Encourages family in leather (8)
I believe the answer is:
buckskin
'leather' is the definition.
(buckskin is a kind of leather)
'encourages family' is the wordplay.
'encourages' becomes 'bucks' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'family' becomes 'kin' (synonyms).
'bucks'+'kin'='BUCKSKIN'
'in' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for buckskin that I've seen before include "horse" , "Soft, yellowish suede leather" , "Type of leather" , "Soft leather or wool fabric" .)