Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Diversity and Family Relations in an Aging Society

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Handbook of Sociology of Aging

Part of the book series: Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research ((HSSR))

Abstract

To appreciate the changes that have occurred in American families over the last three decades, ­consider the occupants of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. In the 1980s, Nancy and Ronald Reagan called the White House home. Members of the “Greatest Generation” shaped by World War II, the Reagans were prototypical empty nesters with grown children pursuing their own, sometimes awkward, way in the world. Famously devoted, the President and First Lady seemed to have a storybook marriage, albeit one with a twist. He had been married before, creating what sociologists call a blended family of divorce and remarriage.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bengtson, Vern L. 1975. “Generation and Value Effects in Socialization.” American Sociological Review 40(3):358–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • —  —  —. 2001. “The Burgess Award Lecture: Beyond the Nuclear Family: The Increasing Importance of Multigenerational Bonds.” Journal of Marriage and Family 63(1):1–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blumberg, Stephen J. and Julian V. Luke. 2009. “Wireless Substitution: Early Release of Estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, July–December 2008.” Technical Report, Center for Disease Control, National Center for Health Statistics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brückner, Hannah and Karl Ulrich Mayer. 2005. “The De-Standardization of the Life Course: What It Might Mean and If It Means Anything Whether It Actually Took Place.” Advances in Life Course Research 9:27–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burr, Jeffery A., Kirsten K. Gerst, Ngai Kwan, and Jan E. Mutchler. 2009. “The Economic Well-Being and Welfare Program Participation of Older Immigrants.” Generations 32(4):53–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caldwell, John C. 1980. “Mass Education as a Determinant of the Timing of Fertility Decline.” Population and Development Review 6(2):225–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carstensen, Laura L. 1991. “Socioemotional Selectivity Theory: Social Activity in Life-Span Context.” Pp. 195–217 in Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics, volume 11, edited by K. W. Schaie and M. P. Lawton. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cherlin, Andrew J. 2004. “The Deinstitutionalization of American Marriage.” Journal of Marriage and the Family 66:848–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cherlin, Andrew and Frank F. Furstenberg Jr. 1986. The New American Grandparent: A Place in the Family, a Life Apart. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Easterlin, Richard A. 1961. “The American Baby Boom in Historical Perspective.” The American Economic Review 51(5):869–911.

    Google Scholar 

  • Easterlin, Richard A., Christine Macdonald, and Diane J. Macunovich. 1990. “Retirement Prospects of the Baby Boom Generation: A Different Perspective.” The Gerontologist 30(6):776–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eckholm, Erik. 2010. “A Determined Quest to Bring Adoptive Ties to Foster Teenagers.” The New York Times. Retrieved January 30, 2010. (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/us/31adopt.html?scp=2&sq=foster%20care&st=cse).

