CHILDREN IN FAMILIES - 20 YEARS OF CHANGE IN THE FAMILY ENVIRONMENT OF CHILDREN

A growing number of children are now born to unmarried parents : 6% around 1965 against 33% in 1992, although the proportion of children born to mothers living alone (''single mothers'') has not increased and has remained marginal. There has, however, been enormous growth in the number of ''illegitimate children'' recognised by their fathers often since birth. An increasing proportion of children born ''out of wedlock'' come from couples already formed at the time of conception. Births out of wedlock are no longer the symptoms of ''fragile'' family situations. Descendants are increasingly formed by the juxtaposition of successive fertile unions and a rising proportion of children have half-brothers and sisters since birth: 6% around 1970 and 17 to 18% at the start of the 1990s. The development of the marriage-divorce-remarriage sequence or, more generally, couple-separation-new couple is highlighted here. After birth, out of wedlock children are less frequently legitimated by the marriage of their parents (3 out of 10 today compared to 5 out of 10 before 1990). The rise in the number of illegitimate births has resulted in 20% of children being brought up by unmarried parents compared to 3% previously. In recent cohorts, one in four children under 18 will experience at least one period of separation from one of its parents, compared to one in six in the 1966-70 cohorts, due to divorce (18%), separation in unmarried couples (5%) or never having known their father (1 to 2%). These phases of single parenthood, generally experienced with the mother, are followed by the formation of a new couple for one out of two children and the birth of half-brothers or sisters (less than one in four). When they concern the father without custody, such events are generally experience at a distance. In all cases, these situations only become commoner due to the increased number of separations. Of the 14 million minors enumerated in 1990, the following proportions belong to expanding categories: approximately 5% are born out of wedlock and not legitimated; approximately 15% are separated from one of their parents (of whom 1/3 have seen their custodial parent form a new couple, the remaining two-thirds forming a single-parent family with the child); 6 to 7% live with half-brothers or sisters. These categories are not mutually exclusive and sometimes contain low-growth groups (e.g. children of single mothers). A total of about one in five children live in these structures referred to as ''new'' because they are now more common.