Stepfamilies Are Problematic

For  child to have an unrelated parenting-adult in the home, says eminent Rutgers family sociologist David Popenoe, is no small matter:

Social scientists used to believe that, for positive child outcomes, stepfamilies were preferable to single-parent families.  Today, we are not so sure.  Stepfamilies typically have an economic advantage, but some recent studies indicated that the children of stepfamilies have as many behavioral and emotional problems as the children of single-parent families, and possibly more. . . . Stepfamily problems, in short, may be so intractable that the best strategy for dealing with them is to do everything possible to minimize their occurrence.  (emphasis added)

Glenn T. Stanton, "The Ring Makes All the Difference," p.77-78