Based upon the author's personal interviews conducted with over 300 families during the course of a year, this contribution to the family field analyzes the complexities of the modified generational network.

Introduction; I: Family Development and Consumership: Issues of Theory and Research Design; II: The Families Studied: Three Generations of the Same Family Lines; III: Interdependence Among The Generations 1; One: Planning Careers: An Overview of the Timing of Actions; IV: Changes in Family Composition and Occupational Career Patterns; V: Planning Residential Location and Home Improvements; VI: Financial Planning; VII: Acquisition of the Family’s Durable Goods Inventory; VIII: The Intercontingency of Planning Careers; Two: Explanations of Family Consumership Planning and Action; IX: Correlates of Family Consumership; X: The Payoff of Consumership; Satisfaction With The Outcome of Decisions Made; XI: A Comparison of the Characteristic Patterns of Consumership and their Correlates by Generation; XII: Linkage of Planning Career Achievements and Consumership; Three: Implications of Findings; XIII: Implications for a Theory of Family Development and Family Consumership; XIV: Applying the Research Findings for Families