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Research during the past decade shows that social class or socioeconomic status (SES) is related to satisfaction and stability in romantic unions, the quality of parent-child relationships, and a range of developmental outcomes for adults and children. This review focuses on evidence regarding potential mechanisms proposed to account for these associations. Research findings reported during the past decade demonstrate support for an interactionist model of the relationship between SES and family life, which incorporates assumptions from both the social causation and social selection perspectives. This review concludes with recommendations for future research on SES, family processes, and individual development in terms of important theoretical and methodological issues yet to be addressed.
Key Words: relationship processes, socioeconomic status, well-being.
We begin this report by considering the economic changes families have experienced during the period from 2000 to the present. Unfortunately, this review demonstrates that many of today's families face significant financial problems as a result of the current crisis in the economy. Following our discussion of economic conditions, we turn our attention to evidence for the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and (a) satisfaction and stability in adult romantic relationships, (b) the quality of parent-child relationships, and (c) the personal adjustment of adults and children. To guide our efforts we used these and related keywords in our search for information through Sociological Abstracts, PsycINFO, and direct inspection of major family and developmental journals such as Journal of Marriage and Family. From our review of research and theory during the past decade, we conclude that the relationship between SES and the quality of family life is less simple than once assumed. Although we find support for the notion that a family's socioeconomic position affects the life course development and interrelationships of family members, we also find evidence that individual differences appearing during childhood and adolescence help shape economic and educational achievements and also competence as a parent and romantic partner during the adult years. We conclude this review by considering the implications of these observations for the development of theory and research during the next decade.
Because of space constraints, we were selective in our use of reference materials and incorporated only those with the greatest relevance for the purposes of this report. In addition, because...