Learn family life cycle theory through the family life cycle definition and the cycle's five stages. Also consider cohesion, adaptability, and improvements.
Updated: 11/21/2023
Family Life Cycle | Definition, Stages & Importance
Table of Contents
- What Is a Family Life Cycle?
- Stages of the Family Life Cycle
- Why is the Family Life Cycle Important?
- Cohesion and Adaptability
- How to Improve Your Family Life Cycle
- Lesson Summary
- FAQs
- Activities
Family Life Cycle Activities
Activity 1:
You learned about many different stages of the family life cycle in this lesson. These categories fit the stereotypical family, but what of the non-traditional family? What of the 55-year-old man who has his first biological child? What of the 50-year-old woman who is going to school so that she can begin a new career? Think of one or two examples from your own life that are non-stereotypical, and then write a paragraph on how you would categorize them in terms of the family life cycle. Do the same for the two examples described above.
Activity 2:
Choose a stage through which you have already passed. Write a letter to your younger self in that stage. What advice would you give? What wisdom could you provide? What pitfalls could you warn your younger self about? Be sure and address the developmental task of the stage and discuss how that task would fit into your advice.
Activity 3:
Choose a stage you have not yet entered. What are your desires for that stage? Given what you have learned about the developmental task of that stage, how could you approach it so that you could traverse the stage successfully and optimally? Write a journal entry on how you could best approach that future stage. What steps could you take now to help ensure success?
Why is the family life cycle important?
Understanding the family life cycle is important because it is beneficial to anticipate typical experiences along life's journey. Succeeding in one stage also helps people feel better prepared for the next one.
What are the 5 stages of the family life cycle?
The five stages of the family life cycle are: 1) Independence, 2) Coupling/marriage, 3) Parenting: babies through adolescence, 4) Launching adult children, and 5) Retirement/senior years. Each stage often leads to the next.
What does family life cycle mean?
The family life cycle was born out of the theory that people experience life through five distinct stages. Specific milestones and challenges characterize these stages.
Table of Contents
- What Is a Family Life Cycle?
- Stages of the Family Life Cycle
- Why is the Family Life Cycle Important?
- Cohesion and Adaptability
- How to Improve Your Family Life Cycle
- Lesson Summary
Carl and Evelyn just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. They pore over photo albums packed with memories and milestones from their life together. They reminisce about how it all began, with both Carl and Evelyn pursuing teaching degrees at the same college and committed to building their separate careers before considering marriage. About two years after graduation, when both Carl and Evelyn felt established in their professional teaching roles, they became engaged and set a wedding date.
About three years into marriage, Carl and Evelyn became parents to a set of twin boys, followed another three years later by their daughter. The days are long, but the years are short, as the saying goes when it comes to raising children, so it wasn't long before Carl and Evelyn saw all three of their kids off to adulthood.
The couple continued to work as teachers both during and after their children lived at home, but Carl and Evelyn retired from their jobs after 40 years of service to their respective schools. They now enjoy free and easy days tutoring kids in the inner city, volunteering with their church, playing pickleball&mdash, and, of course, visiting their children and grandchildren.
What is the family life cycle? This summary of Carl and Evelyn's story not only proves that a lot happens during 50 years of marriage. It also demonstrates the family life cycle— the typical progressive stages of a family— in action.
Family Life Cycle Definition
The family life cycle comprises specific stages, each one characterized by developmental milestones and challenges. Certain life skills are honed during each stage; for example, when Carl and Evelyn attended college, they likely learned how to live more independently.
At the same time, the family life cycle may be affected by serious illnesses, strained relationships, death, and other difficult circumstances. Though the summary of Carl and Evelyn's family life cycle does not mention any of these kinds of situations, all families endure challenges of one kind or another as the years pass.
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From an analysis of Carl and Evelyn's story, five family life cycle stages emerge:
1. Independence - People enter the independence stage (also known as "unattached adult") when they are launched from childhood into adulthood. As the name of this stage implies, it's a season of learning how to live on their own— take care of their own daily needs, and make decisions apart from anyone else's overarching influence. With the thrill of independence also comes the burden of responsibility. In other words, though young adults may enjoy new freedom, they also need to maintain their finances, health care, etc. The independence stage is also when young adults are more likely to form relationships by their preference and choosing, resulting in greater vulnerability and intimacy with others. This relational facet of the independence stage may eventually usher people into the next family life cycle stage.
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2. Coupling/marriage - During the independence stage, a person may become attached and attracted to another individual, which leads to coupling or marriage. The couple may agree to be monogamous, perhaps even to the point of getting married and sharing a home. The benefits of this stage include support and advocacy for one another, emotional and physical intimacy, healthy compromise, and interdependence. But this stage may also present its challenges. For example, couples may disagree on certain values they profess, the way they manage money, and the kind of interactions they will have with others. This stage of coupling and marriage often transitions into child-rearing, the next stage of the family life cycle.
