Changing Families

Abstract

The people who live within it are continually reinventing the institution of family and such an institution is still the foundation for what we believe to be a family. There are several factors changing families today but nothing more dominant than the increase in immigration providing more racially and ethnically diverse cultures merging into one family compositional change. The awareness and acceptance of the emergence of interracial composition and gay and lesbian couples among America's younger generations is the evidence that society is becoming more receptive to a new family structure and dynamic.

Changing Families

The word family does not hold the same consideration and characteristics of what many of us deem as "back when we were growing up..." in comparison to those individuals who are still in their early 20's. There has been a drastic change in the family dynamic since the Ozzie and Harriet stereotype causing many to question, "What has happened to families?" It is safe to say, that along side of any economical, societal, and environmental changes, families have always been the institution that several societies consider the foundation to their well-being. What is considered family in our world today is structurally different from that of 60 years ago (Sohoni, 1993).

What is family? Many of us believe that a family is structured around the nucleus of a father, mother, who eventually reproduce children (Stanley, 2012). The Census Bureau defines family as, "a group of two persons or more (one of whom is the householder) related by birth, marriage, or adoption and residing together" (Bianchi, 1995). However, our societal beliefs and values have changed and for most, have openly accepted the neomodern family that consists of the traditional two-parent family, single parent family (led by women, men, and/or grandparent), multiracial family, multiethnic family, lesbian and gay couple family, the blended family, resulting from divorce and remarriage (Sohoni, 1993). Therefore, the definition of family is focused more on the nuclear of diversity, rather than one man and one woman. Such diversity has challenged government policies based on the traditional role that a family is static, only to be altered because of birth, marriage or death (Coleman & Ganong, 2000). These structural changes have also forced the Census Bureau to recognize that multiple families are living together under one roof, depending on how family is defined, need to be considered as part of any data collection that continually monitors family households (Bianchi, 1995).

So what has caused the change in the structure of the family unit? Is it urbanization, demographics, cultural trends, structural trends, or simply economics and diversity? One can argue that the growing social acceptance of divorce, homosexuality, and poor economical support for single parent households have become the root of the changing family. One could agree that these are purely factors that only add to the reasons why the face of the American family has changed or one could disagree and insist these are the reasons for changing families. Reasonably, it is a combination of such factors in addition to changes in idealistic factors of our beliefs and value plus increased urbanization has all contributed to the alteration of what we consider a traditional family (Harper & Leicht, 2011, Chapter 2, pg. 15).

If we consider how densely populated cities and rural communities have become because of nature growth and immigration, it becomes understandable that families have converted into ethnically and racially diverse unit. Such an increase in population logically finds that people tend to be more connected within the immediate community extending into larger geographical areas (Harper & Leicht, 2011, Chapter 4, pg. 68). The more multiethnic and multiracial the geographical area, the more changes in the formation of family is produced from the various cultural beliefs, values, and attitudes. Diversity acceptance among young adults, has demonstrated that family need not be defined by race or ethnic background but must become the index for the new face of the American family (Johnson & Lichter, 2010).

Social changes made by many Americans are additional reasons for changing families. In recent years, it has become more socially acceptable for women to defer marriage and motherhood until later in life. This choice ultimately causes a decline in marriage and an overall lower birthrate (Sohoni, 1993). However, the choice to defer marriage and childbirth has become a reality due to decrease in wages for younger adults and job security. The realization of economic hardships has also increased cohabitation instead of marriage (Harper & Leicht, 2011, Chapter 5, pg. 95).

We shift from the possible reasons for causing changes in the family structure towards outlining the different forms of families in the 21st century. First, we all remember the year most Americans considered the staple for reflecting on what is an ideal American family-the year 1950. The conventional Ozzie and Harriet or Leave it to Beaver family was stable and loving and one family the majority of us grew up believing existed in each household (Stanley, 2012). Since then, divorce has rapidly become acceptable causing a shift on head of households. In the 1990s, approximately four out of ten children lived with a single parent in the U.S. (Bianchi, 1995) an average of 27 percent while 11 percent had a biological parent and stepparent (Bianchi, 1995).

Due to the large increase of single parent family homes, race has been considered an additive to the increasing epidemic. The proportion of single parent families has continuously increased among females. Women have continued to have children out of wedlock or become the household head because of divorce (Sohoni, 1993). More so, African American women remain having 60 percent of births are out of wedlock (Sohoni, 1993). In reaction to women having children out of wedlock, many abstinence programs and pledges have become more popular. The Father Daughter Purity Ball is a ceremony which young females take a chastity pledge in front of their fathers avoiding sexual contact (Stanley, 2012).

Single parent families with the father as the head of household has grown more acceptable in today's society. The 1980s had seen a trend of more father-child families (Bianchi, 1995). In the 21st century, many more men have become the caregivers instead of women. According to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, fathers are more involved today due to fewer hours worked, cope better with tasks of adulthood, and have healthier