This research note illustrates the importance of a holistic approach to family demography and children’s well-being. Using the family configurations published in a previous study, we show that a configurational measure of family patterns predicts better the country-level proportion of stunted and wasted children across 75 low- and middle-income countries than 20 single family-related variables, world regions, and the Human Development Index. We contend that demographers need to do a better job of measuring social systems because individuals’ choices are influenced by contexts that are better represented with measures that capture multiple related factors (holistic approach) than with a single variable (analytical approach).
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Abstract Objective This article discusses how kinship is construed and enacted in diverse forms of the family that are now part of the culturally pluralistic family system of Western societies.
Background This study is the second in a pair documenting changes over the past century in the meaning and practice of kinship in the family system of Western societies with industrialized economies. While the first paper reviewed the history of kinship studies, this companion piece shifts the focus to research explorations of kinship in alternative family forms, those that depart from the standard nuclear family structure.
Method The review was conducted running multiple searches on Google Scholar and Web of Science directly targeting nonstandard family forms, using search terms such as “cohabitation and kinship,” “same‐sex family and kinship,” and “Artificial Reproductive Technology and kinship,” among others. About 70% of studies focused on the United States, while the remaining 30% focused on other industrialized Western societies.
Results We identified three general processes by which alternative family forms are created and discussed how kinship practices work in each of them. The
first cluster of alternative family forms comes about throughvariations of formal marriage or its absence , including sequential marriages, plural marriages, consensual unions, single parenthood, and same‐sex marriages and partnerships. Thesecond cluster is formed as a result ofalterations in the reproduction process , when a child is not the product of sexual intercourse between two people. Thethird cluster results from theformation of voluntary bonds that are deemed to be kinship‐like, in which affiliation rests on neither biological nor legal bases.Conclusion Findings from this study point to a broad cultural acceptance of an inclusive approach to incorporating potential kin in “family relationships.” It is largely left to individuals to decide whether they recognize or experience the diffuse sense of emotional connectedness and perceived obligation that characterize the bond of kinship. Also, family scripts and kinship terms often borrow from the vocabulary and parenting practices observed in the standard family form in the West. Concurrently, the cultural importance of biology remains strong.
Implications This study concludes by identifying important gaps in the kinship literature and laying out a research agenda for the future, including building a
demography of kinship .
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