Future Family Status. Free Essay Example

The meaning of the word family differs between various groups of people and may change over time. Traditionally, the family is a unit that includes two or more people connected by blood, marriage, or by adopting and living together, forming an economic unit, giving birth, and taking care of the kids (Vaicaitis, 2015). The traditional view is criticized by social scientists as excluding various groups that view themselves as connected, such as gay and lesbian couples. Therefore, a family is an intimate group consisting of more than one person living together in a dedicated relationship, caring for each other and their children, and having emotional ties. Marriage, on the other side, is a socially approved mating relationship (Vaicaitis, 2015). Throughout American history, marriage has been considered a necessary social arrangement marking the entry into adulthood. However, family and marriage life are continuously shifting, causing arguments on whether they are working against families or its signs of increased diversity. The essay reflects issues on each side of the case and takes a stand.

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Resilience Argument: LeBey, B. (2001). AMERICAN FAMILIES Are Drifting Apart. USA Today Magazine, 130(2676), 20-22.

The article claims that families are currently in better shape than people think. Despite the emerging trends of high divorce rate, the rise of unmarried women, and educated ladies having few babies than in the 1960s, things are much better than before (LeBey, 2001). In the past, children worked full time in the mines; workers worked for long hours leading to little time left for families, unlike today. Also, race riots were frequent, women were intimidated, and cases of children's neglect were high, with only 6% of the children compared to 88% today able to complete high school, making the current situation on families brighter (LeBey, 2001). People perceive the American families as having serious difficulties now than the past because currently, the families are complex and diverse compared to standard ones in the past.

Modern families have plenty of stress, but they are communicated out, have high expectations of good parenting and marriages, and think about making matters better. Fathers spend time with the children; individual children's attention is high and American children are safer now than in the 1960s (LeBey, 2001). Modern marriages are not dependent on child-rearing as couples spend a longer time together even after their children leave as a show of happy marriages. Currently, women are independent and satisfied, which translates to kids doing better in their families. Working wives have led to the sharing of housework and childcare between the couples, which is suitable for the relationships and children. Life expectancy today is 76 years compared to the 1900s; it was 47 years (LeBey, 2001). Problems facing families today are institutions changing too little but not families changing too much.

Declining argument: Coontz, S. (1999). The American Family. Life magazine, 22(12), 79-83.

The articles argue that the traditional American family structures are fracturing due to sexual revolution, women liberation, greater mobility, and relaxed divorce laws (Coontz, 1999). Family conflicts and differences have become numerous and more intense. The cases of siblings hating each other and children abandoning their parents have become a normality. For the last 40 years, divorce has increased by 30% from 1970, the marriage rate is falling, and happy marriages have declined by 13% over the previous 25 years (Coontz, 1999). Marriage is no longer a haven today but a center for disfunction because of the harsh condition set by the world. The primary societal changes since the 1960s are the liberation of women, divorce laws relaxation, mobility of American families, and the sexual revolution, which have caused new family alignments and rifts of old family structure (Coontz, 1999). They had positive outcomes; however, society paid the price. Civil rights movement on liberation changed the perceptions of family structures, calling for women independence. Despite the achievements of gender equality in all aspects of life, the action changes the notion of marriages, motherhood, and unity in the family entirely. The emotional needs of the children got ignored as women claimed their identities.

Relaxation of divorce laws has made marriage a choice rather than a necessity as the process was made simpler (Coontz, 1999). Today family members walk away from the family to areas where he can advance more quickly. Relocation is splitting nuclear families has risen due to employments and economic advancements, which disconnects the bonds of the extended family members (Coontz, 1999). Relocating is making family relationships challenging to sustain. The scattered families are unable to keep their kin united, caring, and supportive. For the discounted nuclear families, trends of alcoholism, depression, escapism, and isolation have risen.

Conclusion

The argument of declining marriage status is more evidenced in current trends and research. Education level is playing a significant role in destroying the traditional standards in marriages. Americans who are moderately educated (make up 70% of the adult population) are now likely to have unstable and low-quality marriages (Wilcox & Marquardt, 2011). Only 30% of the adult population have firm and high-quality marriages and are mostly highly educated Americans. In the past, marriage problems were associated with the poor (Wilcox & Marquardt, 2011). However, today has spread to the middle class questing about future family status. Family structure is disappearing in America and affects the institutions and endangering the future society as incidences of minimal family commitment, irresponsibility, and selfishness are increasing (Wilcox & Marquardt, 2011). Single parenting cases have doubled since 1980, and separations of parents are raising (Vaicaitis, 2015). The current trends of single and cohabiting couples, employed mothers, racial and ethnic diversity, and technology impact marriages and families, threatening families' future status.

References

Coontz, S. (1999). The American Family. Life magazine, 22(12), 79-83.

LeBey, B. (2001). AMERICAN FAMILIES Are Drifting Apart. USA Today Magazine, 130(2676), 20-22.

Vaicaitis, B. N. (2015). Marriages & Families: Changes, Choices, and Constraints.

Wilcox, W. B., & Marquardt, E. (2011). State of our unions 2010: When marriage disappears: The new middle America. University of Chicago Press.