Lebens- und Familienformen - Tatsachen und Normen

A. SØRENSEN: LIFE COURSE AND FAMILY DYNAMICS
data has shown convincingly, I believe, that a substantial portion of the observed difference between children
growing up with two parents and others is spurious due to social and economic background, to the level of
conflict in the family, and to problem behavior of children prior to divorce. 3 Nonetheless, most studies show
that there remains a significant negative effect that most likely should be seen as a causal effect of divorce on
the family’s capacity to provide as well for its dependent children as two-parent families do. It is clear that we
have come a long way from the optimism of the 1970’s when it was generally thought that a divorce was
better than a poor marriage, not only for the adults but also for the children. 4
Many of the effects associated with divorce are effects rooted in living with only one parent, usually the
mother. For this reason much of what has been said earlier would apply also to children being born out of
wedlock. There are, however, two important qualifications. First, the social meaning for the child of ‘out of
wedlock’ birth varies tremendously from country to country. In the US and England it typically means that
the child’s father does not live with the mother; in France and in the Scandinavian countries the vast majority
of these children are born into a two-parent family where the parents just happen not to be legally married
but cohabiting. Second, as was clear in the study of parental histories, children born into a single mother
family experience many more family changes than others do. This suggests that these children might be particularly
at risk of not getting the optimal care in their family. Children of cohabiting parents are somewhat
more likely to experience a ‘divorce’, so this would also increase their risk, although probably considerably less
than children who have never lived with their father.
Public families on call
I finally turn to a much less studied issue namely whether changes in the private family may have weakened
the public family in the sense that fewer adults are able to call on help and care from a family when they no
longer can care for themselves. The question now is whether the family choices adults make in modern society
makes it less likely that they sometime later in the life course will be or has been a member of a private family
that also can be counted on the serve as a public family should the need arise.
Argueing against it is that freedom to choose the intimate relationship one prefers put more people in a
situation where they share their lives with someone for a considerable period of time, be that a partner or
children. There are several problems with this argument. The first is that only in certain types of private families
do its members have a formal, legal obligation to provide care for adult dependents. This varies from
society to society. A case in point is cohabitation. In the Scandinavian countries a cohabiting couple has
almost the same obligations to each other as do married people. In the US, for example, this is not yet the
case.
If you no longer live in a private family – suppose you divorced your spouse several years ago – then he
has no legal obligation to provide care if you get seriously ill, nor does he have any special obligation to provide
financial or social support. Alice and Peter Rossi’s study of parent-child relations over the life course show
quite clearly that former spouses feel little or no obligation towards each other (Rossi & Rossi, 1990). In fact
the ex-spouse is seen as having less normative obligations towards you than a neighbor or a friend (Rossi &
Rossi, 1990, p.175). The situation is quite different with respect to adult children who are seen as having a
normative obligation to provide aid and support to parents in need. The help that is forthcoming from adult
children may, however, be lower if the parents divorced than if they stayed married (White, 1992).
I think it is safe to say that research to date suggests that children continue to be an important source of
well-being in old age and an important source of help and support, even in societies with very well develo-
3 Another Swedish study has shown that adults who report many conflicts in their home while growing up
but that the parents did not divorce had significantly poorer mental health as adults than respondents who
came from conflictual families where the parents divorced (Gaehler, 1994).
4 The life course perspective and the use of longitudinal data have been crucial for our better understanding of
these issues.
ÖIF – MATERIALIENSAMMLUNG HEFT 4 „LEBENS- UND FAMILIENFORMEN – TATSACHEN UND NORMEN“ 29