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3. Parenting: babies through adolescence - The parenting stage of the family life cycle not only grows a family in number with the addition of children but also profoundly transforms the family dynamic. Couples may have to sacrifice the spontaneity and quiet moments they once enjoyed for the cut-and-dry routines and boisterousness typical of children. This stage is often incredibly rewarding and memorable as parents watch their children grow into unique individuals with special personalities and talents. At the same time, it may be a season marked by sheer exhaustion and a lot of conflict due to the many demands and decisions parents encounter. This stage of the family life cycle also has different challenges for raising babies versus elementary-age children versus teenage children. For example, regarding the latter, allowing teens to have more independence often becomes a big and sometimes tricky issue.
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4. Launching adult children - It's during this launching stage that the children of the family enter the first stage described above, thus demonstrating why this family life cycle concept is indeed called a "cycle." Like their parents, adult children claim independence by leaving home and assuming the risk and rewards of managing their care and decision-making. From the parents' perspective, they may feel a great sense of accomplishment in having prepared their children for this critical rite of passage. At the same time, it may be difficult— and very emotional— to accept their children's independence, to adjust to an "empty nest," and to be "just a couple" again. This stage also brings home the reality of aging and the fifth and final family life cycle stage.
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5. Retirement/senior years - Couples may still be active in their careers when they launch their adult children, but retirement is probable as the years continue to go by. A sense of accomplishment may mark people's senior years as they reflect on their successes related to family and career. But this stage may also produce a great deal of sadness and stress as treasured loved ones pass away, and a couple's health and aging concerns become more challenging, maybe even debilitating.
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Why should we be concerned with the family life cycle stages? Family life cycle theory is important because people thrive when they know what to expect. They experience an even better quality of life when they are prepared with strategies to help them cope with the challenges of each stage. Completing one stage also helps a family better handle the next one. For example, if a teen cannot experience some degree of independence before being launched, they may make more poor choices given their overwhelming sense of freedom.
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How individuals fare as they move through the family cycle is also a matter of cohesion, the degree of closeness they experience with other family members. Relationships within a family unit may exhibit one of four levels of Cohesion:
- Disengaged - Family members do not value connections with each other and live distinctly autonomous lives. There is little affection, communication, and loyalty.
- Separated - Though family members share much of life, they also are likely to pursue their interests. This way of life is considered healthy for families.
- Connected - In a connected family unit, family members experience closeness in all areas of life and allow some room for privacy and autonomy. This is also considered a healthy type of family unit.
- Enmeshed - On the other far end of the spectrum is the enmeshed family in which little sense of individuality is recognized and bonds become co-dependent and unhealthy.
Adaptability also affects the ease by which family members cope with each stage of the family life cycle. Each stage requires adjustment to new roles, new responsibilities, and even new people, so adaptability is a valuable personal trait as life ebbs and flows as it always does.
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So how can people make sure they benefit from each stage of the family life cycle? How can they be more prepared for the family experiences to come? Suggestions include:
- Self-awareness - Clarity around each individual's desires, needs, frustrations, etc., may help the entire family preserve healthier respect and closeness with one another.
- Good communication - People are better able to enjoy all of the family life cycle stages when they commit to encouraging each other, being honest, expressing their needs, etc. Frequent and meaningful communication fosters healthy engagement, leading to appropriate Cohesion levels.
- Professional interventions - Family therapy and other human services may help family members cope with particularly tough lifetimes. Such interventions may help families retain a healthy level of Cohesion versus falling into disengaged or enmeshed tendencies.
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The family life cycle comprises a series of stages during which family members experience specific milestones and challenges. The five stages are:
- Independence, otherwise known as the Unattached Adult stage, is when young adults leave their family of origin to pursue their relationships and careers.
- Coupling/marriage, when adults enter into monogamous committed relationships with another partner.
- Parenting: babies through adolescence, which also includes teenage years during which children experiment with independence.
- Launching adult children into their Independence stage.
- Retirement/senior years when both Parenting and career are in the past.
Cohesion, the degree of closeness a family experiences, is an important dynamic to consider in family life cycle theory. Cohesion may run the range from disengaged to separated to connected to enmeshed, with the mid-levels offering the best potential for healthy family relationships. An individual's adaptability, the ability to adjust with relative ease, also influences their experience in each family life cycle stage. Self-awareness, good communication, and professional interventions may also improve a person's progression through each stage.
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Video Transcript
The Individual and Family Development
As we all grow and enter different phases in our lives, we go through various challenges and conquer milestones unique to that phase. For example, in the first few years of life, a baby is dealing with learning to trust his or her caregivers, whereas the main task of a teen is the need to figure out their own identity.
The developmental steps that we go through have been explained by theorists like Erik Erikson, who proposed the previous examples of the psychosocial growth of children and teens, and Jean Piaget, who explained their stages of cognitive or mental growth. Knowing these individual stages of development is useful to counselors because it gives them a foundation for understanding what typical issues stand out in each season of one's life. This helps them pay special attention to an individual's progress or stagnation in this area, how that presents symptoms in the client, and how it may impact their later growth.
But, the stages an individual goes through during life is not the only type of growth that counselors should pay attention to. For counselors doing family therapy, it is also important to understand that the family itself has its own stages of development. This can be described by the family life cycle, or a series of developmental stages a family moves through over time.
