In today’s society, many couples divorce, then find other partners and remarry. Children often end up with sets of parents, their biological parents and their stepparents. For stepparents and children, what role to assume may be confusing. An article published in U.S. News addressed this issue, taking information from a various social work studies done at Brigham Young University. Research revealed that good communication helps children make the transition and that parents should try to understand their children’s point of view. How the family functions together should be open to discussion, and couples should discuss with each other their roles in parenting. A lack of communication can give rise to awkwardness and problems. Often, one parent must provide child support for children from a previous marriage or even alimony but fails to discuss finances with their new spouse.
Children can feel lost when a parent remarries and believe they are less important than their parent’s new marital relationship — and this feeling is not healthy for the child emotionally.
How many children in the United States live with stepparents? A study showed one-third of children live in a stepfamily before they reach 18 and close to 10 percent of people live in a stepfamily at any given time in their lives.
When caught up in a Pennsylvania divorce, you may not give much thought to a future marital relationship. However, by working closely with a divorce lawyer to resolve your divorce as amicably as possible, you lay the groundwork for future relationships. You also make the post-divorce transition easier for your children.
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