Question

how has family life changed in the United States in the last 40 years? In your opinion, what has caused some of these changes to occur?

2) Read over the Functions of the Family in the lecture notes. Many experts say that the family does not function in the way that it should and that other institutions have replaced the family. For example, the education system and the child care system have replaced the primary functions of families, socialization. Schools and childcare facilities are doing what families have always done, teach children how to get by in society.

Some politicians have said that the family is in grave danger or in a state of crisis. They claim that the family is responsible for the social ills we see (divorce, drug addiction, abuse, violence, crime.) We cannot deny that families are stressed more than ever!

In your opinion, is the family in a state of crisis or "moral decay?" Have "family values" declined? Or do you think that the family faces many pressures in society and the family is just shifting? Support your answer with details and examples

Answer 1

• The last 40 years have seen a dramatic rise in divorce (the U.S. has the highest of any industrialized nation), cohabitation rather than marriage, "blended" families of both same gender and heterosexual design, and children born out of wedlock (more than half of all African-American children). This marks a shift away from the ideal of the companion marriage popularized in the early 1920s to self-aspiration, enhanced freedom, and egalitarian relationships.
• Since the 1960s, society has become more inclusive and women more financially independent, resulting in increased tension in marriages between individuation and what psychoanalyst Erik Erickson described as "generativity," a concern for the welfare of others.
• The stability of families was tested by the Great Depression, as unemployment and lower wages forced Americans to delay marriage and having children. The divorce rate fell during this time because it was expensive and few could afford it. However, by 1940 almost 2 million married couples lived apart. Some families adjusted to the economic downturn by “returning to a cooperative family economy. Many children took part-time jobs and many wives supplemented the family income.
• 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.
  
• Today, the male-breadwinner, female-housewife family represents only a small percentage of American households. A considerable majority of Americans (62 percent) view the idea of marriage as “one in which husband and wife both work and share child care and household duties.” Two-earner families are much more common as well.
• In addition, single-parent families headed by mothers, families formed through remarriage, and empty-nest families have all become part of the norm.
• The rising age of marriage is a promising sign for many marriages since it is associated with greater family stability, but it also means that women have a longer period of life in which they can end up as unwed mothers, either by choice or by chance.
• Family formation patterns are also changing. Increasingly, both men and women want to first establish themselves in the labour market before founding a family. Hence, the age of mothers at first childbirth has risen and with it the probability of having fewer children than previous generations. Many women remain childless. Birth rates have fallen and life expectancy has increased, so there are fewer children and more grandparents than before.
• As a result of these changes, there is no longer one dominant family form in the U.S. Parents today are raising their children against a backdrop of increasingly diverse and, for many, constantly evolving family forms
• While in the past a child born to a married couple – as most children were – was very likely to grow up in a home with those two parents, this is much less common today, as a child’s living arrangement changes with each adjustment in the relationship status of their parents.
• Marriage and family life,has a changed meaning for people today,women are no more defined by it.They are more confident,know there mind and are financially independent,therefore,marriage is something which comes later in life now.And also for some of them,it is not an option anymore to have children.Single parenthood is on a rise,some adopt and some remain childless since they want to enjoy life more and dont have any responsibilities.
• Due to time limit,remaining questions can be asked as another question,they will be answered,thankyou for your cooperation