The Family Life Cycle
1. Unattached Adult
The main issue occurring in this first stage is accepting parent-offspring separation. Rob Smith has just turned 20. He is in college, which means he is experiencing life on his own for the first time. The tasks that are critical for him to accomplish in this phase include: separating from family and connecting with peers as well as initiating a career.
2. Newly Married Adults
The main issue in this stage is commitment to the marriage. Rob is 23, and he has just gotten married. He is learning how to no longer act for himself and now act for the welfare of his wife and their relationship. He is accomplishing the tasks of forming a marital system while continuing to address career demands at his job as a copywriter.
3. Childbearing Adults
Rob's wife, Penny, has just given birth to their first child and named her Becky. They are now accepting new members into the system. They need to make adjustments in their usual schedules, finances, and duties in order to care for this new child. They are also needing to make room for visits and interactions with their parents in their new role as grandparents.
4. Preschool-age Children
Becky has just entered a preschool and is full of energy, joy, and curiosity. And, while adored by her parents, she is also a bit draining. Now is the time for Rob and Penny to accept the new personality of their child, adjusting to it in whatever ways are best. It is also important that Rob and Penny make efforts to take time out as a couple - going out on dates, for example.
5. School-age Child
Becky is 8 years old, and the issue at hand now is for Rob and Penny to allow their child to establish relationships outside the family. This means they give Becky permission to go over to Megan's house for her birthday party or to have Miranda over to the house on Saturday. Along with encouraging social interactions, this time includes tasks like encouraging the child educationally and managing increased activities, like Becky's play rehearsals after school.
6. Teenage Child
This is a challenging time for Rob and Penny. Becky is now 15 years old and wanting more independence. The main issue is then increasing flexibility of family boundaries to allow independence. Rob and Penny need to shift to some degree in their parental role and provide opportunities for Becky's growth.
7. Launching Center
Rob and Penny find it hard to believe, but it is actually time for Becky to head off for college and live on her own. The issue now is for them to accept exits from and entries into the family. While Becky leaves home, she still comes back every several months to visit, so one of the tasks is to accept her leaving while also maintaining a supportive home for her to return to.
8. Middle-aged Adults
It is a strange feeling for Rob and Penny to be alone in the house again after all those years. They are now letting go of children and facing each other again. Now that their conversations are not focused on Becky, they are learning to share other things with each other and building their closeness. Becky is now 25 and married, so they welcome her back to their home for visits. The final task to face now is managing the continued aging and new illnesses present in Penny's father and Rob's mother.
9. Retired Adults
Rob and Penny have just moved to Florida because they thought it would be a great change of pace for their retirement. They are accepting retirement and old age, which means they are taking part in tasks like keeping up their own health, keeping in close touch with Becky and her family, and dealing with the grief of losing their parents.
While the life cycle of a family describes the proper development of a family, there is another way for counselors to assess family health, which is through considering their levels of cohesion and adaptability.
Cohesion and Adaptability
When a counselor talks about cohesion, he or she is referring to the degree of closeness members of a family share. There are four different levels of cohesion from lowest to highest: disengaged, separated, connected, and enmeshed.
Disengaged describes a family that is distant. Parents who do not show any affection to their children or avoid genuine communication with their teens are examples of a disconnected family.
Separated describes a family that is 'somewhat distant' but spends some time together. A family that has dinner together but prefers time alone is an example. They may try to make a decision together, but members make far more on their own.
Connected is the healthiest level of cohesion. It is described by 'emotional closeness,' where families prioritize their time together and their mutual sharing. At the same time, connected families respect their members' private space and allow for alone time.
Enmeshed is considered extreme closeness. Enmeshed family members are the types that know every detail about each other. They promote constant dependency, discourage doing things on one's own, and may even lose their sense of individuality.
If a counselor mentions adaptability, they are talking about a family's ability to adjust to changing phases or circumstances through life. It specifically measures the degree to which parents control their family and face new happenings.
A family may be rigid, where parents are highly controlling and resistant to change. They may be structured; parents are in charge and rules rarely change, but there is some small allowance for negotiations at times. A family can also be flexible; they are more democratic, and rules are upheld but able to be changed. Lastly, they could be chaotic; parents do not have control, and any rules are changing constantly.
Lesson Summary
Let's review. Human beings go through different life phases as individuals and as a family unit. The developmental phases of a family are referred to as the stages in a family life cycle. They include: unattached adult, newly married adults, childbearing adults, preschool-age children, school-age children, teenage years, launching center, middle-aged adults, and retired adults.
Besides examining where families are in their life cycle, counselors can also evaluate their levels of cohesion, or degree of closeness, and adaptability, or their ability to adjust to changes. Listed in order from distant to overly close, families' cohesion can be disengaged, separated, connected, or enmeshed. In terms of adaptability, parents can be too rigid and controlling or too free-flowing and changeable. Families may be termed by counselors as rigid, structured, flexible, or chaotic.
Learning Outcomes
Following this lesson, you'll be able to:
- Describe the stages of a family life cycle
- Explain the four levels of family cohesion
- Identify the different levels of adaptability in families
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Family Life Cycle | Definition, Stages & Importance
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