Different stages of Family Life

In the given video, family life is described to have 4 stages. Each stage has different attributes
and challenges.
 Courtship
 Marriage
 Childbearing
 Later stage of Family Life
Courtship is the as the 1st stage of the family life. This is the stage where you meet a person
and decide to proceed for the next stages of your life. This relationship may or may not be
successful. Its success rate is different in different societies. In eastern societies, the success
rate is more compared to western cultures.
Marriage The successful courtship turns into legal contract/relation that is called marriage.
It can be arranged by family or by the choice of couple which is called love marriage. In
western culture, there is more tendency of love marriages while in eastern culture arrange
marriages prevail. However, even in love marriage, love is not the only key factor. Other
factors like social equality age and financial compatibility are also considered important.
Childbearing This is quite a challenging stage of family life. It is a great pleasure to have
children but they it comes with greater responsibility. It defines the success rate of the
marriage and serve as the foundation of the family life future. Any problem in relation of
parents directly affect the children that is why it is most challenging and responsible phase.
Family Life in Later years This is the final stage of family when the children grow up and
usually separate from their parents to start their own family. In some case, they have a
close contact with them and in other case they do not have very frequent relationship due
to lifestyle or living at a far place or other country.
Difference between American and Kuwaiti Family Stages
In different societies, the family life challenges are different. Similarly each stage of family life
has different challenges and approach. The concept of Courtship in America and Kuwait are
different. The success rate of courtship is quite low in America. Not every courtship will end up
in a legal relationship. However in Kuwait, the situation is different. Here once it is decided to
have the relationship, then mostly it leads to the next stage i.e marriage. Also most of the
relations are decided by the family (arranged marriages) in Kuwait while in America they are
mostly based on the personal choice of the couple. In the next stage, there is also a difference.
Marriage success rate in Kuwait is much higher as compared to America. Although from last few
years, there is a slight increase in divorce rate but still much lower than America. The third
stage which is the Childbearing is quite challenging. This stages requires lot of responsibility.
The future of the children is in the hands of their parents. In Kuwait, couple usually go for this
stage immediately after marriage while in America there is usually a delay. The final stage is the
Family Life in later years where usually the children start their own family. In America, there is
more tendency towards separating from parents at this stage and living separately. The
separating children may have a strong relation with parents depending on their lifestyle and
place where they live. In Kuwait there is mix of both types of families where children even after
starting their own family live with their parents which is extended family or they live as nuclear
family. The extended family is quite common in Kuwait as we find this life style more
comfortable compared to nuclear family.
My current stage of family life
My current stage of family is childbearing stage which is third stage. I am blessed with 2
daughters. This is quite challenging stage of my life. Due to my study and living abroad most of
the time, I cannot spend much time with my family and children. This becomes difficult for me
at times. Although I regularly have conversation with my family using video call but still physical
presence is more effective. But since I live with my parents and I have joint family so this is
quite helpful for me and my children. My parents are always there to take good care of my
family and my daughters. I have aspiration to start my professional career in my country after
completion of my studies in Malaysia. I want to spend my time with my family because it is very
difficult to live without them. So I dream for a life where I have my professional job in Kuwait
where I can live with my family.