“As American society changes, the structure and functions of American families have been altered.” (Brubaker and Kimberly 1993) Marriage and divorce are both very common experiences in our world today. However, about forty to fifty percent of marriages in the United States end up in divorce. The divorce rate for subsequent marriages is even higher. Due to the increasing divorce and remarriage rates, step/blended families are becoming more common in our society. With the big number of blended families that are now in our society we have to understand how this new family works and the positives and negatives that come along with them. One of the major issues is how members of the family, especially the children, overcome the new problems that
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Ginther and Robert A. Pollak say that children who are in a state of rebellion due to their current situation start having problems with their education. Once it starts their education levels start declining and it is all due to the family structure that they live in. One of the most influential works on the correlation between family structure and children’s outcomes is McLanahan and Sandefur (1994). McLanahan and Sandefur both find that children who grow up in single parent families and children with stepparents have lower educational achievement than those who grow up with both biological parents. However, there are differences in the child’s educational achievement depending on whether the single parent was a man or a woman. It was found that if the child lived with a single mother whom later got married, the child would have a higher occupational status and educational achievement than those children whom lived with a single father. The gender issue with the parent of the child and their education is also connected with the stepparents; a negative and significant correlation was found between living with a stepfather and the children’s educational …show more content…
Ginther and Robert A. Pollak conducted a study to investigate the correlation between family structure and children’s educational outcomes. For this study their research was collected through three data sets: the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), and the children of females from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY-Child). The NLSY and PSID were used to examine the effect of family structure on four schooling outcomes for young adults: years of schooling, high school graduation, college attendance, college graduation. The NLSY-Child data were used to examine the effect of family structure on children’s cognitive outcomes: three Peabody Individual Achievement Tests (PIAT)--reading recognition, reading comprehension, and math. The NLSY began in 1979 with a sample of 12,686 young adults between the ages of 14 and 21. The PSID began collecting data in 1968 with a sample of 4,800 families. The PSID followed individuals from their original families to new ones that formed as a result of births, marriages, divorces, and children leaving home. Beginning in 1986, the NLSY started collecting data every other year on all of the children born to the 3,464 female NLSY respondents (the NLSY-Child
Ginther and Robert A. Pollak say that children who are in a state of rebellion due to their current situation start having problems with their education. Once it starts their education levels start declining and it is all due to the family structure that they live in. One of the most influential works on the correlation between family structure and children’s outcomes is McLanahan and Sandefur (1994). McLanahan and Sandefur both find that children who grow up in single parent families and children with stepparents have lower educational achievement than those who grow up with both biological parents. However, there are differences in the child’s educational achievement depending on whether the single parent was a man or a woman. It was found that if the child lived with a single mother whom later got married, the child would have a higher occupational status and educational achievement than those children whom lived with a single father. The gender issue with the parent of the child and their education is also connected with the stepparents; a negative and significant correlation was found between living with a stepfather and the children’s educational …show more content…
Ginther and Robert A. Pollak conducted a study to investigate the correlation between family structure and children’s educational outcomes. For this study their research was collected through three data sets: the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), and the children of females from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY-Child). The NLSY and PSID were used to examine the effect of family structure on four schooling outcomes for young adults: years of schooling, high school graduation, college attendance, college graduation. The NLSY-Child data were used to examine the effect of family structure on children’s cognitive outcomes: three Peabody Individual Achievement Tests (PIAT)--reading recognition, reading comprehension, and math. The NLSY began in 1979 with a sample of 12,686 young adults between the ages of 14 and 21. The PSID began collecting data in 1968 with a sample of 4,800 families. The PSID followed individuals from their original families to new ones that formed as a result of births, marriages, divorces, and children leaving home. Beginning in 1986, the NLSY started collecting data every other year on all of the children born to the 3,464 female NLSY respondents (the NLSY-Child