Family Complexity in Europe

Every European country has experienced changes in partnership behavior--increased divorce, delayed and avoided marriage, cohabitation that is even less stable than marriage, and the formation of new partnerships (Sobotka and Toulemon 2008; Perelli-Harris et al. 2010; Thomson et al. 2014). These changes are also experienced by a significant proportion of children, who then live with single parents or alternately with both of their separated parents, become stepchildren, and often acquire half siblings. The transitions that occur in the lives of adults and their children produce families and households that are complex. Each of the transitions mentioned has been well studied, as have some of the consequences. What may not be appreciated is how the accumulation of events in the life course has produced an increasing complexity in family life for communities, societies, and the families themselves. In this article, I review variation across Europe in the demographic processes that produce family complexity and, to the extent that the data allow, I demonstrate that several processes continue to increase or have leveled off at relatively high levels. Some special attention is given to Sweden, a forerunner in family change. Comparisons with the United States also identify the ways in which U.S. families are outliers and the ways in which they have parallel experiences to families in Europe. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Inc., copyright The American Academy of Political and Social Science.]