1. Family Structures

2. Image of a Family Our image of a family may come from: Our own family
Television
Movies
Your friend’s family
Most families do not show “real” life to outsiders

3. Family
Consist of two or more people living in the s same household that are related by blood, marriage or adoption.

4. Functions of a Family
1. Provides for the physical needs of family members, including sharing of economic resources
2. Nurtures the educational needs including literacy, mental, vocational and social skills.
3. Meets the emotional needs of all family members, including the need to feel loved and accepted.

5. Single Person May live alone or with roommates
Maintains bonds with family members or close friends if have no living family

6. Single Person May come and go as they please
Time to devote to one’s career and interests

7. Dink Family or Couples Dink – Double Income, no kids
Time to focus on just each other or their careers
Careers of the individuals could conflict with each other

8. Nuclear Family A mother and a father and their children
Sometimes referred to as the traditional family

9. Nuclear Family Household and child care responsibilities are shared
Children receive the support of both parents
Have an example of both the roles of mother and father on a daily basis

10. Single-Parent Family
An adult with one or more children. This family structure is growing in the United States.
Single-Parent families exist because of divorce, death of the spouse, or never being married.

11. Single-Parent Family
Some provide all the income for the family and manage all the household responsibilities
The adults need contact with other adults and the children need contact with individuals of the absent parent.

12. Extended Family
A family where grandparents, aunts, uncles, parents and children all live together. Not as common today as in the past.

13. Blended Families
A husband and wife, at least one of whom has a children from a previous marriage.
Adjustments must be made by both children and adults.

14. Adoptive Families
A family in which the children are not the biological children of the couple.
The adopted child takes on the family’s last name and has all the legal rights that a birth child has.

15. Legal Guardians
A person who has the financial and legal responsibility for the care of the child.
Parents may have died
Parents not able to care for the child

16. Foster Family Takes care of the children on a temporary basis.
Children may be awaiting for adoption
Need a temporary place to stay because of family problems
Usually licensed by the state

17. Stages
of the
Family Life Cycle

18. Starting as a Couple Time to get to know each other
Time to learn to think and act as a team
Must work out a relationship with extended family members and friends
Need to discuss the following:
Housing and Furnishings
Education and Careers
Money
Children

19. Parental Stage – Expanding
New members are added to the family
Most of the family time is focused on the children and home life
Children add additional expenses to the budget
Child Care, Medical Care, Food & Clothing

20. Parental Stage – Developing
Children enter school and have more activities that focus outside the home
Family pace is often very busy, especially as the children move into their teen years

21. Parental State – Launching
Occurs when the children start to leave home and be on their own
For some families, older children return home before the youngest have left
Over one half of the adults, ages 20 to 24 live with their parents

22. Middle Years – Empty Nest
Family becomes a couple again
Some parents feel lost and without purpose and others enjoy their new-found freedom
Now have time to enjoy hobbies and special interests
Many parents at this stage now have to care for their elderly parents

23. Retirement Years Some look forward to this stage, others do not
Their career usually ends and many have no interests to fill in the time
Must adjust to aging, health problems and lower income
Some discover simple pleasures they had never thought of before

24. Benefits of Family Living
1. Satisfy physical needs – including food, clothing, shelter and medical care
2. Source of protection – protect you from harm or danger

25. Benefits of Family Living
3. Provide long-lasting relationships – will always have a sense of belonging
4. Source of love and affection – these bonds of love and affection last a lifetime

26. Benefits of Family Living
5. Provide support and encouragement – ties in families are strong, they want you to succeed.
6. Provide companionship – similar backgrounds and interests. Build ties that remain strong even through change