Question

compared to fifty years ago, how would you assess the importance of families for people living in the US? Have changes been for the better or not, in your opinion? Why?

Answer 1

• Pretty much everyone agrees that the era of the nuclear family, with a dad who went to work and the mom who stayed at home, has declined to the point of no return.
• The three biggest changes in family life in the past 50 years as the decline of marriage (in 2010, 45% of households were headed by a married couple, whereas in 1960 it was close to 66%); the rise of the number of women in the paid workforce; and the whole stew of blended, remarried and co-habiting families.
• Families headed by single moms‚ whether divorced, widowed or never married, are now almost as numerous as families that have a stay-at-home mom and a breadwinner dad — about 22% and 23%, respectively. There’s been a marked in rise in people living alone and in unrelated people living together.
• The overall attitude toward relationships and commitment has shifted.Families,are no more seen in a traditional sense now,its more open and nuclear.
• The nuclear family of the ’50s epitomized the economically stable family unit. The idea of the middle-class, child-centered families that were “headed by wage-earning husbands became the ideal, although making that family model the norm for most Americans took decades and (even) then was short-lived.” This is why the modern family, in most cases, bears little resemblance to this “ideal” unit.
• Many of the changes that were part of this transition are a direct result of the expanding role of women in society, both in terms of the workplace and education. The rise of the post-industrial economy, based in information and services, led to more married women entering the workplace.
  
• Along with these shifts have come declining marriage and birthrates and a rising divorce rate. The American birthrate is half of what it was in 1960, and hit its lowest point ever in 2012.
• One reason for these developments is that marriage has been repositioned as a “cornerstone to capstone, from a foundational act of early adulthood to a crowning event of later adulthood.” It is viewed as an event that should happen after finishing college and establishing a career.
• So,the changes have been quite beneficial for women,since they have become more independent,have education and have a career and not just defined to the stereotypical role of taking care of the house.Co-parenting has become common,where-in both parents are working and take turns to stay at home to take care of childre,which has somehow created an equality.
• But,yes families have lost the traditional essence of togetherness,have become smaller and isolated.People no longer take too many efforts to maintain a relationship,and just take a divorce.The institution of marrige and family life,has somehow lost its meaning for a lot of people.