Second families need to work at relationships
Stepchildren are less likely to care for their non-biological parents in later life but that may depend on both age and the family relationships that are developed, according to a new US study.
Dr Adam Davey of Temple University, surveyed 2,100 parents aged 50 and over and found that divorce alone did not affect the quality of the parent-child relationship. He discovered that the earlier a father remarried in a child’s life the more likely the child would provide help later.
As well, the more time a child’s life was spent with a divorced mother the higher the likelihood was that the child would help when the mother was older. Whether adult children became the type to visit nursing homes on birthdays and at Christmas often depended on how old they were when their parents parted and the relationships over the years.
Stepfather Association of Victoria executive officer, Steve Martin, said it was unrealistic for step-parents to simply expect support from non-biological children without all concerned developing and maintaining family relationships.
