Families in Ageing Societies: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach

Western families are undergoing considerable change. The demographic ageing of societies is increasing the number of living generations, and decreasing the number of living relatives within these generations. These ageing societies are also seeing an ageing of some life- transitions, with individuals choosing to delay full economic independence from parents, formal adult union through marriage or committed long-term cohabitation, and parenting. Such demographic change is occurring within the context of a variety of new kin structures-stepfamilies, ethnic minority families, single-parent families, cohabiting couples. This volume takes an inter-disciplinary research approach to consider the implications of demographic ageing for European and American families.