. 1993 Fall;59(3):350-86. Show
American families: trends and correlatesJ Davanzo et al. Popul Index. 1993 Fall. AbstractPIP: Discussion focused on the nature of the roles of the family, a review of the major demographic changes (marriage, cohabitation, nonfamily households, remarriage, fertility, teenage pregnancy, and female employment) affecting the American family in the past decades, and the nature of the impact on women, men, and children. There were four major trends identified: 1) increased proportions of children living in single-parent families due to high rates of divorce and increased childbearing outside of marriage; 2) increased proportions of adults in nontraditional living arrangements; 3) increased female labor force participation during all stages of the life cycle; and 4) decreased proportions of children and increased proportions of older people out of total population due to declining mortality and fertility rates. Family formation arises out of childbearing and childrearing roles, the need for companionship and emotional support, and the opportunities for specialization and trade, and the economies of scale. The costs of family living may include the potential for disagreement, conflict, loss of privacy, and time and money. There were a number of reasons identified for not maintaining traditional families consisting of a married couple with children. The trends were for later age at marriage: 24.4 years in 1992 for women, increased cohabitation (almost 50% cohabiting prior to first marriage in 1985-86), decreased number of married couple households, and increased number of adults in non-family households. The divorce rate has risen over the past 100 years with peaks in the 1970s; the reasons were identified as increased baby boomers and new marriages, increased labor participation of women, and changes in gender roles. The stabilization and slight decline in rates may be due to a natural leveling, the likelihood of greater stability within new marriages, and the aging of the baby boomers. An anticipated increase in divorce rates in the future was also justified. Remarriage rates varied by gender, age at separation/divorce, presence of children, race/ethnicity, and education. Fertility remained stable at 1.8 during the late 1970s and early 1980s and increased slightly to 2.0 in 1989. IN 1990, there were 25% out-of-wedlock births compared to 5% in 1960. About 12% of births in 1989 were to teenagers. There has been an increase in female-headed households, the median income of which in 1992 was $13,012, or 33% of married couple income. Similar articles
Cited by
MeSH termsLinkOut - more resources
How have family patterns in the United States changed quizlet?How have family patterns in the United States changed? They have become more diverse since the last half century. In most cases, when young girls marry older men they: are at a higher risk of medical complications during their first births.
How have family patterns change with time?With marriage rates down and divorce rates up, there are an increasing number of children growing up in sole-parent or reconstituted families.
What are the changing pattern in family?(1) The trend of family form is towards a breakaway from the traditional joint family form into nuclear family units. (2) The small joint family is now the most typical form of family life. (3) A growing number of people now spend at least part of their lives in single family units.
What changes have occurred in American family patterns since the 1960s?Since the '60s, families have also become smaller, less stable, and more diverse. More adults, whether young or elderly, live outside of the family as well. Today, the male-breadwinner, female-housewife family represents only a small percentage of American households.
|
