Family life cycle: what it is, stages, and transitions.

Let's see what the family life cycle is, its different phases and the crises it goes through.

Throughout its life, the composition of a family changes, as do the interpersonal relationships established within it.

In every family there are crisis situations such as deaths, job losses, changes of home and the evolutionary changes of the children, such as the entry into adolescence or their emancipation as adults.

These changes and transitions are what we know as the family life cycle, and there are several models that specify the family life cycle.There are several models that specify which are the stages that most families go through and what makes the transition from one to another.

What is the family life cycle?

The family life cycle is all the stages that a family goes through in its life.. These stages are progressive, associated with changes in the composition of the family nucleus and also in the relationships between its members. Every family can be influenced and altered by internal and external factors, such as the cultural system, values, social expectations and political changes.

The concept of the family life cycle is composed of several stages, which, although they vary according to the author consulted, are supposed to correspond to the periods through which most families pass within a society. These stages begin and end with the experience of different life events, events that most families are expected to experience at some point in their existence.

The stages of the family life cycle

The concept of the family life cycle has been approached from various social sciences, such as social psychology and sociology.. Depending on who you ask, it is agreed that all families go through some stages or others. Among the most popular models we have two: Wells and Gubar's model and Duvall's model. Below we will mention all the stages proposed in their models:

Family life cycle according to Wells and Gubar (1966) 2.

The model of William W. Wells and George Gubar is made up of 8 stages that differ in terms of the presence of children in the household and their ages.

• Single stage: Young unmarried people living separately.
• Newly married couple: Young married couples without children.
• Full nest I: Young couples with children under 6 years of age.
• Full Nest II: Young couples with children over 6 years old.
• Full Nest III: Older couples with dependent children.
• Empty Nest I: There are no more children in the household. The head of household is still working.
• Empty Nest II: The head of household has retired/retired.
• Lone survivor: Working or retired.

2. Family life cycle according to Duvall (1988).

Evelyn Millis Duvall's model is also composed of 8 stages. In this model The age of the children is also taken into special consideration, but in this case it focuses on the evolutionary stage in which they find themselves.

• Married couples: Childless.
• Families in early parenting: Firstborn under 30 months.
• Families with preschool-age children: First-born child between 2.5 and 6 years old.
• Families with school-age children: Firstborn between 6 and 13 years.
• Families with teenagers: Firstborn between 13 and 20 years old.
• Families as a launching pad: From the time the first-born child leaves home until the youngest child leaves home.
• Middle-aged parents: From empty nest to retirement.
• Family with elderly members: From retirement to death of both partners.

Transitions and crises

Throughout their life cycle, families go through different crises and problems that, although they are not usually serious or cause the family nucleus to disintegrate, imply changes in family life.

As the years go by all families have to face several natural events, such as births, deaths and the growth of their children, situations that can involve greater stress if there is an economic crisis or relational problems in the background. These are events that alter the structure of the family and test its adaptability.

Following, and taking Duvall's model as a reference, we can see which are the crises and stressors that a cisheteronormative family may encounter throughout its existence:

1. Newly married couple

This is the stage where everything begins, as long as the relationship prospers. It is that moment when two people meet, establish a loving relationship, make life plans and get married.

The stage itself involves several identity crises, as both partners have to come to terms with both partners have to come to terms with the fact that they are no longer single people, but the "half" of a couple.but the "half" of a whole. Both members of this new couple must negotiate what beliefs and expectations to adopt in order to create a new identity as a couple and as a future family.

2. Families in early parenting

At this stage the crisis occurs when two people in a relationship become three (or four) because the woman is pregnant.. New parents have to adapt to their new roles as parents, bond with their child and coordinate on parenting tasks.

3. Families with preschool children

In this case the crisis is related to infancy, time when the first-born children acquire a little autonomy and become difficult to control for their parents, especially if the for their parents, especially if the children are curious and want to explore the world around them. In addition, at this stage there may be tensions due to mismatches in work and family roles.

4. Families with school-age children

The crisis is given by the beginning of the school. The child has to learn to relate to other children and other figures of authority to part of his parents.Parents have to interact with other parents and teachers at the school. It is a stage in which homework, extracurricular activities, failing and passing grades, parents' meetings... appear.

5. Families with teenagers

The main reason for crises in families with adolescents is related to identity conflicts typical of adolescence. The family has to adjust to the onset of puberty and sexual maturity, cope with the child's desire for independence and rebelliousness and discussions that will be held with him or her for various divergences.

6. Families as a launching pad

Here the crisis occurs with the imminent departure of the children. Parents have to accept that their little ones have grown up, that they seek to become masters of their own lives.The students have greater independence and can make their own decisions about their non-compulsory education and profession.

7. Middle-aged parents

No longer have children at home. Parents have to readjust their identity since for many years a large part of their routine consisted of taking care of their children and, now that they are no longer at home, they have to fill that empty space, the space left by not being a parent 24/7.

Now, without children at home, they have to take on different roles, including grandparenting their newborn grandchildren or facing retirement.

8. Family with elderly members

Finally, the last stage of the family life cycle is set up with a crisis provoked by the perception that youth, vitality, health and a partner have been lost.in case he/she has already passed away. The two members of the couple or the widower prepare themselves psychologically to face the last stage of their lives before the inevitable arrival of death.

Weaknesses of the classical models

The family life-cycle models just discussed were conceptualized around the 1960s.. Since then, the concept of family has been changing, in addition to several social changes that make it necessary to propose new models of family life cycle stages so that they can adapt to the new realities.

Throughout the last half of the last century and so far this century there has been an increase in life expectancy, a lower birth rate, changes in the social roles of women, a higher rate of divorce and remarriage, as well as the appearance of more single-parent families and homosexual marriages.