As the holidays approach, people are making plans to spend time with their families--organizing parties and special meals and arranging visits to see parents and grandparents.

"The holidays are the time of year that people generally are trying to restore some kind of connectedness," said Dennis Orthner, professor of social work and associate director of the Jordan Institute for Families. "A lot of families use the holidays as the time to rebuild strength."

But what about the rest of the year? "We need to build these gatherings in as a regular part of our lives." Orthner said. "At the holidays and in times of crisis, we make a point to come together, to help each other out. But we need to do better than that because, overall, families are not doing well today."

Each year since 1994, Orthner has helped oversee a poll (random telephone surveys) that evaluates family strength among North Carolinians. The questions are based on a Family Strengths Index that Orthner and other researchers constructed based on research over the past 20 to 30 years showing the kinds of things that serve as indicators of strength. Like money in a bank account, family strength assets include anything that helps a family stay connected; for example, eating dinner together as a family on a regular basis. The more assets a family has, the better off they are.

According to the index, a strong family is one that is able to manage its finances, communicate well, solve problems, maintain social relationships, share a common identity and have a spiritual foundation.

"Families that have these assets tend to do much better than those that don't because they are better able to solve problems when they come up and are less likely to feel like they want to get out of their relationships or get divorced," Orthner said.

About 80 percent of families with three out of four assets, for instance, feel that they can always solve personal or family problems, while only 10 percent of families that have fewer than one-quarter of the assets feel like they can solve everyday problems.

One of the assumptions the Family Strength Index tests is whether income plays a role in the strength of families. "The presumption is that families with more income are going to be stronger than families whose income is low," Orthner said. "But what we found was that, while that's true on economic assets, income made very little difference when it came to other assets -- problem solving abilities, communication skills, having a strong sense of cohesion with each other. So the good news is that low income families are able to function just as well as higher income families."

But the bad news, Orthner points out, is that roughly one third to one half of N.C. families are struggling on a number of these assets. "The data show that three out of four families enjoy doing things together as a family, but in reality only about 60 percent say they actually spend time together at least once a week doing things as a family," Orthner said. Fewer than one half of all families also said they felt like they could count on people in their community to help them when they're in trouble.

In a national sample, N.C. families compare similarly to families in other states. Data shows that N.C. families, though, tend to be a little more faith oriented and a little more connected.

So how do researchers use this information to help make families stronger? One thing Orthner will do is send a report to the General Assembly, so that legislators can consider the information before making decisions on any bills that might affect families. "Just like there's an environmental impact statement required in some legislation, there should be a family impact statement too," Orthner said. "We're very concerned when we pass laws about whether or not they affect trees, grass, animals. What about families?"

The researchers are also creating a screening tool based on the index that counselors and pastors, for example, can use to identify areas that families need to work on.

Orthner also believes that employers should consider the information. "For instance, how does the University promote family strength?" Orthner asked. "When employees are stressed by family relationships, when divorce is going on, when our kids are in trouble, or when there are health-related problems, these family issues come into the workplace. Employers need to recognize that sometimes our work schedules need to be adjusted to accommodate those kinds of needs."

For more information on this research, visit the Jordan Institute for Families.