The American Family: Is It Declining And Are You Contributing To It?

Our view of what the American family is, has been distorted, politically corrected, and socially engineered far away from what it started out to be. And the roles of each member of the traditional American family has also been changed and socially engineered to fit a politically correct narrative, as well. It’s because of these distortions and changes that we live with cultural consequences that many of us can find intolerable, or at best, uncomfortable. But how many of us actually realize how we are contributing to the metamorphosis of a deformed and malfunctioning American family and culture?

Here’s a study I found, done by Pew Research that gives us an inkling of just how far we have deviated from traditional family ideals and rolls over the decades. The study was released at the end of 2015.

Family life is changing. Two-parent households are on the decline in the United States as divorce, remarriage and cohabitation are on the rise. And families are smaller now, both due to the growth of single-parent households and the drop in fertility. Not only are Americans having fewer children, but the circumstances surrounding parenthood have changed. While in the early 1960s babies typically arrived within a marriage, today fully four-in-ten births occur to women who are single or living with a non-marital partner. At the same time that family structures have transformed, so has the role of mothers in the workplace – and in the home. As more moms have entered the labor force, more have become breadwinners – in many cases, primary breadwinners – in their families.

Diversity. It’s a word that has become become a term of political correctness. Diverse is how this Pew Study describes the transformation of the American Family, as opposed to a traditional family model.

… By contrast, in 1960, the height of the post-World War II baby boom, there was one dominant family form. At that time 73% of all children were living in a family with two married parents in their first marriage. By 1980, 61% of children were living in this type of family, and today less than half (46%) are. The declining share of children living in what is often deemed a “traditional” family has been largely supplanted by the rising shares of children living with single or cohabiting parents.

In the 1960s and shortly following, the changes that came with increased divorce in America also brought a less stable family structure. These could include, non-marital cohabitation, and living arrangements that change as adult relationships change.

For example, one study found that over a three-year period, about three-in-ten (31%) children younger than 6 had experienced a major change in their family or household structure, in the form of parental divorce, separation, marriage, cohabitation or death.

Two parent households suffered a great decline.

… less than half—46%—are living with two parents who are both in their first marriage. This share is down from 61% in 1980⁸and 73% in 1960.

An additional 15% of children are living with two parents, at least one of whom has been married before. This share has remained relatively stable for decades.

And then there is this factor. The increase of single parent households:

Fully one-fourth (26%) of children younger than age 18 are now living with a single parent, up from just 9% in 1960 and 22% in 2000. The share of children living without either parent stands at 5%; most of these children are being raised by grandparents.¹⁰

16% of children live in blended families. And women are having less children, by and large, as compared to post baby boomer era. Women are now, on average, giving birth to two children as opposed to 4 in the 1960s.

The Pew Study cites the rise of women in the workforce and their education as a contributing factor. Women with more education and careers, tend to have less children. They also discuss the multi partner relationships that lead to childbirth and moms who have opted to, or been driven to be the sole or primary bread winners in families as a reason for the decline.

Regardless of how you look at it, the structure of family has changed the cultural face of America. It has facilitated a different mindset for how we raise our children. Now fathers, and mothers, are absent from many home environments, and children are spending more and more time in day care and institutional schools. It’s no doubt those outside influences are shaping the minds of future generations in ways that have not been measured or anticipated by parents.

So, ask yourself some important questions. Does a traditional American family really shape a culture? Do you think the ills in society are perpetuated by the rejection of traditional family? Do traditional roles of mothers and fathers still have a place in the family structure? Has the lack there of traditional roles influenced changes for our culture for better or worse? Has it happened so slowly that we have neglected to notice it’s affect on culture?

Clearly these questions have not been at the forefront of the conversation with the escalation of divorce and unwed birth rates. Do these things matter to you?

Leave a comment. I’d love to hear your opinions.

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