National study reveals who is considered family and how they communicate

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (March 18, 2003) – Ask any American how he or she communicates with family members and you’ll receive a myriad of answers: in person, by phone, via the Internet or email. The answer seems to depend on whether they are contacting immediate or extended family members. 

Nearly all (95 percent) Americans use the telephone at least occasionally to communicate with family members, according to a national survey conducted by Harris Interactive for Modern Woodmen of America in December 2002.  Most Americans call their parents, children or siblings, but three out of five Americans use email to get in touch with extended family, mainly cousins, nieces and nephews, and aunts and uncles.

“As we talked to Americans about their relationships with their extended family, we began to wonder exactly how they define ‘extended’,” said Sharon Snawerdt, public relations coordinator at Modern Woodmen of America.  “Six in 10 Americans include friends in their definition of extended family, and this inclusion rises as we get older.”

Modern Woodmen, a fraternal, financial services organization based in Rock Island, Ill., created a Web site, www.gatherings.info to help bring family and friends together. The site serves as a tool to help make planning family gatherings simple and fun.  The study was commissioned to better understand the attitudes and behaviors of family closeness and communication.  A similar study administered before Sept. 11, 2001, revealed Americans already believed strongly in the importance of family and spending time together.

The study showed that the closer together family members live, the more likely they are to get together and many families have members nearby.

“The perception is that today most American families are spread out all over the United States and beyond,” explains Snawerdt.  “However, our research showed that 65 percent of Americans indicated that the majority of their family, including their extended family, lives within the same state or closer.”

This could explain the increase in the percentage of those who attended informal family gatherings at least three times a year, up from 72 percent in 2001 to 77 percent in 2002. Americans use these informal gatherings to stay connected with extended family, which at times can be difficult.  Today, 83 percent of Americans are interested in attending family gatherings more frequently, which is up from 79 percent in the original study.

The interest in using email or online bulletin boards to stay connected with family more frequently has increased 9 percent since the original study (65 to 74 percent).  However, according to respondents, spending time together in person is the most important factor in maintaining family relationships and closeness.  Americans are more than twice as likely to report that they are very close to immediate family (74 percent) than their extended family (34 percent). 

The new research confirmed what the study revealed in 2001; nearly all Americans feel very strongly that spending time with their immediate family is one of the most important parts of their lives (96 percent).

The Gatherings ^SM Web site caters to Americans’ interest in family gatherings and spending time together. Users can navigate through tips and ideas on how to organize a gathering, large or small, as well as recipes, games, themes and suggestions on how to research your family tree. “It’s all about improving quality of life for families,” said Snawerdt. “This site helps people save time when planning a get-together, which allows the plann