The stepfamily is the fastest growing type of family in the UK, reports Care for the Family, a national charity whose mission is to promote strong family life and help families facing difficulties. According to the charity, over one-third of the population in the UK has a stepfamily experience. A stepfamily is one where two adults come together and blend their previously separated families. Sometimes one parent has children, sometimes both adults do, and they come and live together creating a new family unit. One Plus One, another nonprofit organization, states on their website that more than 10 percent of UK families are comprised of either couples with stepchildren or natural and one step-parent with children. The family dynamic is often different when there are Dad’s children and Mom’s children, and the children are trying to get used to the idea that they are not the only ones anymore. No longer are there two families; rather, the parents must work to create a new family, build new relationships and give everyone a chance to adapt to the new unit.
The Office of National Statistics (ONS, 2013) reported that there are more than 2 million single parents in the UK in 2012, up from 1.6 million in 1996. As the number of single parents continues to rise, there is also the likelihood of an increase in the number of stepfamilies as people continue to date and find love. In 2009 19.1 percent of UK marriages involved the remarriage of one partner, while 15.8 percent of marriages were a remarriage of both partners.
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High remarriage rates can be attributed to increasing divorce rates. ONS statistics chart that in 1980, there were 160,000 divorces in the UK; by 2000 there were 155,000. In 2010, 42% of marriages ended in divorce, down three percent since 2005. While there are decreases in divorce rates over the last three decades, the rate remains over forty percent.
Stepfamilies are also comprised of couples cohabitating, but unmarried, with children. In 2001, only eight percent of married couples were stepfamilies, compared to 38 percent of cohabitating, non-married couples with children. The majority of children stay with their biological mother after a breakup. While the number of children living with their biological father and stepmother is on the rise, 78 percent of UK stepfamilies are made up of the biological mother and a stepfather. Four percent of stepfamilies are blend children from both spouses.
With the number of single parents coupled with high divorce rates and high remarriage rates, stepfamilies are the new norm. When one relationship no longer works, couples divorce and move on. People change partners and introduce their children to new stepparents to help in the rearing process. This dynamic is not far afield from the ideals of German philosopher Karl Marx.
According to Marx and his Abolition of the Family, monogamous relationships are unnatural to humans. Marx believed that the family, especially the family of the aristocrats, was based on capital gains. Men and women married for political and financial gains. When there was no more money the marriage would end. Marx’s position was that children should be raised by an entire community. If children were raised by the entire village, society would be one big family, rather than individual bickering units (Weikart, 1994).
Broadening on the concepts of Marx, high divorce rates are due to the fact that monogamous relationships are not natural. People change partners due to the fact that being in a one-on-one relationship is for financial gains and will still divorce because being with one particular person is unsatisfactory. When two people with children divorce and then begin new relationships, the stepparent also becomes involved with the rearing of the children. Children of divorced parents end up with two families when both of their parents find new relationships. Children end up with their biological parents and, in heterosexual relationships, they additionally have a stepmother and a stepfather. If their stepparents have children, then on both sides of the family they have step-siblings. In addition, there is the extended family of both sides; grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc..
The number of stepfamily members can be vast; a diverse and large family and stepfamily involved with the rearing of the children. This can be considered a natural extension or evolution of the nuclear family unit and supports Marx’s theory on the family. Stepfamilies are the societal rearing of children more than as compared to just a biological mother and father raising children alone.
Having additional people involved in the lives of children does not always rear positive results. Adjustments to the family dynamic can cause stress, anxiety, self-esteem issues, academic and behavior problems and a skewed view on relationships and marriage (Engel, 2005). Behavioral problems may require intercession from child protective services, law enforcement and/or the medical community. Stepfamilies have traditionally not had any legal claim to children and have no legal rights when it comes to making decisions about health of the children. As the number of stepfamilies continues to rise in the UK, the government will need to create laws and rights for stepparents to truly act as guardians of their stepchildren. This is especially vital in the event that something drastic happens to the biological parent in the relationship. As divorce raise rise, and the number of single parents rise, the stepfamily may eventually become the most common family structure in the UK.
However, there can be significant problems when it comes to the step-parent being legally recognized. If an individual gets married to another with children, they do not acquire parental responsibilities for the child simply through the marriage. While legally step-parents may find themselves feeling invisible, the day-to-day realities of being a step-parent are very real. For example, if a stepparent takes a child to the doctor, they will need parental authorization to receive treatment (“Step Parent’s Rights at FJG Solicitors Colchester Essex UK”, 2010). As a result, social policies have been constructed in order to help step-parents become more involved from a legal standpoint. For example, if the child resides with the step-parent or the step-parent and another person they can apply for parental responsibility of the child. Still, in the United Kingdom residence orders mentioning step-parents are uncommon (“Step Parent’s Rights at FJG Solicitors Colchester Essex UK”, 2010).
Another method through which a step-parent can gain parental responsibility of a child is through adoption. This puts the step-parent in the same position as the child’s natural birth parent(s) (“Step Parent’s Rights at FJG Solicitors Colchester Essex UK”, 2010). Paternal responsibility agreements are also now quite common. In this agreement, the birth parent or parents (if both birth parents have paternal responsibility of the child) can sign the document if they agree to allow the step-parent parental responsibility. It is a formal and legal document which needs to be completed and then registered at court. Courts can also make orders for parental responsibility on the application of a step-parent. No matter the instigating factor, the court would base its decision on what is in the best interest of the child (“Step Parent’s Rights at FJG Solicitors Colchester Essex UK”, 2010).
Same-sex couples are also now able to acquire parental responsibility through an agreement or a court order. This occurred through the adoption of the Civil Partnership Act. It allows same-sex individuals to gain parental rights over a child if they are in a registered civil partnership with an individual who has a child or children (“Step Parent’s Rights at FJG Solicitors Colchester Essex UK”, 2010).
Meanwhile, while the Equal Tax Act helped insure that individuals could be properly provide for, it did not initially cover adults who had stepchildren. Since the act was designed in 1970, other social policies have been passed which allow for step-children to be added to one’s insurance policy. If an individual’s step-children live with them full-time and are considered dependents, it will likely be possible to add them. If they do not live with the individual wishing to cover them full-time, they may not be able to be added. This does, however, vary from employer to employer as to whether or not it is offered; it can be offered but not all employers have adopted the policy yet. Employee handbooks will offer required information on the matter (“How to include your step-children on your medical insurance”, 2010).
- Care for the Family. (2013). A new family – the fun and hard work of building a stepfamily. Website. Retrieved http://www.careforthefamily.org.uk/
- Engel, M. (2005). Worldwide stepfamily tribulations under current laws and social policies. Working paper.
- Fjg.co.uk (2010) Step Parent’s Rights at FJG Solicitors Colchester Essex UK. [online] Available at: http://www.fjg.co.uk
- Helium.com (2010) How to include your step-children on your medical insurance. [online] Available at: http://www.helium.com
- Office of National Statistics. (2013). http://www.ons.gov.uk
- One Plus One. (2013). Helping children adjust to life in a stepfamily. Retrieved April 27, 2013 from http://www.oneplusone.org.uk
- Weikart, R. (1994). Marx, Engels, and the abolition of the family. History of European Ideas, 18(5), 657-672.
