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Blended Families - Makeup and Feelings
The national statistics tell us about custody, but we do not have
statistics on what happens inside the blended family. Here
are some observations from the
Wallerstein study
and the
Ahrons study
.
From the Wallerstein Study:
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Half the children whose mothers had remarried said they did not
feel welcome in the new family.
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In a quarter of families where the mother had remarried, one
child felt included while another did not.
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Two thirds of "younger children" (probably up to age 8) are able to
love both stepfathers and biological fathers, without feeling loyalty
conflicts, and 90% feel their lives have been substantially enhanced
by having a stepfather.
-
Of older children, those "well along in elementary school," 90
percent feel their lives have
not
been enhanced by their
having a stepfather.
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In the study, only one stepfather helped with college expenses.
From the Ahrons study:
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Somewhat over half of the new partners had children from previous relationships.
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Seventy percent of new wives and 30% of the new husbands, where they had
children from the prior marriage, had the children residing with them
in the new household.
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Ten percent had a new child born to the new relationship.
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