Familial Types

Up until the age of 6, I grew up in your stereotypical nuclear family, consisting of my mother, my father, myself, and my younger sister. This type of family is generally what people picture as the perfect family style if they were to be asked to draw their ideal family.

When I was 6 my parents got divorced and I lived in a single parent home with my mother and my younger sister.  Statistics say that most people will live in a single family home before the age of 21. This statistic is in part due to the increased rate of divorce and the ease of which you can obtain one. Also, out of marriage births occur more frequently and it is more societally acceptable for women to raise a child without a spouse.

Up until recently my mother remained unmarried. I now live in a home with my mother, stepfather, younger sister, and three step siblings (as if 7 people isn't enough, we also serve hand and foot a number of pets). This is an example of a blended family where there is a mixture blood-related relatives and non blood-related relatives all contributing to the family structure.

My father remains unmarried today, but lives with his longtime life parter of over 10 years. At various times in my life I would visit them in their example of a cohabitation family. Studies show that most children will spend some time in a cohabitating family before the age of 16.

Each of these examples are representative of different types of families. The structure of family has changed over the years to represent a diverse number of things from the stereotypical nuclear family to homosexual cohabitation, heterosexual cohabitation, adoption, to single parent homes. Each of these structures, however different, are what someone calls home.