This post-children stage of family life is the final part of the family life cycle.

家庭生活的这个后孩子阶段是家庭生命周期的最后一部分。

Sociologists describe this process as the family life cycle – the developmental stages that a family passes through over time.

社会学家将这一过程描述为家庭生命周期——一个家庭随着时间的推移经历的发展阶段。

But no matter what a family looks like, the family life cycle helps us understand how families evolve over time.

但无论家庭是什么样子，家庭生命周期都有助于我们了解家庭是如何随时间演变的。

But regardless of whether having kids comes before or after marriage, this stage in the family life cycle is an important one.

但无论是婚前还是婚后生孩子，家庭生命周期中的这一阶段都是重要的阶段。

As I said at the beginning, these stages of the family life cycle are just one path that a family can follow.

正如我在开头所说，家庭生命周期的这些阶段只是一个家庭可以遵循的一条道路。

While childbearing is typically thought of as the stage of the family life cycle that follows marriage, the percent of children born outside of marriage has been increasing, with about 40% of all births to unmarried mothers.

虽然生育通常被认为是婚后家庭生命周期的一个阶段，但非婚生子女的比例一直在增加， 其中约 40% 是未婚母亲生育的。