...results of its disappearance. By Madeleine Bunting Saturday 25 September 2004 * * The past 30 years has been a generation of dramatic change in the shape of family life. That pace will not be continued in the next 20. The next two decades will be a period in which already well-established trends are consolidated. That is the consensus among researchers. And all are agreed that by 2020 it will be very hard to talk of a "typical family", such will be the variety of shapes and types of families. The most marked characteristic of families since the 1960s has been that the traditional conception of the British family has disintegrated. The married couple with 2.4 children is disappearing. The sequence of life events - marriage, sex and children - has been radically reordered. Marriage rarely comes first and increasingly does not happen at all. Over the past 30 years, levels of cohabitation have trebled, the number of babies born outside marriage has quintupled, and the number of single-parent families has trebled. The most dramatic change, however, has been to the "happy ever after" bit in the picture of family life. In the past 30 years, the rate of divorce has doubled; and half of all children now experience their parents' divorce before they are 16. All four trends - cohabitation, divorce, births outside marriage and single parents - are likely to be even more pronounced by 2020. There is no evidence that any of them are easing. Much has been made of the fact...
Words: 1539 - Pages: 7
...Rufus Griscom and Alisa Volkman’s happiness chart is like the ever changing weather. The weather can be hard to predict and hard to get right. When you think it is going to be sunny with little chance of rain, it changes and you are left without your umbrella. I believe marriage and parenthood are a lot like the ever changing weather. Their chart shows a white line, the baseline of happiness with a few peaks and valleys and a yellow line with many many peaks and valleys. I can totally relate to the yellow line as I am a wife and mother of two teenagers. Life is always changing and so are the moods, wants and desires of the family members. I remember as my husband and I were planning our wedding we were inseparable. We were affectionate,...
Words: 482 - Pages: 2
...same-sex marriages, depends on their religious beliefs. But it is very far from the truth to call the same-sex marriage debate a religious debate, when it is actually all about politics. What one’s view on same-sex marriages is depends on whether one is conservative, liberal or libertarian. Or perhaps basic human rights and values? At least that is what Mike Adams writes in his article ‘Three Views on Same Sex Marriage’ the 21st of May 2012 for www.townhall.com. He calls the issue pretty simple for the conservatives, because they think the marital institution predates any governmental decision. To the conservatives, marriage is about protecting women and children, and taming men. The liberals do not think that we as individuals get our rights from God, but instead the rights are given to groups by the government. Liberals are of the opinion that any government can change any law and regulation as they want to, and they do not consider marriage to predate any laws. Libertarians, however, think that it is problematic to recognize marriage in any form. The government should not be in the business of promoting a religious institution, nor should the government recognize and regulate an even broader range of relationships than it already does. David Blankenhorn – in value-based opinion shift In 2007 David Blankenhorn, author of the book ‘Future of Marriage’, took a rather conservative point of view on marriage. He used children as the main argument for why marriage was a...
Words: 1007 - Pages: 5
...After leaving the adolescence stage, entering into young adulthood, I was not prepared mentally to handle adult duties. Therefore, the stage called emerging adulthood happened prior to me entering adulthood. Many feel they stepped they’re way into adulthood by the end of their 20’s or early 30. During this period, changes took place in educational paths, jobs, love partners, and identity. Also, many people make changes their majors several times, and after graduating enter graduate school which delays settlement into the desired career path. Since young adults are always on the move, they move in and out of homes and resident halls. Due to unsettlement in career and being on the move, results in delay marriage as well. However, not every young adult in the world goes through this process of emerging adulthood. Many young adults in non-western countries have no emerging adulthood. They enter marriage, parenthood, and lifelong work early. In low income families, young people do not finish high school or are unprepared for college, and are less likely to leave home, therefore emerging adulthood is nonexistent. Emerging adults also begin too to build intimacy and trust in relationships that will last a lifetime. However, individuals in emerging adulthood think of intimacy in a different way than in the past. Emerging adults have created a new shift during the period of adolescence and young adulthood in which they are more open to and accept uncommitted sexual activity during...
Words: 616 - Pages: 3
...helping him make some of the toughest decisions in government (Biography.com ). Although Mike Pence lives in a completely different time era than St. Clare, they both share in the same attribute of having the strength to do what is right. All Mike Pence’s life, he has done what he has known was right. His biggest moral fight in society is against abortion. For example, as governor of Indiana, Mike Pence signed some of the strictest law against abortion in the country. These laws decreased the number of abortions that take place in Indiana along with defunded Planned Parenthood (Sickich). He was even the first vice president ever to attend the annual March for Life held in Washington D.C (Guadiano). This led him to be criticized all over social media by so many pro-choice people, yet he stayed devoted to his beliefs and did bend...
