Family Life Cycle
The Family Life Cycle is a conceptual framework used to understand the various stages that families experience over time, paralleling the individual life stages. Originating from the family developmental perspective of the 1950s, this model highlights the continuity of family life through successive generations, as adult children often establish their own families after leaving their families of origin. Pioneered by developmental theorist Evelyn Duvall, the Family Life Cycle outlines eight distinct phases, ranging from newly married couples to inactive parents, based on factors such as family size and children's ages.
While this framework has been influential, it has also faced criticism for not encompassing diverse family structures, including childless couples, same-sex families, and blended families. Psychologists have expanded the theory to focus on the transitions and challenges families face when moving between stages. Additionally, from a marketing perspective, the Family Life Cycle informs understanding of consumer behavior, as family demands and resources change throughout these stages. As family structures have evolved, particularly in the late twentieth century and early twenty-first century, the theory continues to adapt to incorporate contemporary experiences such as divorce and re-partnering, emphasizing a broader understanding of family dynamics.
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Family Life Cycle
Family life cycle is a conceptual tool for understanding how families change over time; it is rooted in the family developmental perspective of the 1950s. Just as individuals have different stages in their lives, families can also have different stages. In this case, "cycle" refers to the continuity of family life because most families beget other families. After leaving their families of origin, adult children often create their own families. The study of family life cycles encompasses ideas and observations from an array of disciplines, notably sociology, demography, psychology, and marketing.
Overview
Developmental theorist Evelyn Duvall first outlined the concept of the family life cycle in her 1957 book Family Development. She enumerated eight phases of family development and analyzed the characteristics of each stage. Her theory was improved by Reuben Hill and Roy Rodgers in 1964, and since then their categorizations have been widespread. These categories are: (1) adult newly married couples without children; (2) married couples with children younger than thirty months; (3) families with preschool children; (4) families with school-age children; (5) families with teenagers; (6) families as launching centers; (7) middle-aged active parents; and (8) inactive parents. This categorization is based on three criteria: size of family, age of children, and activity status. This typology was criticized because it ignores many different types of family structures; Duvall herself pointed out that these categories exclude alternative family structures, as well as childless people, same-sex couples, divorced couples, and stepfamilies.
Theorists from the discipline of psychology further adapted the family cycle theory. From the psychological perspective, the focus turned from description and characteristics of each stage to the transitions that are processed from one stage to the next. Jay Haley turned to the concept of family life cycle to understand clinical problems within families. He stated that these dysfunctions arose from difficulties in moving from one developmental stage to another. From a marketing perspective, the family life cycle is important because families have different demands and resources at different stages. This concept can shed light onto the buying patterns of families in accordance with the stage of their cycle. Beginning in the second half of the twentieth century, family structures increasingly diversified. For example, the divorce rate increased and the number of second and third marriages grew in most developed countries. Thus, the theory of the family life cycle required updates to reflect reality. In the early twenty-first century, numerous events have become accepted as valuable events in family life cycle theory, such as leaving the parental home, transitioning to adulthood, transitioning to parenthood, divorce, and re-partnering from the view of the individual instead of the family perspective.
Bibliography
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