Future Families: Diverse Forms, Rich Possibilities

Future Families: Diverse Forms, Rich Possibilities......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Preface......Page 8
Acknowledgments......Page 11
About the Author......Page 13
1 Challenges to the Ideal Family Form......Page 15
The Myth of the Historical Baseline......Page 17
The Millers: The Dual Career, Outsourcing Family......Page 19
The Fuller Family: The Adolescent Mother Family......Page 20
The Lewin Family: The Reverse Role Family......Page 21
The Dorados: The Extended Family......Page 22
The Benningtons and the Winfields: The Intergenerational Families......Page 23
How Did We Get Here? The Changing Historical Context of Families......Page 25
Beyond the Nuclear Family: The Interdependent Model of Contemporary Parenting......Page 26
Many Forms of Shared Child Responsibility......Page 27
Families Do Not Exist in a Social Vacuum: Parents, Extra Familial Partners, and the Development of Social Capital......Page 31
Some Further Guiding Assumptions......Page 32
The Goals of Family Socialization......Page 33
Different Ethnicities, Different Families......Page 34
A Developmental Perspective on Families Is Useful......Page 35
A Brief Orientation to the Goals of the Book......Page 36
2 Changing Parental Roles: The Sharing and Redistribution of Family Responsibility in Contemporary Families......Page 39
Setting the Stage for the New Roles in Contemporary Families......Page 40
To Work or Not to Work: The Implications of the Rise of Maternal Employment......Page 43
The Emergence of Fathers as More Equal and Competent Caregivers......Page 48
Who Benefits from Increased Father Involvement? Mothers, Fathers, and Children Too......Page 49
No Reason to Worry: Fathers, Not Just Mothers, are Biologically Prepared for Parenting......Page 50
Another Reason Not to Worry about Paternal Caregiving: Fathers Are Competent Caregivers......Page 53
A Matter of Play: Do Mothers and Fathers Provide Unique Experiences for Their Children?......Page 55
How Mutable Are These Stylistic Differences?......Page 56
A Further Challenge to the “Ideal” Family Form: The Reverse Role Family......Page 59
And the Children Are Fine Too When Mom Goes to Work and Children Go to Child Care......Page 65
Reflections......Page 68
The Changing Face of Divorce......Page 69
What Causes Divorce?......Page 70
The Consequences of Divorce......Page 71
Who Is Affected Most?......Page 72
Divorce and the Single-Parent Household......Page 74
Does Custody Matter?......Page 75
Not All Divorced Families Are Alike: Why Some Families Work Better Than Others......Page 76
Remarriage: Harmful or Helpful?......Page 78
Not All Single-Parent Families Are a Result of Divorce: The Rise of Other Types of Single-Parent Families......Page 80
Two Profiles of Single-Mother Families......Page 81
Poor Single Mothers......Page 82
The Fate of Children in Single-Parent Families?......Page 83
Not All Poor Single Moms Are Alike; Not All Children Have Problems......Page 84
A New Group of Single Mothers: Single Mothers by Choice......Page 85
Are There Advantages of Being a Single Mother?......Page 87
Single Fathers: A Growing Family Form......Page 88
Single Fathers: Myth versus Reality......Page 89
The Cohabitating Family: An Increasingly Common Alternative to Marriage......Page 91
Challenges for Cohabitating Families......Page 92
What Happens to the Children of Cohabitating Parents?......Page 93
Is Family Form the Culprit? In Search of Explanations......Page 94
What Is the Future of This Family Form?......Page 96
Reflections......Page 97
The Controversy about the Wisdom of Same-Gender Parent Families Is Alive and Well......Page 98
How Prevalent Are Same-Gender Parent Families?......Page 99
Routes to Parenthood among Gay/Lesbian Couples......Page 101
Division of Household Responsibilities in Same-Gender Families......Page 103
Parenting Practices in Same-Gender Families......Page 105
Is Gender of Parent or Family Process More Important?......Page 109
Factors that Alter Parenting Processes in Same-Gender Families......Page 110
Growing Up in a Same-Gender Parent Family: Harmful or Helpful for Children’s Development?......Page 112
Beyond Neutral: Advantages for Parents and Children of Same-Gender Families......Page 117
Challenges to the “Ideal” Family Form......Page 119
Reflections......Page 123
5 How Many “Parents” Are Too Many? Insights from the Assisted Reproductive Technologies Front......Page 125
What Are the Assisted Reproductive Technologies?......Page 126
Is the Myth of the “Ideal” Family at Risk When Family Formation Is Achieved by Use of ART......Page 129
Who Are the Consumers of ART? Another Case of Class, Race, and Age Discrimination......Page 131
The Rights of Parents, Children, and Biological Contributors and the Protection of the “Ideal” Family Form......Page 134
Who Is Right – the Nondisclosers or the Disclosers?......Page 138
Is Three or More a Crowd? The Effects of Contact between Surrogates, Donors, or Donor Siblings......Page 140
The New Legal Landscape and the Rights of Donors and Surrogates......Page 146
Are ART Parents Adequate and Are Their Children Developing Normally?......Page 147
Are Children Conceived through the Use of ART at Risk?......Page 150
Reflections......Page 153
6 Many Mothers, Many Fathers, Many Others: Insights from Other Cultures......Page 155
Beyond Mothers and Fathers: Siblings as Caregivers......Page 159
Beyond the Nuclear Family: Grandparents as Caregivers......Page 161
Beyond the Nuclear Family: Aunts and Uncles......Page 165
Beyond Family: Nonrelatives as Caregivers......Page 168
Variability in the Distribution of Caregiving Responsibilities......Page 169
Cautionary Tales: The Israeli Kibbutz and American Communes as Extreme Forms of Cooperative Childcare......Page 171
Reflections......Page 172
Lessons from North American Indigenous Families......Page 174
African American Families: Kin and Fictive Kin......Page 179
Latino Families: A Further Challenge to the “Ideal” Family Form......Page 185
Asian American Families: Another Lesson in Interdependence......Page 193
The Immigrant Paradox and the Bicultural Family......Page 196
Divided by Borders: Transnational Families as New Family Forms......Page 198
The Implications of Transnational Families for Our Definition of the “Ideal” Family......Page 202
Lessons from Immigrant Families......Page 203
Reflections......Page 204
Is Parenting Beneficial for the Parent? The Impact of Being a Parent on Adult Development......Page 205
Beyond Parents: Do Relatives as Caregivers Benefit Too?......Page 210
Nonrelatives as Caregivers/Socializers......Page 217
Reflections......Page 221
9 In Support of Alternative Family Forms: Overcoming the Barriers to Change......Page 223
The Legal Landscape: Treacherous Terrain for All but the “Ideal” Family Form......Page 224
Medical Establishment and New Family Forms......Page 231
Government Family Policy Initiatives......Page 233
Child Care: Another Policy Challenge......Page 234
Family–Workplace Policies......Page 237
Depictions of Family in the Media: Beyond the “Ideal” Family form......Page 245
Can We Design More Family Friendly Communities?......Page 249
Final Reflections......Page 255
References......Page 257
Index......Page 306