According to the 1990 census, only 21 percent of all households are "traditional"; that is, a mother and father and their children only. Of the remaining households, 29 percent are married couples with no children; 3 percent, unmarried couples without or with children; 11 percent, single-parent families; 6 percent stepfamilies; and 25 percent individuals living alone. Some 5.5 million married couples have at least one stepchild under 18, and this is nearly 30 percent of the married-couple households.

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1. Unmarried Couples Separating: Emotional Aspects
   Sometimes friends and family minimize the impact of the separation because the couple never married. And even couples themselves are sometimes surprised by the intensity of their reactions. Actually, people experience the same kinds of feelings as those ending a legal marriage: denial, anger, questioning, grieving, sadness, anxiety, acceptance, relief, and impatience to move forward.
   
   Without the specific time period needed for a married couple to get an uncontested divorce, it is not unusual for a long period of time to pass after the physical separation before people sit down to formally resolve property and/or parenting issues. Sometimes one person initiates the resolution process because they are in a new relationship or planning to get married. This can stir up have additional feelings and situations with which to cope.
   Contributed on 2/19/2009 by: Family Mediation ServicesOdenton, MD[Total Submissions: 1]

   Category: Separation  (Applicable in All States)

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