College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

• The new stepfamily

  Sociologist Susan Stewart's new book looks at America's emerging new family demographic.

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  Our vision of a stepfamily in America can probably be traced back to the old TV series "The Brady Bunch."
  
  You know - the one where two adults, who are either widowed or divorced, form a new loving family with their children from the previous relationship.
  
  Susan Stewart, assistant professor of sociology, says those days in America are long past us.
  
  "'The Brady Bunch' is in the minority," she said. "The majority of stepfamilies in America don't fit that description."
  
  In her new book, Brave New Stepfamilies: Diverse Paths Toward Stepfamily Living, Stewart says social and demographic changes have diversified American families so much that the question ‘what is a stepfamily?' is becoming difficult to answer.
  
  Sure there are still those "typical" stepfamilies like the Bradys. But chances are you know these new types of stepfamilies - those with gay or lesbian parents, stepfamilies with adult stepchildren, or those stepfamilies created by nonmarital childbearing and cohabitation in addition to divorce and remarriage.
  
  "Once formed these stepfamilies manifest a wide range of living arrangements, care giving and intimacy," Stewart says.
  
  Stewart should know. She has extensive personal experience with nontraditional stepfamily living. She has been a part of a cohabiting stepfamily, a multihousehold stepfamily and a stepfamily with adult stepchildren.
  
  "I've been influenced by the fact that my mom has remarried (after being a single mom for 30 years)," Stewart says, "but I don't know if her new husband is a ‘real' grandparent to my daughter or like a distant uncle. We really don't know as a society."
  
  Bountiful research exists on the "The Brady Bunch" type of stepfamily. Little research exists on Stewart's "brave new stepfamilies."
  
  "It's difficult to study these families because there is no good data available," she says. "Eighty percent of the studies I've seen focus entirely on remarried couples and excludes whole groups of stepfamilies."
  
  The U.S. Census focuses on households rather than whether or not an individual's partner's children live with them or the other biological parent.
  
  "We need to update our concept of a stepfamily. It's more than just remarriage," she said.
  
  Brave New Stepfamilies, which will be published this December by Sage Publications, provides useful information on the legal and practical realities of living in one of these emerging stepfamilies situations.
  
  Any stepfamily situation is precarious at best according to Stewart, especially if that family breaks up.
  
  "The stepparent, regardless of the amount of time they may have spent with their former partner's children, has no rights to see those children in the future," she said. "They may have a close relationship, provide parental and financial support, but our (U.S.) laws are not equipped to handle this type of relationship.
  
  "In many cases it's the children that are left out in the cold."
  
  In her sociology classes, Stewart discusses these issues. And her students respond with their own stories.
  
  "Just today one of my students came up to me after class and remarked how their father had told her that he didn't think his second marriage would last much longer," Stewart said. "And the student didn't know what to do because she had a good relationship with her step mom. It is issues like this that need to be studied with stepfamilies."
  
  Stewart hopes to continue this line of research. The family demographer's next project is an edited book with current research on the subject.

Susan Stewart

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