Do Black Women Bear The Burden Of Making Blended Families Work?

The American family ideal is still very much a married man and woman raising biological children of their own. The reality, however, is far more complicated. According to 2017 data, “40% of the married couples with children in the US are forming blended families right now,” which means nearly half of all kids are as familiar with the terms step-mom and step-dad as they are mother and father. And while plenty of anecdotal evidence speaks to the challenges of blending a family together, does raising children in a blended family or being raised in a blended family automatically equate to struggle?

In this episode of Listen to Black Women, we discuss the spectrum of experiences of being in a blended family, who bears the burden of forming the parents and children into a cohesive unit, and what happens when all parties involved aren’t on the same page. Watch the episode in the video above and weigh in in the comments section below.

About Listen To Black Women

Listen To Black Women is a new show from HelloBeautiful and MadameNoire that discusses the issues that affect us most while incorporating the voices of our audience and experts.

Each week, the show will gather insights from of our readers by asking them a series of questions related to the show topic. We’ll also be sharing thoughts from social media and the Internet at large as hosts Shamika Sanders, Brande Victorian, Keyaira Kelly weigh in with their opinions.

This show doesn’t work without you so be sure to take our weekly polls, share the videos with your network, and leave feedback everywhere you can. We’re listening to you.