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Family Type Differences in Children’s Satisfaction with People They Live with and Perceptions about Their (Step)parents’ Parenting Practices

Author

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  • Oliver Nahkur

    (Institute of Social Studies, University of Tartu, 51003 Tartu, Estonia)

  • Dagmar Kutsar

    (Institute of Social Studies, University of Tartu, 51003 Tartu, Estonia)

Abstract

Family complexity is increasing in Europe, experienced by a significant proportion of children. More evidence is needed in Europe how children’s family type influences their well-being, especially their family-related subjective well-being, and to what extent parenting practices are playing a role in these relationships. The aim of the paper is to study perceptions of children who live with two biological parents, with a biological and a stepparent, or with a single parent about the parenting practices of their (step)parents and their satisfaction with the people they live with. The analysis is based on the third wave of the “Children’s Worlds” harmonized dataset of 12-year-old children in Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Norway, Poland, and Romania. The findings reveal a ‘cascade of children’s appraisals’ by the family types—overall, living with two biological parents is the least and in a stepparent family the most complex family environment for children, reflected in their highest and lowest evaluations of parenting practices and family-related subjective well-being, respectively. The analyses showed that simple and complex family type differences in children’s family-related subjective well-being are entirely explained by parenting practices in Norway, Estonia, and Poland, but not or almost not at all in Finland, Hungary, and Romania. To conclude, in a caring, safe, and participation-enhancing family atmosphere, children can be inclusively flexible and adapt to new parent-figures.

Suggested Citation

  • Oliver Nahkur & Dagmar Kutsar, 2022. "Family Type Differences in Children’s Satisfaction with People They Live with and Perceptions about Their (Step)parents’ Parenting Practices," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-20, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:11:y:2022:i:5:p:223-:d:820763
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Elizabeth Thomson, 2014. "Family Complexity in Europe," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 654(1), pages 245-258, July.
    2. John F. Ermisch & Marco Francesconi, 2001. "Family structure and children's achievements," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 14(2), pages 249-270.
    3. Oliver Nahkur & Dagmar Kutsar, 2019. "Social Ecological Measures of Interpersonal Destructiveness Impacting Child Subjective Mental Well-Being: Perceptions of 12-Year-Old Children in 14 Countries," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 12(1), pages 353-378, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. I-Jun Chen & Yiyue Wang & Zhiyin Sun & Yunping Song & Liling Wang & Mengping Yang, 2023. "The influence of the parental child-rearing gender-role attitude on children’s social adjustment in single- and two-parent families: the mediating role of intergenerational identity," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-12, December.

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