Divorce in Todays Society Essay -- Marriage Family History Essays Pape

Divorce in Todays Society The Impact of Non-Traditional Families in the Twenty-First Century The image of the American family looks and functions very differently than families of the past few decades. Men and women raised in the 1950s and 1960s when programs such as Ozzie and Harriet and Father Knows Best epitomized the add up family, be likely to find themselves in situations that have changed dramatically. Research claims that any(prenominal)(prenominal) family structures argon common single-parent families, remarried couples, unmarried couples, step families, foster families, multi-generational families, extended families, and the multiply up of two families within the same home. Marriage, divorce, and patterns of childbirth are some of the factors that have contributed to these significant changes in families. With these changes comes the possibility of remarriage and the creation of new families which take on to shortenher parents and children without blood ties. These ar e called blended families and are more prevalent today than thirty years ago because divorce rates are rising and remarriages are much more common (Mahoney 40). These issues are the major factors that have had an impact on the structure of the American family. Significant changes are occurring in marriage patterns in the United States. Individuals are postponing marriage until later in life and more people are choosing not to get married. Current statistics indicate that the marriage rate between 1970 and 1990 fell virtually thirty percent (Ahlburg and DeVita 24). Compared with the 1960s marriages have a shorter average duration. A smaller portion of a persons life is in reality spent in marriage, despite gains in life expectancy. In their research, Dennis Ahlburg and chirrup DeVita describe an explanation for these facts While these facts often lead to speculation that the administration of marriage is crumbling, the number of marriages that occurred throughout the 1980s was at an all duration high. Roughly 2.4 gazillion marriages were performed each year during the past decade. A detailed look at marriage trends reveals how marriage patterns are creating new lifestyles and expectations. (21) another(prenominal) issue which reflects a change of the American family is the trend of divorce. While 2.4 million marriages occurred in 1990, 1.2 million divorces occurred during that same year (Andrew 51). The trend of divorce i... ...aunched a new line of separate devoted entirely to non-traditional families. The cards never use the word step but most of the Ties That Bind cards are clearly aimed at people that have come unitedly by remarriage. All are aimed at the vast and growing assembly of people who dont identify with the old definitions of family, and who are finding ways to make their new families work. Bibliography Ahlburg, Dennis and Carol J. DeVita. red-hot Realities of the American Family. population Bulletin. Aug. 1992 20-28. SIRS. Family , 4, 96. Andrews, Jan. Divorce and the American Family. New York Library of Congress Catalog, 1978. Boyd, Monica and Doug Norris. Leaving the near? The Impact of Family Structure. Canadian Social Trends. 15 Oct. 1995 14-17. SIRS. Family, 5, 58. Feifer, George. Divorce An Oral Portrait. New York The New Press, 1995. Herbert, Wray. When Strangers Become Family. U.S. News and World Report 29 Nov. 1999 59-67. Mahoney, Rhona. Divorce, Non-traditional Families and Its Consequences For Children. Leland Stanford. mahoneyleland.stanford.edu. 20 Nov. 1997 40-42. Stewart, Gail B. Teens and Divorce. San Diego Lucent Books Inc., 2000.