Divorce Study Reveals Stepkin Increase In American Households
The results of a recent divorce study indicate that the size of American families have increased 66%; a number largely attributed to stepchildren and stepparents that often follow divorce and the formation of new families after the fact.
The divorce study, entitled “Stepfamily Structure and Transfers between Generations in U.S.,” interviewed tens of thousands of people from approximately 9,000 different households in order to gain a better understanding of how stepkin relationships and the accompanying bonds, differ from biological ones.
Ultimately, researchers estimated that nearly 30% of American households have a stepkin tie from either parents or children. Twenty percent of families have at least one stepparent and over 10% have at least one adult stepchild. Generally speaking, the study showed that familial ties are not as strong with stepkin. More specifically, people are less likely to give their time and money to stepchildren and/or stepparents.
For example, the study showed that parents with stepchildren are 11.3% less likely to give them their time as compared to their biological children, and stepparents are 13.3% less likely to receive time from their non-biological children.