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characterized by the over-representation of children, friends, parents, and
colleagues, plus two types which combine two categories of ties: family-
friends (27%) and family-work type (22%) (Viry 2012 ). Again, alongside
kin, friendships and work-oriented relationships are well represented.
Interestingly, in studies dedicated to family relationships only, friends are
sometimes mentioned as well (Widmer 2010 ). Individuals mentioning
them have a broader definition of family, going beyond blood and alli-
ance principles. In our study on first-time families and stepfamilies in
Switzerland, no less than nine ways of defining family boundaries are
revealed (Aeby et al. 2014 ; Widmer et al. 2012 ). Seven family configura-
tions are represented in both family structures, including a type based on
friendship (Friend, In-law, Brother, Sister, Kinship, Beanpole, Nuclear),
and two family configurations which represent only stepfamily structure:
Without partner, which included the former partner and excluded the
current partner, and Post-divorce, which included the former partner, the
current partner, and their relatives.
Some authors wonder whether the assumption of a changing balance
between the importance of kinship and non-kinship ties holds true across
countries with different welfare state regimes and socio-historical back-
grounds (Boase and Ikeda 2012 ; Fischer and Shavit 1995 ). Höllinger and
Haller ( 1990 ) found this trend of kinship decline in the Northwest
European cultural area and in the New World countries descending from
them (the United States and Australia), but not in Italy and Hungary,
countries in which kin ties are found to be predominant. Another fasci-
nating study investigated sociability practices and solidarity norms across
four welfare regimes (Mediterranean, Corporatist, Liberal, and Social-
democratic) and revealed that they differed to a significant extent
(Ganjour and Widmer 2016 ). The sociability of individuals in
Mediterranean welfare regimes tended to focus on children or parents and
stress the importance of family and state, while in Liberal welfare regimes
sociability is more often developed around associational activity or there
is no sociability, and family support and self-reliance are stressed instead.
Unfortunately, post-socialist countries were not included. From Chap. 2 ,
we may recall, however, that individuals living in Lithuania have very
traditional values regarding family norms, in contrast with individuals in
Switzerland, while individuals in Portugal tend to occupy an intermediate
G. Aeby et al.