can be) expressed.
In black families, for instance, kinship systems are influenced as much by money as they are by cultural history. In some respects, cultural history may even be seen to have been shaped by economics: Andrea G. Hunter observes, "[In African-American families] malleable household boundaries and ties to extended kin and community . . . provided a mechanism for families to pool and share resources" (232). Expanding the definition of "family" allows kinship groups with limited incomes to band together and help each other, sharing childcare responsibilities, for instance. When adults, including biogenetically related individuals (aunts, grandparents) and others (friends, boarders), also feel responsible for providing the love and support systems needed to raise children, this expanded resource system benefits the whole group.
Carol B. Stack defines the family in these circumstances as "the smallest, organized, durable network of kin and non-kin who interact daily, providing domestic needs of children and assuring their survival" (31). Within groups with few economic resources, the number of individuals needed to create an effective family unit almost always increases beyond the middle-class, white model of father/mother/child. Other cultural groups have also adopted a broader definition of family. Richard Griswold Del Castillo notes, "Close bonds of affection and assistance among members of the family household and a wide network of kinfolk have been found to be one of the most important characteristics of Mexican-American family life" (40).
Cultural tradition is not the only determinant of an expanded definition of kinship systems. Although still somewhat unacceptable in the broader society, single-parent families of all ethnicities are becoming more common. This is the result both of a rising divorce rate and an increased number of pregnant teenagers who are choosing to carry their babies to term and...