Final answer:
The family life cycle refers to a set of predictable stages that families go through over time. It was first developed by Paul Glick and later elaborated on by Evelyn Duvall. The stages include growing up, establishing families, rearing and launching children, experiencing an empty nest period, and coming to the end of life.
Step-by-step explanation:
The family life cycle refers to the set of predictable steps and patterns that families experience over time. It was first developed by Paul Glick in 1955 and later elaborated on by Evelyn Duvall. According to Glick and Duvall, the stages of the family life cycle include growing up, establishing families, rearing and launching children, experiencing an empty nest period, and coming to the end of life.
However, more recent models of the family life cycle, such as the family life course, recognize that families may experience these events in a fluid and non-consecutive manner. The family life course takes into account differences in gender, ethnicity, culture, and lifestyle that can influence the progression of a family through different stages.
Overall, the family life cycle provides a framework for understanding the changes that occur within families as they navigate different life stages, and it has been used by sociologists to study family dynamics over time.