The Stem Family: Toward a General Theory

Abstract

The Stem Family: Toward a General Theory The structure of the family has long been a favorite variable in the analysis of many phenomena specific to Western Europe. The stem family, among other factors, has been used as a key explanatory element in most sociological theories relating to the evolution of the Western European family and in demographic-economic models of the evolution of Western Europe. Most of the theories and generalizations about the stem family rest on three basic assumptions: (I) That the stem family is a transitional phase in the nuclearization of thefamily. There is a strong belief, inherited from LePlay, that there has been an evolution from the extended family to the nuclear type with the stem family as an intermediate stage. As a result of this evolutionary vision, the stem family is implicitly classified with the extended family.1 (2) That the stem family is a common Western European phenomenon, found in most rural areas of Western Europe in the preindustrial period. This postulate has been used to explain scores of demographic phenomena. Late age at marriage and high celibacy rates have thus been accounted for with reference to the stem family, and different types of demographic growth have been interpreted through the contrast between stem and nuclear families.2