January 31, 2013 | News | New Research Project

How will families look like in the future?

A new research project will investigate how family structures in Europe are changing. MPIDR researcher Michaela Kreyenfeld is participating in the project. The researchers will also consider whether and how policies are reacting to these changes. The European Union is funding the project with a 6.5 million grant.

In the last decades family structures in the European Countries have become increasingly complex. The age at first birth increased gradually, the rates of marriage decreased, the rates of divorce and separation rose, and living arrangements other than the marital family became more frequent.

“The family structures are becoming more and more heterogeneous,” says MPIDR researcher Michaela Kreyenfeld. For example, there are more unmarried couples and step families than before. “We want to understand how these changes influence life courses and compare them to other European countries.”

Michaela Kreyenfeld will mainly focus on step families. Another part of the project concentrates on the demographic behavior of migrants.

The project will explore and compare the growing complexities of family configurations in different European societies. The scientists will also examine how these changes in family structures are influencing the wellbeing of children. Furthermore, they want to investigate which impact the changes have on inequalities in life chances of women and men and which impact it has on the relationship between generations and on the care arrangements.

The research project, coordinated by Livia Oláh (University of Stockholm), starts in February 2013. The project has secured a grant of €6.5 million from the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme  for a four-year period. Twenty five leading universities and research institutes in 15 European countries are involved, among them the MPIDR.