The Importance Of Family In The Family

I believe there’s a lot of things important in our lives, but I would like to discuss only three. Change is always happening but we adapt to it to keep living on. One thing I really believe is important is my family. That’s just one thing I believe you may think that money is important we all have different opinions. We all think somethings important but it might not be important to others. So I’m going to tell you what I think appropriate importance is to me.

Family plays an important role in every society. It is the main structure that made up a good society. Samovar, Porter & McDaniel (2015) write, “families are instrumental in teaching young people about their identities, how they fit into their culture, and where to find security” (p.73). Family is the first school in one’s life. In the early stages of our life, we learn how to eat, speak, communicate, and behave from our family, consciously and unconsciously we imitate our parents. In my religion (Islam) there is a great deal of attention to the importance of marriage and making family. Prophet Mohammad said, “The best of you is the best to his family and I am the best amongst you to my family”. Moreover, Islam assign a role to each member of the family, as parents take care of their children and the children should respect and obey their mother and father. I totally agree with Samovar, Porter & McDaniel (2015) when they mentioned that “the three most influential social organizations are (1) family, (2) state, and (3) religion” (p.70). For me, I believe that my family shapes most of my identity.

I interviewed Lily Fontaine asking her a set of questions as well as questions I came up with about her family experience as well as her thoughts and beliefs about family. Lily considers her parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins to be part of her family. She is very close to her family and communicates with them often. Everyone has their own definition of family. According to the Census Bureau (book pg 11) family is “a group of two people or more related by birth, marriage, or adoption and residing together; all such people are considered members of one family”

Did you know that more than one fourth of all children in the United States live with only one parent? Single parenting has become more common today than in the 1800s, when it was sometimes frowned upon. As the years have gone by, it has become easier and easier for women to become single parents. In the 1800’s if husbands died or abandoned their families, women had no choice but to work for extremely low and unfair wages. Today, most men and women are treated equal and receive equal wages making it easier for women to be single parents. This concept is shown in Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer through Aunt Polly in the 19th century, single parenting is also common today.

In 2002, number of children living with their single parent was 16.5 million (Davidson). The most important thing is that each single-parent family is different from the other. Children who live with a widowed mother will definitely be living a different home life from children with divorced parents or the one whose parents were never married. Children of the parents who were divorced will always have some kind of relationship with parents and parents’ partners. But it is obvious that children from single-parent families face tougher times economically as well as

American families have never been as diverse as they are today. There is a constant changing definition of what we call “family”. We as Americans are straying further and further from the idea of a classic nuclear family. One of the biggest reasons is a dramatic rise in kids living with a single parent. In 2014, just 14% of children younger than 18 lived with a stay-at-home mother and a working father who were in their first marriage (Livingston, 2015). This research will address in depth why households are now more diverse than ever, what’s the normal family now, and why aren’t the laws adjusting to how the average American family lives today.

Similarly, some are faced with financial challenges while others are financially secure. In addition, some fathers are still involved in their children's lives, such as seeing them on weekends or holidays,while some fathers choose to be withdrawn from their childrens lives completely. Over the years, there have been many studies that show that the main dangers with single motherhood come from financial uncertainty and to a smaller degree, certain romantic patterns of the mother. A two-parent home that is economically steady with strain and conflict would be more damaging to children than a one-parent, financially stable home without strain and conflict according to McLanahan’s results. In truth, no household arrangement assures gladness or ensures

Despite the fact that the majority of children in America live in a two-parent household, alarming Census Bureau data reveals an enormous drop in the number of two parent families. Using their most recent data, the United States Census Bureau reports a 1.2 million drop in the number of two-parent households over the past decade (Bureau). Families without fathers impacts nearly eighteen million children in the United States. Fatherless households account for the majority of single parent households; however, motherless families influence another five million children (Bureau). Numerous reasons account for how single parent households develops; but as the number of children nurtured in single-parent homes continues to rise, a disturbing number

