Describes two economic patterns that stepfamilies adopt: "Common Pot" (families pool all their resources), and "Two Pot" (couples safeguard individual resources for personal use or for their biological children). Suggests that "Common Pot" acts to unify the stepfamily while the "Two Pot" encourages biological loyalities and personal autonomy.…

Describes the contingent influence of family managerial efficacy and related spousal perceptions on the relationship between stressor pile-up and family cohesion. Perceived loss of managerial efficacy in conjunction with discrepant spousal perceptions of such change substantially increased the family's vulnerability to stressor pile-up. A…

Describes the types of coping strategies household families use to manage problems that affect them when the mother has a chronic illness. Reports alterations in household management as the most frequently used strategy (38 percent) employed by these families. (Author/ABB)

Time-budget and interview study with 60 married couples analyzed household labor activities in terms of whether they were experienced as work or leisure, and in terms of their perceptual dimensions and objective situational contexts. Found women defined their household labor activities more often as work than did males, and that situational…

Examined 15 rural home-working families for allocation of work time. Found families displayed marked variability in work hour and work day patterns, both individual and across group. Both work days and allocated work times were punctuated by interruptions for child care and household chores, resulting in work/family time interaction rather than…

Women enjoyed nontask activities more than task activities. Those who lived alone participated less. The key to both participation and enjoyment of family activities was health rather than age. Greater involvement in interpersonal activities should be encouraged. (JAC)

To discover the underlying understandings that organize how low-income Latino and African American parents of infants and toddlers with severe persistent asthma manage symptoms in their children, 11 families with children 12-48 months old and recently hospitalized with asthma were interviewed over 3-6 months. Interpretive phenomenology was used to…

Describes and evaluates a low-cost learn-at-home delivery system employed by the University of Wisconsin-Extension covering parenthood, family management, consumer decision-making, credit, and nutrition for young families. Results indicated that this delivery system was both efficient and effective. Implications for future programing are…