ABSTRACT
Increases in divorce and nonmarital childbearing have dramatically altered the family lives of children in the United States. Whereas in the early 1960s, nearly 90% of all children lived with both of their biological parents until age 18; today less than half of children grow up with both parents. Nearly one third are born to unmarried parents, the vast majority of whom never live together, and another one third are born to married parents who divorce before the child reaches adulthood. Many children who live apart from their biological fathers spend time in a stepparent family, and a substantial proportion of these children experience multiple disruptions.