  • Feliciano, Cynthia, Belinda Robnet, and Golnaz Komaie. 2009. “Gendered Racial Exclusion among White Internet Daters.” Social Science Research 38(1):39–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fuller-Thomson, Esme, Meredith Minkler, and Diane Driver. 1997. “A Profile of Grandparents Raising Grandchildren in the United States.” The Gerontologist 37(3):406–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freedman, Vicki A., Emily M. Agree, Linda G. Martin, and Jennifer C. Cornman. 2006. “Trends in the Use of Assistive Technology and Personal Care for Late-Life Disability, 1992–2001.” The Gerontologist 46:124–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glass, Jennifer L., Vern L. Bengtson, and Charlotte Chorn Dunham. 1986. “Attitude Similarity in Three-Generation Families: Socialization, Status Inheritance, or Reciprocal Influence?” American Sociological Review 51(5):685–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Himes, Christine L. 2002. “Elderly Americans.” Population Bulletin 4 (June). Washington, DC: U.S. Bureau of the Census.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, Mary Elizabeth and Linda J. Waite. 2007. “The Aging of the Second Demographic Transition.” Pp. 179–211 in Social Structures: Demographic Changes and the Well-Being of Older Persons, edited by K. W. Schaie and P. Uhlenberg. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kanaìaupuni, Shawn Malia, Katharine M. Donato, Theresa Thompson-Colón, and Melissa Stainback. 2005. “Counting on Kin: Social Networks, Social Support, and Child Health Status.” Social Forces 83(3):1137–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keister, Lisa A. and Natalia Deeb-Sossa. 2001. “Are Baby Boomers Richer Than Their Parents? Intergenerational Patterns of Wealth Ownership in the United States.” Journal of Marriage and Family 53(2):569–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knickman, James R. and Emily K. Snell. 2002. “The 2030 Problem: Caring for Aging Baby Boomers.” Health Services Research 37(4):849–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krach, Constance A., Victoria A. Velkoff. 1999. “Centenarians in the United States.” Current Population Reports Series P23-199RV. Washington, DC: U.S. Bureau of the Census.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, Jennifer and Frank D. Bean. 2007. “Reinventing the Color Line: Immigration and America’s New Racial/Ethnic Divide.” Social Forces 86(2):561–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lusardi, Annamaria and Olivia S. Mitchell. 2007. “Baby Boomer Retirement Security: The Roles of Planning, Financial Literacy, and Housing Wealth.” Journal of Monetary Economics 54:205–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mader, Sharon L. 2009. “Grandparents Raising Their Grandchildren.” Fact Sheet FLM-FS-25-01-R09, Family and Consumer Sciences, Ohio State University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mannheim, Karl. 1927[1953]. “The Problem of Generations.” Pp. 275–322 in Essays on the Sociology of Knowledge, edited by P. Kecskemeti. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayhew, Bruce H. 1973. “System Size and Ruling Elites.” American Sociological Review 38(3):468–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Migration Policy Institute. 2009. Immigration and America’s Future: A New Chapter. Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Minkler, Meredith. 1999. “Intergenerational Households Headed by Grandparents: Contexts, Reality, and Implications for Policy.” Journal of Aging Studies 13(2):199–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mok, Diana, Barry Wellman, and Ranu Basu. 2007. “Did Distance Matter before the Internet? Interpersonal Contact and Support in the 1970s.” Social Networks 29(3):430–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pienta, Amy Mehraban and Mark D. Hayward. 2002. “Who Expects to Continue Working after Age 62? The Retirement Plans of Older Couples.” Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences 57:S199–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pyke, Karen. 2004. “Immigrant Families in the U.S.” Pp. 253–69 in The Blackwell Companion to the Sociology of the Family, edited by J. L. Scott, J. Treas, and M. P. M. Richards. New York: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Qian, Zhenchao and Daniel T. Lichter. 2007. “Social Boundary and Marital Assimilation: Evaluating Trends in Racial and Ethnic Intermarriage.” American Sociological Review 72:68–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rohr, Margund K. and Frieder R. Lang. 2009. “Aging Well Together: A Mini-Review.” Gerontology 55(3):333–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rook, Karen S. and Tonya L. Schuster. 1996. “Compensatory Processes in the Social Networks of Older Adults.” Pp. 219–48 in Handbook of Social Support and the Family, edited by G. R. Pierce, B. R. Sarason, and I. G. Sarason. New York: Plenum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenfeld, Dana. 1999. “Identity Work among Lesbian and Gay Elderly.” Journal of Aging Studies 13(2):121–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosnick, David and Dean Baker. 2009. “The Wealth of the Baby Boom Cohorts after the Collapse of the Housing Bubble.” Technical Report, Center for Economic and Policy Research, Washington, D.C. Available at: http://www.flhsa.org/Sage/baby

  • Settersten, Richard A., Jr. 2007. “Social Relationships in the New Demographic Regime: Potentials and Risks, Reconsidered.” Advances in Life Course Research 12:3–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro, Adam and Teresa M Cooney. 2007. “Divorce and Intergenerational Relations across the Life Course.” Advances in Life Course Research 12:191–220.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simmons, Tavia and Jane Lawler. 2002. “Grandparents Living with Their Grandchildren.” Technical Report, Census 2000 Brief C2KBR-31, US Bureau of the Census, October.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas, William and Florian Znaniecki. 1918[1996]. The Polish Peasant in Europe and America. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Treas, Judith. 2002. “How Cohorts, Education, and Ideology Shaped a New Sexual Revolution on American Attitudes toward Nonmarital Sex.” Sociological Perspectives 43(3):267–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • —  —  —. 2008a. “The Dilemma of Gender Specialization: Substituting and Augmenting Wives’ Household Work.” Rationality and Society 20:259–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • —  —  —. 2008b. “Transnational Older Adults and Their Families.” Family Relations 57:468–78.

    Google Scholar 

  • —  —  —. 2009. “Four Myths about Older Adults in America’s Immigrant Families.” Generations: Immigration in an Aging Society 32(4):40–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Treas, Judith and Sonja Drobnic, eds. 2010. Dividing the Domestic: Women, Men, and Housework in Cross-National Perspective. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Treas, Judith and Zoya Gubernskaya. 2009. “Has Maternal Contact Declined? Evidence for Seven Countries, ­1986–2001.” XXVI IUSSP International Population Conference. Marrakech.

    Google Scholar 

  • Treas, Judith and Shampa Mazumdar. 2002. “Older People in America’s Immigrant Families: Dilemmas of Dependence, Integration, and Isolation.” Journal of Aging Studies 16:243–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • —  —  —. 2004. “Kinkeeping and Caregiving: Contributions of Older People in Immigrant Families.” Journal of Comparative Family Studies 35(1):105–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Uhlenberg, Peter. 1992. “Population Aging and Social Policy.” Annual Review of Sociology 18(1):449–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, and Center for Demographic and Social Analysis, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA

    Judith Treas

Authors
  1. Judith Treas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Christopher Steven Marcum
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Judith Treas .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Human Development and Family Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, 97331-2302, Oregon, USA

    Richard A. Settersten

  2. Dept. Sociology, University of Texas, Austin, University Station 1, Austin, 78712, Texas, USA

    Jacqueline L. Angel

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Springer New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Treas, J., Marcum, C.S. (2011). Diversity and Family Relations in an Aging Society. In: Settersten, R., Angel, J. (eds) Handbook of Sociology of Aging. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7374-0_9

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation