“My Favorite One Is the One Who Is There Right Now”: Socioeconomic Differences in Support Exchanges within Stepfamilies

Abstract

Family scholars have raised concerns that the reshaping of American families over the last decades might have changed kin support networks and resource sharing within families. Much of this concern stems from documented socioeconomic inequalities in exposure to divorce and separation, formation of new marital or cohabiting unions, and multiple-partner fertility. There is a dearth of research, however, on whether and how the experience of different family structures is shaped by socioeconomic status. This study draws on in-depth interviews with 47 older stepparents in order to investigate exchanges of support with biological and stepchildren in different socioeconomic contexts. Results suggest that scarcity of resources among socioeconomically disadvantaged stepparents and the instability of their (and their children's) social and economic environments promote a specific type of supportive tie-contingent ties. This study shows that ambiguity and contingency in the establishment of supportive relationships with children may represent an adaptive, healthy, and reasonable strategy among older stepparents with scarce resources.