The Meltdown Of Nuclear Families In The 1900s

During the industrial revolution, the nuclear family was considered the norm, consisting of a mother and father living together with two biologically related children. Traditionally, the wife stayed home as the homemaker and looking after the children without pay. While the husband earns the money through working at a job away from the home. Furze (2015 p. 174) states that ‘in the 1940s and 1950s, many sociologists and the general communities of Western countries such as Australia and New Zealand considered the traditional nuclear family the most widespread and ideal family form.’ Additionally, backing this statement up Fletcher (2017) claims that ‘from a functionalist perspective the nuclear family is ideally suited to meet the necessities

A brief view of the 4 decades within the periods of 1950 to 1990 would show us a significant shift from the conventional nuclear family to the non-conventional modern family. Starting from the 1950s, the families were nuclear, where members worked together, understood their roles, and did what was expected of them; by the 1960s, there were a few sitcoms that began to undermine the television parent’s authority by privileging the independence of nearly adult or adult children; by the 1970s, the authoritative father began to disappear as they were no longer

The ideological construction of a nuclear family is a homogenized ideology of what human kind and society should be. The development of the nuclear family ideal was a cultural and political response to World War II. It was a concept which perpetuated and expressed that any other form of family was unacceptable, such as, families which were composed of a single parent, or families with parents of the same sex. This ideal, therefore, created a false understanding of normality. Due to political power, the nuclear family was an ideal pushed to control what was occurring in the homes of individuals and a method of displaying the “American Dream” because people were unaware of how such an ideal family could be created and maintained.

The idea of the nuclear family was highly valued in the American culture during the 1950s, where romantic love was the central reason for marriage in America; however, love in modern America is not enough to make a marriage last. Likewise, the 1950s was the time for many American marriages to undergo many socioeconomic changes including the rise of the gender minority in the workplace. Due to these developments, marriage is under enormous socioeconomic pressures have given the rise to family structures such as those headed by single parents, multigenerational families and gender roles. The 1950s nuclear family was defined as a heterosexual married couple with children. In addition, social expectations were attached to this idea which was the predictable gender roles of male breadwinner and a female homemaker. The 1950s definition of a nuclear family has for long been engraved as an ideology in America society, but we have failed to see that the contemporary America has experienced dissolution of the 1950s nuclear family. The gradual dissolution of the 1950s nuclear family has had both positive and negative social effects. However, the problem of the 1950s ideology of a family is no longer functional or representative of the contemporary American society.

Conventional nuclear families are no more drawn out the standard. Almost 50% of all marriages now end in divorce, and remarriages for one or both accomplices have dramatically increased since the 1980s. As indicated by a study, more than 2.5 million children live in stepfamilies. 33% of Americans are stepparents, stepchildren, stepsiblings, or some other individual from a stepfamily

Also, the “bond” between mother, father, and child in a normal nuclear family, is very strong, this in turn has made a blue print of an entire adult life on the child.

Seeking more information Emma Fuller decided to read a Times article with great hopes. In the article it stated that the 3 biggest changes in families are divorce, women in the workforce, and blended families. All of these examples go against the nuclear family. Also statics show that in 1960 65% of families had a father that was employed,with only 22% in 2012 we must realize that dynamics in families are changing and it’s ok. This shows that times are changing and so are families.

In the 1970’s the majority of children were raised within a nuclear family as this was seen as the norm in society. However in recent years many more children are being raised in different family forms throughout the UK for all sorts of reasons. One form is cohabiting couples, the number of cohabiting couples is expected to double to almost 4million by 2021 which is a massive increase as in 1986, the number was around 1million. Children may be raised within this family form due to the woman getting pregnant and her boyfriend wanting to create an almost perfect family so they live together but do not get married. Another reason may be because they feel as though marriage is not the right option but still agree to do the same as what married couples do such as raise children.

Most families can be described as nuclear, consisting of one or two parents and their children. Extended families no longer live together, but they still maintain close bonds with each other. Traditional families are not predominant way of life, and different forms of cohabitation have emerged. Families have fewer children or none at all. Many young people are choosing to live together outside of marriage. The increase in this form of cohabitation has resulted in a rise of illegitimate children. Divorce has also contributed to the rise in the number of non-traditional families. Despite all the changes in the traditional family, as a rule the relationship between parents and children is exceedingly

Nuclear family is described as then the traditional family structure which consist of two adult male and female that are legally married and have biological children together. The nuclear family was most popular in the 1950’s and 60’s. They tend to have stronger bonds because they work together and rely on one another to overcome challenges.in this family children observe their parent supportive and loving relationship, which help the children learn how to interact appropriately. Children in this family are well structure and generally have more opportunity due to financial easy and stability of two adults. Nuclear family tend to be hardier when faced with difficulty as they learn to how solve problems together and support each other emotionally.

33). In addition, today we can see so many families that does not fit in the traditional family. Now most of the families both parents work and take care about the kids and the households. It is common to see unmarried couples with two or three children. For example, my parents started a relationship when they were eighteen years old, after two years my mom got pregnant. My older brother born and three years later my parents got married. In that time was not very common to see families like mine, but my parents did not care about it. Nevertheless, some people still think that the nuclear family is the same that was in the 50’s, but the truth is that the time is changing and a lot of people are focusing more in the modern families.

Although the traditional nuclear family is still a deeply-rooted portion of American's cultural identity, the twentieth and twenty first century marked a new era of individuals who rejected familism, marriage and monotony. The nuclear family is no longer a white heterosexual couple with two children. With the rise of same-sex and interracial marriages, adoption and a focus on pursuing a career, people are less concerned with monogamy or for that matter, having children. The "traditional family" has become whatever you want it to

One of the most interesting concepts in the opening chapter The Nuclear Family is the insistence of society to continue to hold the traditional family structure in highest regard. It’s like the saying ‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks’. Even though most families are non- traditional we haven’t accepted it. It was a good point by Coontz(1997) to say that “holding on to these nostalgic ideas creates problems for contemporary families.” By hanging on to this notion that families aren’t good enough with a mommy and a daddy and three kids, I think really does delay the development of solid, clear, moral foundations for modern families. If these families are considered secondary and not as good in the first place then

According to Dr. Alina Costin, family is the fundamental unit of society and today it is used with a wide variety of meanings (2014). In 2007, single-parent families make up thirty-two percent of the population (Benokraitis, 2012). As more adult remain single into their thirties and divorce rates are higher, the number of children living in single-parent families has increased (Benokraitis, 2012). The number of never married people has gone up form four percent in 1960 to forty-three percent in 2010 (Benokraitis, 2012). Women also run an over whelming eighty-seven percent of single-parent households in the United States (Benokraitis, 2012). While these statistics seem daunting, it is important to remember how children and the parent are

According Jacqueline Kirby, M.S. in The Ohio State University “One of the most triking changes in family struture over the last twenty years has been increase in single-parent families. In 1970, the number of