15.1.2020 Paloncyová, Jana – Barvíková, Jana – Höhne, Sylva – Kuchařová, Věra – Nešporová, Olga
Reconstituted families
Prague: RILSA, 2019. 161 pp., ISBN 978-80-7416-345-6
The publication provides an insight into the functioning of so-called reconstituted families, i.e. families in which at least one child has one step-parent. Although such families are becoming increasingly common in society, they have, to date, completely escaped the attention of standard demographic statistics and large sample surveys commissioned by the Czech Statistical Office. The study is based on the results of a sample survey and in-depth interviews with members of such families. The first part of the study considers the composition of such families in terms of basic socio-demographic characteristics (e.g. whether the step-parent is the man or the woman or both, how many children live in the family and their ages and the socio-economic status of the parents). Further, the study provides insight into the daily functioning of such families with particular reference to relationships between family members, the financial situation, the reconciliation of work and family life, attitudes to life in general and their views concerning family policy. The aim of the study was to indicate the issues that such families are confronted with, the problems that require outside assistance and, conversely, the positive aspects of such family arrangements. This research and its results can serve as a basis for social and family policy measures at national and regional level, but it is also a source of information for reconstituted families themselves. Last but not least, it provides inspiration for further research into this type of family unit. The study constitutes one of the outcomes of the first phase of the long-term Comprehensive Research of the Situation of Families and Seniors (2018-2022) project involving the ongoing monitoring of various types of families.
only in Czech:
