Family Change in Global Perspective: How and Why Family Systems Change

2019/05/23 by Frank F. Furstenberg
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Census #Chart #Climate change #Demography #Development economics #Developmental psychology #Economic growth #Economics #Family Dynamics and Relationships #Family systems #Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics #Geography #Global change #Globe #Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving #Pace #Perspective (graphical) #Political science #Population #Psychology #Social change #Sociology

paper · doi:10.1111/fare.12361

crossref issued 2019/05/23 · crossref published 2019/05/23 · crossref published-online 2019/05/23 · openalex publication_date 2019/05/23 · crossref created 2019/05/23 · crossref published-print 2019/07/01 · crossref deposited 2023/09/10 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref indexed 2026/08/05 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

Changes in family systems that have occurred over the past half century throughout the Western world are now spreading across the globe to nations that are experiencing economic development, technological change, and shifts in cultural beliefs. Traditional family systems are adapting in different ways to a series of conditions that forced shifts in all Western nations. In this paper, I examine the causes and consequences of global family change, introducing a recently funded project using the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and U.S. Census Bureau data to chart the pace and pattern of changes in marriage and family systems in low- and middle-income nations.

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