Marital Relationships Over the Life Cycle
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Chapter Questions
 Can I be happy if my marriage isn’t?
 How do families change over time?
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Chapter Questions
 What adjustments are necessary for newly married people?
Preview
 So how much will my life change when I have a baby?
© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Chapter Questions
 What issues do middle-aged couples deal with?
 What changes do older adults have to contend with?
 What are the special challenges for widows?
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Preview
 1 st : Question
 2 nd : Study
 3 rd : Mark
 4 th : Question again
 5 th : Recite
 6 th : Check
 7 th : Restudy if necessary
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A © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

B 1-2-3
 What changes happen in a typical
American family?
 How happy are people with their marriages at different points in life?
 What special challenges do gay and lesbian families face?
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What adjustments are necessary for newly married people?
 What kinds of adjustments do couples need to make?
C 1-2
 What are the most common problems couples have in the early years of marriage?
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D 1-2
So how much will my life change when I have a baby?
 Just how stressful is it going to be?
 How does fathering affect a man?
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E 1-2
 What can couples do about a long marriage that is no longer satisfying?
 What kinds of adjustments do parents of grown children need to make?
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What changes do older adults have to contend with?
 What makes life satisfying for older adults?
 How happy are older adults in their marriages?
 What is the effect of divorce between older adults?
 How do older parents and grown children get along?
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Personal Perspective:
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Cultural Perspectives:
Individualism versus Familism
What can we learn from the
Mexican American culture that could strengthen our families?
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Who cares for the elderly?
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A Question of Policy:
How will we be able to afford the health care costs of an aging baby boom generation?
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Preview SS END © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

A
Marriage & Personal
Happiness
 Quality of marriage has strong effect on happiness and life satisfaction
 Marriages have to change with life circumstances to be happy

Partners’ flexibility and willingness to make adjustments is critical
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A End © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Family Life Cycle
B
 Family life is divided into phases
(stages) over the life span
 Structure and function of family change with each stage
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The Family Life Cycle
B 1
 Two children born two years apart.
 Children leave at age 20.
 Retirement at age 65
 Men die at age 74, women at age 80.
 Women spend at least 6 years as a widow.
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The Family Life Cycle –
Intact Marriage
B 1
 Married when woman is 25 and man is 27.
 First child born when woman is 27 and man is 29.
 When last child leaves home, woman is 48 and man is 51.
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The Family Life Cycle –
Intact Marriage
 Woman has 16 empty-nest years, man has 14, until retirement
B 1
 Couple has 9 post-retirement years together
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The Family Life Cycle –
Divorced and Remarried
 More complicated
 Divorce when she is 30 and he is 32 and children are 3 and 5
 Women remarry 3 years later
 Men remarry 4 years later
B 1
 Children live with their mothers
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B 1
The Family Life Cycle –
Divorced and Remarried
 Women are 33 when they remarry
 Children are 6 and 8.
 Youngest child leaves when mother is 47.
 18 empty-nest years before retirement.
 9 post-retirement years with new husband.
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The Family Life Cycle –
Divorced and Remarried
 Men are 36 when they remarry
 He becomes a stepfather.
 Spouses are 33 w/ 2 children ages 6 and 8.
 Youngest child leaves when man is 50.
 15 empty-nest years before retirement
B 1
 8 years together after retirement.
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Changes in Marital Satisfaction
B 2
 1. Stable/Positive
 2. Stable/Neutral
 3. Stable/Negative
 4. Continuous decline
 5. Continuous increase
 6. Curvilinear-most common
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B 2
Changes in Marital Satisfaction
 Curvilinear most common
– High satisfaction at time of marriage
– Lower during child-rearing years
– Rebounds — youngest child beyond adolescent years
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Gay and Lesbian Families
 Similarities to other family types:
B 3
– Negotiate relationships with larger community and families of origin
– Decide how to meet needs
 Whole family
 Individual members
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B End © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Marital Adjustment Process
 Modifying and adapting behavior and interaction patterns
 Both individual and couple changes
G
 Goal: Marital satisfaction and success
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G 1
Emotional fulfillment & support
Sexual adjustment
Personal habits
Gender roles
Material concerns & finances
Work, employment, & achievement
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G 1
Social life, friends, and recreation
Family and relatives
Communication
Power and decision making
Handling conflict and solving problems
Morals, values, and ideology
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G 1
 How many other issues couple has to deal with regarding:
– Degree of compatibility
– How many issues unresolved
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C 2
Major Issues at Early Stages
Table 8.2 = challenges couples face early
Money is number one, then:
Before marriage: jealousy, relatives, friends
First year of marriage: communication and sex
After first birth: sex, communication, relatives; jealousy and friends drop to bottom of list
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C End
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Requirements for Adjusting to Parenthood
Living with a totally dependent person is very challenging!
Preparation
Willingness to ask for and accept help
D
Flexibility in adjusting life to meeting another’s needs
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Degree of stress depends on:
D 1
 How well prepared parents are
 How easy child is to care for
 Maturity of parents
 Economic status
 Social support
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D 2
Being a Father
 What men consider important in fathering:
– Love
– Being a provider
– “Being there”
– Being a model, teacher, moral guide
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D 2
Being a Father
 Affected development more than anything else
 Much more positive than negative, despite challenges
 Gave meaning to life
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D End © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

E
Midlife Issues
Physical changes
Awareness of finite time left – personalization of mortality
Introspection and self-analysis
Heavy financial responsibilities
Entering prime of life’s fulfillment
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E 1
Adjustments during Middle
Adulthood
– Marital satisfaction lowest – school age/teenage children
– Time for revitalization
– Sandwich generation
– Postparental years
 Empty nest
 No so empty nest — boomerang kids
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E End
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F 1
Late Adulthood Means
Maintaining:
–Health and activity level
–Adequate income
–Fulfilling work roles
–Acceptable living conditions
–Identity and social status
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F 1
Late Adulthood Means
Maintaining:
-Companionship and friendship
-Leisure time
-New familial roles
Acceptance of one’s life and achieving ego integrity
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F 2-3-4
Adjustments during Late
Adulthood
 Marital satisfaction usually increased
— second honeymoon
 Divorce more difficult when older
– Negatively affects parent-adult child relationship
 Maintaining parent-adult child relations is important
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F End
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Life Expectancies
G
 Men die at 74
 Women die at 80
 Most women will be widows
 Widows exceed widowers — at all ages

Spouse’s death — one of most traumatic events
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G
Widowhood
 Widows need more family contact
 Problems
– Major loneliness
– Home and car repair
– Finances
– Role changes
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G End
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