The American Family
The American Family
The American Family
The American family is not changing but rather declining, at an alarming rate. Meaning it is falling apart' and disintegrating'. The family unit is normally composed of three status positions: husband/father, wife/mother and child/adolescent who have various roles that they are expected to play so as to fulfill the required expectations both at the family and the societal level. This decline is most evident in three areas: demographic, institution and cultural. The American family has lost its command, functions and influence hence familism as an enriching assessment for family has diminished in favor of values like egalitarianism and self-fulfillment. Traditionally males/fathers are breadwinners' supposed to take care of the family's financial needs. The females are to perform domestic chores like taking care of the house, caring for the children's daily needs, and providing sexual gratification for her husband. According to Zaretsky (1980, p. 27) the children are to internalize their parent's values also respect and obey.
These roles no longer ever fit in especially in the families living in hyper-industrial societies hence the notable decline in demographic, institution, and culture of families. Family member's lives have become deinstitutionalized leading to more family decline, as they are less willing to invest their money, energy, and time. Instead, they are taking time to invest in themselves leading to breakup in the nuclear family. Whenever there is breakup in the nuclear unit, the main functions of family including provision to its member's companionship, affection, and childrearing become challenged, as they cannot be performed better elsewhere (Popenoe, 1988, p. 16).
The modern woman is also a powerful contributing factor to family decline. She has lost her place in the family function, by entering the workforce. She has become so preoccupied and has no time for her husband or the children, leading family breakups and divorces. When women become economically independent thus no longer relying on their husbands for upkeep and any other kind of support, they opt to have children out of wedlock and remain single mothers. Hence a birthrate that is way below replacement levels. According to Vitz, the birth rate among single unmarried women has increased to 43.8 births per thousand in 1990 from 14.1 births per thousand in 1950, representing a 310% increase. That is from about 150,000 illegitimate babies in 1950 to 1,150,000 in 1990 which in return also affects the population growth of the country. Statistics also show that the rate of unmarried teenagers between the ages of 15 -19 has rose to 42.5 in 1990 from 12.6 in 1950 representing a change of 337%. That is a 60% increase in births out of wedlock resulting from about 25% of unmarried women.
Divorce rates are in the decline which is somehow encouraging especially in the last decade. This is attributed to the decline in the United States marriage rate, which has gone down tremendously over the years. In 1992, 61% of the adult population was married while in 1970, 72% were married (Vitz). This leads to a change in the American family structure, with the new ones not having the three status positions but instead become composed of relatives who chip in to offer support in childrearing.
The American family is also declining due to decrease in individual family seizes. The members of these families become members for a relatively short percentage of their lives due to a short lifespan hence his makes these families very unstable. A recent survey showed that the short lifespan is due to high rate of suicide among young divorced or never-married under the age of 40, primarily due to high levels of stress (Vitz). The American family is not only declining but also becoming less important to most Americans as they are focusing more on careers, single parenting, premarital, and extramarital sexuality.
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