A study of how the traditional nuclear family has been supplanted by a variety of new relationships that are not defined by blood ties and traditional gender roles. The text explores the boundaries of the American family and the relationship between family and work.

Concern and debate over changes to family life have increased in the last decade, as a result of evolving employment patterns, shifting gender relations and more openness about sexual orientation. Most politicians and researchers have viewed these changes as harmful, suggesting that the family as an institution should not alter. The `New' Family? challenges these dominant views. Leading academics in the field consider current diverse practices in families, and reveal the lack of balance between policies based on how families should be and how they actually are, illustrating the need for a broader definition of family. This book shows the need to take fluidity and change in family arrangements seriously, rather

"Brave New Stepfamilies is an excellent treatise on today′s families....This volume is a welcome addition to the field of family studies, and I highly recommend it." —Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Columbia University "A thorough, balanced tour de force!" —Frances Goldscheider, University of Maryland Brave New Stepfamilies maps the changing landscape of American stepfamilies, taking readers on a tour through the diverse assortment of traditional and not-so-traditional stepfamily forms that have emerged in recent years. Author Susan D. Stewart presents the latest scholarly research on stepfamilies in an accessible way, weaving together predominant theoretical perspectives, findings from research and national surveys, and interviews with stepfamily members. Key Features: Investigates the social and demographic trends that have irrevocably altered stepfamily life: While most books on stepfamilies focus on divorce and remarriage, this book examines recent trends, such as couples having children and living together outside of marriage, parents sharing custody of children, gay marriage, the aging population, and increasing racial and ethnic diversity, that provide multiple pathways to stepfamily formation. Explores a wide range of living arrangements, caregiving, and intimacy scenarios: This book captures the lived experience of contemporary Americans. Extending across various household settings, this book pays special attention to multihousehold stepfamilies, stepparent adoption, stepfamilies with adult stepchildren, and African American stepfamilies. Provides practical information on the prevalence of stepfamilies in society: Counting the number of stepfamilies in society is difficult; published estimates are sometimes unreliable. This book describes the latest data sources, trends in data collection, and data limitations. In addition, useful information on the legal and practical realities of living as a stepfamily is provided. Intended Audience: This is an excellent text for a variety of advanced undergraduate and graduate courses on family, such as Divorce and Remarriage, Stepfamilies, Family Diversity, Gay and Lesbian Families, Aging and the Family, African American Families, and Family Policy, in departments of sociology, human development & family studies, psychology, African American or ethnic studies, and public policy.

The Material Family is a bold new reading of the family, focusing on “new” or “post-nuclear,” “flexible” family forms such as gay family, divorce-extended family, and transnational family. Reading across a range of texts from high theory to literature and popular films, the book crosses disciplinary boundaries to offer a highly innovative and dynamic approach to changes in gender and other family relations. Unlike most books in the fields of cultural and family studies, The Material Family provides an historical and materialist argument connecting the changes within family to underlying shifts in material, labor relations in global capitalism. The “post-nuclear” family is not only an affective space, Torrant argues, but one whose affects are themselves fundamentally shaped by class. The Material Family is a must-read for anyone who wants to venture beyond the surfaces of family life to the deeper-lying relations that have made the family and its new forms among the most important spaces of social life. Its readers will include not only students and researchers in the fields of education, cultural theory and cultural studies, women’s studies, sociology, and anthropology, but also general readers interested in understanding contemporary families and their struggles.

Starting a family is a soul-shaping, world-altering experience. Unfortunately, in a culture of competing values and protracted timelines, couples are increasingly backing their way into parenting or missing it altogether. By the time the average couple tries to have kids, they are often beyond their late twenties and surprised to learn they are sliding past the peak of their fertile years. In Start Your Family, Steve and Candice Watters encourage couples to be intentional about their timeline in the early years of marriage and to trust God to help them boldly launch their families. Responding to the most common doubts and hurdles, they offer biblical inspiration for the questions: Why have kids? When is the best time to start? How can we fit kids into our lives?

This collection testifies to the extraordinary variety of families in the United States, revealing that family arrangements have always been diverse and have often been in flux. Case studies describe the wide array of family forms and values, gender roles, and parenting practices that have prevailed in different times and places for different population groups. Paying special attention to the intersections and cross-currents of class, race, and ethnicity, as well as their differential impact on gender, sexuality, and personal identity, the contributors highlight the socioeconomic and cultural forces that affect the organization and internal dynamics of family life. These articles provide a variety of perspectives that nonetheless point to a common theme: the myth of family homogeneity has not merely excluded some groups; it has deformed our understanding ofallfamilies. Social policies and psychological practice must take account of the complexity, contradictions, conflicts, and accommodationsthat shape people's individual and group experience of family life. Drawing on historical, sociological, anthropological, and psychological research,American Familiesprovides an overview of the theoretical and conceptual issues involved in studying the variations and interactions among different, constantly changing, families. It also considers the social, political, and practical implications of viewing family life through the lens of multiculturalism.