Stages of Family Life

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Stages of Family Life

• By Student Sociologists
• Bryan and Kim

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Stages of Family Life

• There are four stages of family life
• Courtship
• Settling In Ideal and Real Marriages
• Child Rearing
• The Family in Later Life

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Courtship

• Arranged marriage
• Throughout the world, people consider courtship
  to be too important to leave to the younger
  generations.
• They represent alliances between families with
  similar social standings.
• Some are married as young as 15.
• They put little thought into whether two
  individuals will be personally compatible, they
  only care about culturally compatible.

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Courtship (cont)

• Romantic Love
• Affection and sexual passion for another person
  is the basis of marriage.
• Romantic love is a less stable foundation for
  marriage than social and economic consideration.
• The divorce rate is higher than those with
  arranged marriages.
• However, most people fall in love with others of
  the same race/age/social class.

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Courtship ( cont again )

• Homogamy- Marriage between people of the same
  social characteristics.

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Settling in Ideal and Real Marriage

• Ideal Marriage
• Happily Ever After picture.
• We fall in love with other not necessarily as
  they are, but as we want them to be.
• An endless sexual honeymoon with all-consuming
  passion.

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Settling in Ideal and Real Marriages (cont.)

• Real Marriage
• Only after marriage do people face day to day
  routines and responsibilties.
• Marital sex does decline over time.
• Couples with the most fulfilling sexual
  relationships experience the most satisfaction in
  their marriages.
• Good sex and good relationships go together.

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Marriages Ideal and Real Marriages VOCAB.

• Infidelity- Sexual activity outside of marriage.
• Thats it.

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Child Rearing

• Despite the demands children make on us, adults
  identify raising children as one of the greatest
  joys.
• Most people only want three children, instead of
  8, the national average 2 centuries ago.
• Big families were needed in the pre-industrial
  societies to supply labor
• It now costs 200,000 to raise a child. ( note
  the small families now. )

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Child Rearing

• About 2/3 of parents would like to devote more
  time to child rearing, but that means a lower
  standard of living.
• Children of working parents spend time a school
  but then come home and fend for themselves.
• Family and Medical Leave Act in 1993 was passed
  to allow women to have 90 days of unpaid leave
  from work for a new child.

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The Family in Later Life

• At age 50 raising children is usually completed.
• Empty Nest occurs.
• Couples experience an increase in understanding
  and compassion for one another.
• Some adults may begin to take care of their
  elderly parents.
• The final transition in married life comes with
  the death of spouse.
• Wives typically outlive their husbands. ( who
  have beards by the way )
• Men have a harder time because they keep less
  friends and have poor housekeeping skills.

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FIN