Stepfamilies and Divroce Essay -- essays research papers

â€Å"Money, frequently cited as the biggest source of stress in family life, is often an even more challenging matter for members of stepfamilies† Statistically, in our world today, half of all marriages will end in divorce. About fifty-percent of our population will also live in a stepfamily environment. In other words, more than half of the American families today, are now or eventually will be in involved in one or more stepfamily situations during their life according to the U.S. Census Bureau in 1990. The â€Å"U.S. Bureau decided to discontinue providing estimates of marriage, divorce, and remarriage, except for those that are available from our current census. Thus many of our current estimates were derived from the 1990 census and earlier sources† (Step Family Fact Sheet, 1). Therefore the exact statistics in regards to stepfamilies today may be more or less from the estimated fifty- percent. Stepfamilies nowadays consist of many family members and are very complex. â€Å"Today’s stepfamily consists of you, me, your kids, my kids, our kids, your ex’es, my ex’es, even our ex’es new mates, and all the kin of these various folks. Stepfamilies give a new meaning to the concept of complex family relationships† (Hildebrand, 255). For that reason, the interactions within this family unit can be complicated and uncomfortable. There are many changes, positive and/or negative, that stepfamilies try to adapt to. For instance, adults take on new parenting roles and children take on new roles as well, such as a new stepparent or sibling. The parents and/or children may be required to relocate into a completely different house in a completely new neighborhood or city, which leads to separation issues with their nuclear family. With all these issues at hand it is obvious that this can be very stressful for everyone. Even more, this causes even more str esses, such as money. An ecological factor such as economics can have a huge impact on stepfamilies. This means financial decisions within a stepfamily have more people contributing to economic decisions. In turn, this can lead to more rules, emotions, and financial wishes and requests. When a couple decides to marry, especially for their second, third, or fourth time, it only brings in past experiences into the picture. Both spouses in the stepfamily most likely are in the work force as well. This also leads to the assumption th... ...ely on each other, and all members of a stepfamily adapt to rely on each other. As the entire family is going through change. In conclusion, money is powerful in our society and always has been throughout history. Therefore money has a major impact on families and research show’s that it may even have a larger impact on stepfamilies. References Clark, Janet A., Leigh, Sharon. Financial Decision Making in Stepfamilies. Retrieved from http://www.muextension.missori.edu/xplor/hesguide/ humanrel/gh6603.htm Facts and FAQ’s- Stepfamily Fact Sheet. Retrieved from http://www.saafamilies.org/faqs/index.htm Fletcher, N. Cynthia, (1992). Living in Stepfamilies: Making Financial Decisions. Iowa State University. Hildebrand, Verna (2000). Knowing and Serving Diverse Families (2nd ed.). New Jersey: Upper Saddle River. Klein, David M., White, James M.(1996). Family Theories. Pill, Cynthia J.(1990). Stepfamilies: Redefining the Family. Family Relations, 39, 2, 186-201. Stepfamilies: Meeting Challenges and Building Strengths (1995). Research Review. Retrieved from http://montana.edu/wwwhd/family/ f1195res.html Keri Smith CFD335-Booth Stepfamilies: Economic Factors