This article is useful as it recognizes the rise of single-parent families and the decline in two-parent families. Nuclear families are less common today and many children are living with cohabiting parents. Similar to the other articles, this article points out the decline of two parent families being that the number of divorce, remarriage and cohabitation rates are increasing. What was considered to be “traditional family” has been replaced with the number of children living with cohabiting or single parents. Children who are living in a nuclear family are also likely to experience different family arrangement due to the increase in divorce. This article analyzes the changes in American families and the statistics in regards to those changes

Each and every day a child somewhere in the world is experiencing major changes within their family. One of those major changes is divorce or separation of parents. Divorce is “the action or an instance of legally dissolving a marriage”(Webster, 2011 p1). Today’s reality shows that couples only have one in two odds of remaining together. “ The U.S. Census bureau – involved in research about counseling children of divorce- estimating that approximately 50% of all American children born in 1982 lived in a single-parent homes sometime during their first 18 years. Mostly are due to divorce”(Children of Divorce, 2008 p.1). The rapid increase in divorce rates is a factor that has contributed to the large decline of the typical family. “Over 1

These pressing issues are becoming prominent as “most children in the U.S. spends some portion of their childhood living apart from at least one of their parents” (Grall 2009). Part of this occurs mainly because of high divorce rates as well as an unprecedented increase of childbirth to unmarried parents. In fact, one of the “greatest indicator for poverty and welfare dependency is a child born to a single mother headed household” (McCormick 2004). This concept does not merely dismantle the importance of family values, but it also promotes the continuous cycle of single-parenting. For this reason, having a

In our society nowadays, there is a growing problem in the structure of families. “Over the past twenty years, single-parent families have become even more common than the so-called "nuclear family" consisting of a mother, father, and children” (Single parenting and today’s family”). According to the Pew Research Center, thirty-four percent of families in the United States reported having only one parent in the household. It is a dire need to have two parents in the house to a child's health, but there is a continuing growth of more and more families end up splitting up and leaving children alone without a two-parent household. In the US alone it is predicted that between 40-50 percent of families divorce with at least one child in the house under 18 (“Marriage and Divorce”).

According to Ryan and Cooper (2008), the society has in the recent past undergone some dramatic changes in regard to familial structures. In their own words, the authors note that "the once common image of the 'breadwinner' father, a housewife mother, and two children 好ow accurately describes only a very small percentage of households in the United States" (Ryan and Cooper, 2008). What this means is that the number of single-parent households in the U.S. has been on the increase in recent times. It is however important to note that unlike their counterparts in two-parent households, single parents face a variety of unique challenges in seeking to raise children in an appropriate environment. One of the major disadvantages faced by single-parent households according to Ryan and Cooper (2008) has got to do with lower incomes. In the opinion of the authors, the additional financial burden in this case is triggered by "not just the absence of one parent but the loss of a two-parent income" (Ryan and Cooper, 2008). In that regard, single parents are forced to survive on a single source of income which is in most cases not enough to cover everyday expenses of

Traditionally, families are usually composed of a two-parent household, but considering the changing times, most families have become a single-parent household. In consideration with the changing times, two-parent families have temporarily become single-parent families, due to a father’s temporary absence, whether it is for work or military services. Although a father’s presence is important to a child because it reflects a sense of stability and daily interaction with a father figure and male authority. As stated, “The role of the father in the socialization of children in the American nuclear family is of particular interest, since he is ordinarily the only adult male with whom the child can

Single parent households are a sensitive topic that is highly debated today. This topic is one that has repercussions for both the parents and the children involved. However, regardless of the different consequences, these households continue to grow in the coming years. “In 1970, traditional two-parent married households dominated, making up 81 % of all households in the United States (US). By 2012 this number dropped to around 66 % … In 2012, approximately 21 million children, or 28 % of all children in the US, lived with one parent” (Kramer, 2015). It is interesting to look at the way the single parent households continue to grow throughout the years, all while being a hot topic for discussion on its consequences. When thinking about a book to read for this course, there was no real choice. I stumbled upon this book and knew right away that I could benefit from this book, as well as connect to it on a deeper level and relate to it personally.