How do personal networks evolve and what roles do they play for parents, and for the development of children? Can these ties with relatives, neighbours and friends provide stability for family members during periods of disruption caused by divorce, unemployment, geographic dislocation or serious illness? How do networks change over time? To what extent are network members interchangeable; can unrelated friends take the place of close relatives? These are among the questions addressed in Extending Families: The Social Networks of Parents and their Children, a study about how personal networks...