMLA protections.