1. Family Forms
Jour nal
“The happiest moments of my life have
been the few which I have passed at home
in the bosom of my family.”
Thomas Jefferson
What have been the happiest memories with
your family?
2. Standards and Objectives
• ARFL 8.00 Students will describe effective
financial management strategies in support of effective
ways to develop meaningful relations in home and
family life.
• Identify the family life cycles strengths and weaknesses of
various family forms.
• Discuss the financial considerations relevant to each stage
of the life cycle.
• ARR 6.00 Students will identify ways to develop
meaningful relationships in the family unit.
• List the positive characteristics that affect family
relationships.
• Identify the family life cycles strengths and weaknesses of
various family forms.
3. Millions of Kids
Family Type Number of Children
• Children living in blended families, • 8 million
including either a step-parent or step-
sibling.
• Children living with both natural • 3.6 million
parents and full brothers or sisters.
• Children living in extended families • 7 million
including other people such as
uncles, cousins, aunts or
grandparents. • 17 million
• Children living in one-parent (MOM
only) families.
• 42 million
• Children living in one-parent (DAD
only) families. 2006 statistics
4. Flexibility,
adaptability and
tolerance for change
are helpful skills for
making family life
terrific!
5. Relationship
• What?
• An interaction between two or more people.
• Who?
• Parents, siblings, peers, spouse,
grandparents
• They are constantly changing.
• An individual is going through various
stages of his life cycle while the family is
going through its cycle.
6. Childbearing Family
0-2 1/2 years old
Leaving Family with
Home Preschoolers 2 ½ - 6 yrs y
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Family with School
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Pa
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Re
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Parenting adolescents
14-20 yr old
Family Life Cycle
7. Family Life Cycle
• Stage 1: Beginning Family
• The married couple establish their home but do
not yet have children.
• Stage 2: Childbearing Family
• From the birth of the first child until that child is 2
½ years old.
• Stage 3: Family with Preschoolers
• When the oldest child is between the ages of 2
½ and 6.
• Stage 4: Family with School
Children
• When the oldest child is between the ages of 6
8. Family Life Cycle Continued...
• Stage 5: Family with Teenagers
• When the oldest child is between the
ages of 13 and 20.
• Stage 6: Launching Center
• From the time the oldest child leaves
the family for independent adult life till
the time the last child leaves.
• Stage 7: Empty Nest
• From the time the children are gone till
the marital couple retires from
employment.
• Stage 8: Aging Family
10. Write down your definition
of the stereotypical family.
• Working dad
• Stay-at-home
mom
• 2 or 3 children
Only 10% of all households
are in this family form.
11. American Family Forms
• Living Alone
• 1 of 24 adults remain single throughout their life.
• 66% of single people are women.
• POSSLQs
• Persons of the opposite sex sharing living
quarters.
• Couples who live together before marriage,
divorce just as often as those who marry first.
• Marrying Later in Life
• Average age to marry: men - 25.9, women -
23.6
12. American Family Forms
• Couples Having Children Later in Life
• More couples are waiting to become parents
until their careers are established.
• Estimated cost to raise child is $200,000
• Couples With Fewer Children
• The average number of children has dropped
from 3.6 in 1957 to 1.8.
• Couples With No Children
• Due to career commitments, fertility problems or
just because they enjoy their childless lifestyles,
many couples are remaining “Double Income, No
Kids” couples.
13. American Family Forms
• Divorced Adults
• Approximately 60% of all divorces involve
couples with children in the home.
• Single-Parent Families
• About 1 in 4 children live with only one parent.
• The number of single-parent homes has more
than doubled in the past 20 years
• Divorced women’s standard of living drops 73%,
while divorced men jumps 42%.
• About 50% of the children in divorced families
report having not seen their father in the last
year and only 1 of 6 see him once a week.
14. American Family Forms
• Grown Children Moving In With Their Parents
• Families with two children and young parents
living at home with their parents has doubled in
25 years.
• Grandparents Living With Families
• With greater longevity, there are more elderly
people.
• Blended Families
• Divorced parents, especially fathers are likely to
remarry.
• 13% of today’s children are stepchildren
15. American Family Forms
• Working Mothers
• The fastest growing segment of the work force is
women with children under the age of three.
• More than half of American mothers with infants
less than a year old are working outside the home.
• Day care for these children can cost up to ¼ the
family budget.
• Working mothers have 15 fewer hours of leisure a
week than fathers.
16. Scenarios
• Your marriage is headed for divorce.
• How would you settle property, child custody,
divorce costs?
• You are a single mother.
• How will you cope emotionally and financially?
• Elderly parents need to move in with you.
• What conflicts and adjustments will arise?
• You just remarried.
• How will family discipline be handled? How will
household chores be divided? What name do
you expect the children to call you? Where
should you live? How should you divide