"My Favorite One Is the One Who Is There Right Now": Socioeconomic Differences in Support Exchanges within Stepfamilies.

This article examines how socioeconomic status shapes exchanges of support between older stepparents and their adult biological and stepchildren in the United States. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 47 stepparents aged 60 and older from upstate New York, the study finds that socioeconomically advantaged stepparents, often in stable marriages with abundant resources, tend to develop non-contingent, egalitarian support relationships with all children, emphasizing one-way transfers and independence. In contrast, socioeconomically disadvantaged stepparents, facing resource scarcity and greater family instability, frequently form contingent ties—supportive relationships that are voluntary, conditional, and selective—allowing them to concentrate limited resources on reliable children and adapt to social and environmental instabilities. The study highlights that differences in support patterns are more strongly associated with socioeconomic conditions and family stability than with biological relatedness, suggesting that contingency in stepfamily ties can be an adaptive strategy rather than a deficit. Limitations include the predominantly white sample from a specific geographic area and reliance on stepparents’ self-reports.