Stepfamilies may not see their reality mirrored in the remake of “Yours, Mine & Ours” or the blissfully sappy Brady bunch, but the truth is – stepfamilies are all around us. Let’s take a look at the statistics and how things are changing.
Stepfamilies represent a large chunk of the population. More people today in the United States live in stepfamilies, than in nuclear families. One in three Americans today is part of a stepfamily – we are stepparents, stepchildren, stepsiblings, and more. In one decade, from 1980 to 1990, the number of stepfamilies increased by more than 35%.
We have a positive view of marriage, but our marriages are under stress from the demands of stepfamily life. Although one or both spouses in a stepfamily is previously married (and subsequently widowed or divorced), we continue to believe that marriage is worth emotionally investing in. Seventy-five per cent of the people divorcing today will eventually remarry and 43% of all marriages today are remarriages.
The first four years in a stepfamily can be especially conflict-prone. Researchers point out that among ethnic groups, such as Asian-Americans and whites, where stepfamily life is less institutionalized and less “the norm,” marriages that form stepfamilies experience significant stress.
Dawn is putting her emphasis on blogging these days. Select "Column Classics" will continue to be featured on TheStepfamilyLife but for the latest from Dawn Miller, read her blog. The latest postings appear to the right of this column.
TheStepfamilyLife.com began in 2003, when writer Dawn Miller started to chronicle her experiences as a real-life stepmom online through a weekly column. Her experiences resonated with stepfamilies, who found that Dawn’s life often mirrored their own experiences. Dawn has consistently advocated for the needs of blended families within the larger society, and her writing has focused on empowering women to be positive stepparents and role models. Over time, her site grew to include a link area with stepfamily resources, a bookstore and a blog. The column is carried by several online and print publications.
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