Family structure in the United States

Family structure in the United States

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

American family redirects here. For the television show, see An American Family.

Main article: Family

An American family composed of the mother, father, children, and extended family.

The traditional family structure in the United States is considered a family support system involving two married individuals providing care and stability for their biological offspring. However, this two-parent, nuclear family has become less prevalent, and alternative family forms have become more common.[1] The family is created at birth and establishes ties across generations.[2] Those generations, the extended family of aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins, can hold significant emotional and economic roles for the nuclear family.

Over time, the traditional structure has had to adapt to very influential changes, including divorce and the introduction of single-parent families, teenage pregnancy and unwed mothers, and same-sex marriage, and increased interest in adoption.Social movements such as the feminist movement and the stay-at-home dad have contributed to the creation of alternative family forms, generating new versions of the American family.

Contents

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• 1 Family at a glance

• 2 Roles and relationships

• 3 Children

• 4 Controversies

• 5 African-American family structure

• 6 Television portrayals

• 7 See also

• 8 References

• 9 Further reading

• 10 External links

[edit]Family at a glance

[edit]Nuclear family

For more details on this topic, see Nuclear family.

The nuclear family has been considered the "traditional" family since the communist scare in the cold war of the 1950s. The nuclear family consists of a mother, father, and the children. The two-parent nuclear family has become less prevalent, and pre-American and European family forms have become more common.[1] These include homosexual relationships, single-parent households, adopting individuals, and extended family systems living together. The nuclear family is also choosing to have fewer children than in the past.[3] The percentage of married-couple households with children under 18 has declined to 23.5% of all households in 2000 from 25.6% in 1990, and from 45% in 1960.

[edit]Single parent

For more details on this topic, see Single parent.

See also: Teenage pregnancy

A single parent (also termed lone parent or sole parent) is a parent who cares for one or more children without the assistance of the other biological parent. Historically, single-parent families often resulted from death of a spouse, for instance in childbirth. Single-parent homes are increasing as married couples divorce, or as unmarried couples have children. Although widely believed to be detrimental to the mental and physical well being of a child, this type of household is tolerated.[4]

The percentage of single-parent households has doubled in the last three decades, but that percentage tripled between 1900 and 1950.[5] The sense of marriage as a "permanent" institution has been weakened, allowing individuals to consider leaving marriages more readily then they may have in the past.[6] Increasingly single parent families are due to out of wedlock births, especially those due to unintended pregnancy.

[edit]Step Families

Stepfamilies are becoming more familiar in America. Divorce rates are rising and the remarriage rate is rising as well, therefore, bringing two families together making step families. Statistics show that there are 1,300 new stepfamilies forming every day. Over half of American families are remarried, that is 75% of marriages ending

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