Why do stepparents get irritated by the phrase "even though they're not even parents?" In an era where one in four couples remarries, the problem of "half-time caregivers" is more serious than blood relations | Life | Toyo Keizai Online

Nowadays, one in four marriages ends up remarrying. In remarried families, there are many cases where the relationship between the stepparent and the child is troubled, but ``The difficulty is greater when the stepparent is involved in raising the child midway through his or her life, rather than whether they are related by blood or not.''