Changes in American Families

Many Americans formed their idea of family life in the nineteen fifties. American family has become increasingly less common in the last thirty years.Beginning in the nineteen fifties, a wave of social change swept through American life. Almost every American family was affected. Historians say the American family has changed more rapidly in the last thirty years than in any other time period. Social historians say the most far-reaching change in the family has resulted from changes in women' s work. A majority of married women in the United States no longer stay at home ail day to cook, clean and raise children. They now have paid jobs outside the home. So their young children spend at least part of the day in a child-care home or centre.

Changes in the family also resulted from changes in marriage traditions. During the nineteen sixties, many young men and women began to live together without being legally married. Some had children. They were a family, but not in the traditional sense. At the same time, more people ended their marriage if it was unhappy. The rate eve divorce In the United States increased by more than three times in about twenty years. And finally, birth control became more acceptable. Fewer babiesWith divorce and fewer babies, American families got smaller. They began to look less and less like families in the television programs. Many more families were made up of only divorced mothers and children. More two-parent families contained children from a husband's or wife's earlier marriage. More families were made up of women who had never married, the children they had outside of marriage, and perhaps a grandmother or aunt. Andrew Chilin, a professor of social science at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, isa leading expert on families. Mr Cherlin says changes in the American family began with economic and population changes in the nineteenth century. People began buying the things they needed, insteadof making them at home. The birth rate went down as the nation became more industrial. Then, after World War II, the economy grew quickly. There were many jobs. Having less to do at home,married women went to work at those jobs. Their earnings helped pay for their family's clothes, education and holidays.Social scientists say female employment also removed an important reason for marriage. In the past, women needed husbands to survive economically.

And men needed wives to cook for ?them and make their clothes. Today, women do not need husbands to survive economically. They can earn their own money. And men do not need wives. They can buy what they need in stores. Because of this , social scientists say , marriages today are based less on economics. Instead , they are based more on the desire for love and friendship , and the desire to create a family.（http://www.top-watches-brand.com/B-Audemars-Piguet-Replica-Watches-3.html）

Social scientists say the high divorce rate does not mean that people have rejected marriage. ? They note that three of four divorced people marry again. And most do so within a few years. As population expert Paul Glick says , "Americans like to live in the married way."More than ninety percent of Americans will marry at some time in their lives. Recent studies by government researchers show that the divorce rate in the United States is still one of the highest inthe world. But it has been falling. The rate in 1 986 was lower than it had been since 1 975. Social scientists say this is happening because more people recognize that divorce is not always the best way At the same time, public opinion studies show that the great majority of Americans are very happy with their family and marriages. And most American children say they believe their parents are doing a good job of raising them,Some people might wish that the family would return to what it was like in the 1950's. Experts ?say there is no sign that this will happen. Arthur Norton, a government population expert, says the changes in the American family are real, and they are going to stay, because they have be come part of American life.（http://www.designer-cheap.com/B-Replica-Audemars-Piguet-Watches-6.html）

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Social scientists say the high divorce rate does not mean Replica Watches that people have rejected marriage. ? They note that three of four divorced people marry again. And most do so within a few years. As population expert Paul Glick says , "Americans like to live in the married way. Replica Watches

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