Modernity has often been understood as being irreconcilable with the persistence of kinship. Personal networks are said to have become less centered on kinship, and instead, more contracted and individualized. Portugal, a country that has witnessed tremendous social and economic change in the last four decades, was selected as the subject of this study on the salience of kinship in contexts of social change. A large survey on family and personal ties of three cohorts of Portuguese people born in different periods and facing different transitions in life was used to investigate the salience of kinship in personal relationships. The results show that kinship remains a major pillar of personal networks in Portuguese society. However, the findings also show a segmentation of its salience according to the biographical, normative and structural contexts in which individuals are embedded. The translation of individualization trends to everyday relational scenarios reveals complex processes of differentiation.