Transcript FLC Notes
FAMILY LIFE CYLCE
Child Development
Stage 1
Singles/ Individuals
Stage 2
Marriage
Stage 3
Childbearing
Stage 4
Parenting
Stage 5
Launching/ Teens
Stage 6
Middle Years
Stage 7
Senior Years
Stage 1 Single/Individual
• Emotional changes from relying on family to
emotional and financial responsibility to oneself.
• Beginning to find oneself and develop own beliefs
and ideas. May reject family values and belief.
• Teens developing intimate peer
relationships on a deeper level
than before.
Stage 2 Marriage
PREDICTION OF SUCCESS:
Until death do us part: Not a fact for most marriages.
What age is best to get married?
• 24-30 Youthful marriages
• Up to age 30, the older you are at
marriage the greater likelihood of
marital happiness and success
• Teens have highest divorce rates
• After age 30 higher divorce rate than
20-30.
Prediction of Marital Success
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Education = income, insight, status
Length of engagement
Childhood environment & relationship with family.
Divorced parents may cause a shying away from
marriage.
• Loving each other did not have affect on whether or
not they fought.
• HONEYMOON EFFECT: Overlooking problems.
Reality vs. idealized relationship.
PREDICTION OF SUCCESS FACTORS
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Communicates well
Resolve conflict in a constructive way
Realistic expectations of marriage
Like each other as people (opposites attract
doesn’t work)
• Undesirable traits are magnified in marriage
• Agree on religion & ethical issues
• Spend leisure activities/time with each other
Why have an engagement?
• Reduces anxiety about
marriage.
• Gives couple time to mature
and break from family.
• Make sure partner is right
person.
What’s the secret to a happy marriage?
• When the couple met they felt immediately at home
with each other. Friendship was immediate. There is a
strong physical and/or emotional attraction.
• Happy couples have similar values and beliefs, but
embrace each other’s differences.
• Happy couples have trust
Happily Married
• Happy couples usually describe their mate as
their best friend. They like each other very
much, above all others. They spent a lot of
time together.
• Happy couples share a life dream. They work
together to make the dream come true.
• Happy couples don’t hold a grudge. High
capacity to resolve conflict and move on.
HAPPILY MARRIED continued…
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Happy couples roll with the changes. People do change
and good marriages change too.
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Happy couples agree to have or not to have children.
Couples agree on whether or not to have children.
Essentials of a good marriage
• Marriage is priority, even over the kids
• They are united in their parenting
• Fidelity and commitment!!!
• Unselfishness
• Each person is important
• Time spent together
• Couple time is sacred
• Good Communication
• Respectful to each other
STAGE 3 - CHILDBEARING
• Adjusting to becoming a family or increased
family size.
• Caring for an infant (Wow it’s tough!)
• Providing a positive developmental
environment and learning to be a parent.
• Making sacrifices
• Adjusting to having
less couple time.
STAGE 4 - Parenting
• Caring for Children
• Coping with demands on
energy and attention with
less privacy at home.
• Increasing need to make
sacrifices for children and
family
• VERY stressful time for
parents.
STAGE 4 – Parenting Continued
Family importance:
• Promoting educational achievement
• Fitting in the community of families with
school-age children
• Supporting children’s interests (attend
events!)
STAGE 5 – Launching/ Teens
(When the oldest child is between
the ages of 13 and 20)
• Allowing and helping children to
become more independent
• Coping with their independence
• Developing new interests beyond
child care
STAGE 6 – MIDDLE AGE MARRIAGES
Parents more likely to divorce at
this time. Parents who stayed
together just for the children feel
free to move on.
Empty Nest Syndrome
Boomerang generation: Children
return home due to high
unemployment, housing cost, low
wages, divorce and personal
problems.
Parents may become
grandparents at this time.
Parents may have to care for their
own parents (grandparents)
STAGE 7 - LATER LIFE
• Grand parenting
• Retirement
• How will you live your life once your family
is grown?
• What will you do when you don’t have a
job to go to every day?
• Many people look forward to their “Golden
Years”
Does parenting end when children are grown & gone?
GRANDPARENTING
• Grandparents =
distance is biggest
factor in amount of
involvement
• 25% of preschool
children cared for by
grandparents
• Grandparent
experience the joys of
children without all of
the responsibilities
Stage Review
• Stage 1 (18-21 yrs) Developing autonomy and becoming
independent
• Stage 2 (22-28 yrs) Developing intimacy & occupational
identification. May marry at this time.
• Stage 3 (29-31 yrs) Most likely to become parents at this time.
• Stage 4 (32-39 yrs) Deepening commitments; pursuing more
long-range goals and parenting.
• Stage 5 (40-42 yrs) Parenting transitioning into launching.
• Stage 6 (43-59 yrs) Re-establishing marital relationship/empty
nest
• State 7 (60+ yrs) Dealing with aging while retaining zest for
life. Grand parenting.