Starting Over: Stepfamilies What happens to children when
parents remarry? Just as with children of divorced and never-
married parents, the picture is complicated. When mothers
remarry, the family's financial status may improve, which in
turn increases the quality of services and educational
opportunities available to the children. However, some groups of
children experience greater benefits from remarriage than
others. For example, living with a stepfather can increase a
boy's chances of finishing high school, attending and graduating
from college, and finding subsequent job opportunities. If the
stepfamily remains stable over many years and provides
appropriate care for the children, it can have a positive effect
on children's intimate relationships when they reach adulthood.
If children are able to maintain good relationships with both
biological parents and stepparents, they can end up with even
more access to parenting resources than children with
continuously married biological parents (Amato, 1999a; He