Family Structure

“Family structure” is a term that describes the members of a household who are linked by marriage or bloodline and is typically used in reference to at least one child residing in the home under the age of 18. Today these structures are identified as two-parent, one-parent, and “living with neither parent” (e.g., adoptive families, grandparent families or other relatives, foster care families, institutionalized children). However, since the mid-1940s other changes in family life have resulted in more complicated designations of family structure, including blended families, single-parent plus partner families (cohabiting couples, both opposite sex and same sex), multigenerational families, and binuclear families). This entry outline the various common definitions of different family structures, identifies changes in family structure over time, and discusses their increasing complexity.