Words: 605 - Pages: 3
...moving against Republican leader once again in recent weeks in battle over funding for women’s health organization called Planned Parenthood. As a result of that, the Ohio Republican - John Boehner, who is The House Speaker, said in a news conference Friday afternoon he had decided only that morning to announce his plans to resign from Congress. The House Speaker is second in line for the presidency after the vice-president and is one of the most powerful positions due to the abilities to shape the party’s strategy for passing legislation, scheduling congressional business. The Planned Parenthood is one of the main reasons why John Boehner announced on last Friday that he would resign. The last day of fiscal 2015 was on September 30th, to fund the government after that date, the Congress will have to pass another continuing decision, which may or may not prohibits federal funds from going to Planned Parenthood. Americans have a favorable opinion of Planned Parenthood, about 55 percent of Americans support government funding for Planned Parenthood and only two-thirds of Republicans stand with a group of conservative members of Congress who say such funding should not be continue. A Quinnipiac University poll conducted Sept. 17-21, however, found that seven in 10 Americans over all oppose shutting down the government over federal funding of Planned Parenthood. Back in 2013, the federal government shutdown which cost taxpayers approximately 24 billion dollars - a huge waste of taxpayer...
Words: 786 - Pages: 4
...a thing of the past: the challenge for 2020 is dealing with the results of its disappearance. The past 30 years has been a generation of dramatic change in the shape of family life. That pace will not be continued in the next 20. The next two decades will be a period in which already well-established trends are consolidated. That is the consensus among researchers. And all are agreed that by 2020 it will be very hard to talk of a "typical family", such will be the variety of shapes and types of families. The most marked characteristic of families since the 1960s has been that the traditional conception of the British family has disintegrated. The married couple with 2.4 children is disappearing. The sequence of life events - marriage, sex and children - has been radically reordered. Marriage rarely comes first and increasingly does not happen at all. Over the past 30 years, levels of cohabitation have trebled, the number of babies born outside marriage has quintupled, and the number of single-parent families has trebled. The most dramatic change, however, has been to the "happy ever after" bit in the picture of family life. In the past 30 years, the rate of divorce has doubled; and half of all children now experience their parents' divorce before they are 16. All four trends - cohabitation, divorce, births outside marriage and single parents - are likely to be even more pronounced by 2020. There is no evidence that any of them are easing. Much has been made of the fact...
Words: 1479 - Pages: 6
...The effects of poverty The effects of poverty are serious. Children who grow up in poverty suffer more persistent, frequent, and severe health problems than do children who grow up under better financial circumstances. * Many infants born into poverty have a low birth weight, which is associated with many preventable mental and physical disabilities. Not only are these poor infants more likely to be irritable or sickly, they are also more likely to die before their first birthday. * Children raised in poverty tend to miss school more often because of illness. These children also have a much higher rate of accidents than do other children, and they are twice as likely to have impaired vision and hearing, iron deficiency anemia, and higher than normal levels of lead in the blood, which can impair brain function. Levels of stress in the family have also been shown to correlate with economic circumstances. Studies during economic recessions indicate that job loss and subsequent poverty are associated with violence in families, including child and elder abuse. Poor families experience much more stress than middle-class families. Besides financial uncertainty, these families are more likely to be exposed to series of negative events and “bad luck,” including illness, depression, eviction, job loss, criminal victimization, and family death. Parents who experience hard economic times may become excessively punitive and erratic, issuing demands backed by insults, threats, and...
Words: 6260 - Pages: 26
...In his essay, “The New American Divide,” Charles Murray provides a more in depth look into the large gap that separates the classes in America, both financially and culturally, and how it has evolved over time. From the beginning, he emphasizes the dissolution of a “common civic culture” as previously widespread values such as marriage and a hard work ethic become less commonly held among the greater American populace. Even though the gap in wealth has always existed in America, in earlier eras there still existed a sense of cultural equality among the classes, or at least among the non-Latino white population. He states that Americans pride themselves in the idea of a cultural equality between all citizens; however, Murray feels that this cultural equality is decreasingly true since the 1960s as citizens of contrasting classes have evolved differently over the decades from 1960 to 2010. Murray defines this common civic culture as “a culture encompassing shared experiences of daily life and shared assumptions about central American values involving marriage, honesty, hard work, and religiosity” that most Americans, if not all, of all social classes share (Murray 348). Murray states that over the past fifty years, this civic culture has progressively fallen apart and a new upper class as well as a new lower class has emerged. This new upper class has advanced educations, shared opinions, and specified preferences that set them apart from mainstream America, as compared...
Words: 993 - Pages: 4
...hit movie Mean Girls earned lots of laughs from audiences everywhere. However, in today’s society we are taught ever since we are little that sexuality is unnatural and against the morals of the society we live in. The things teenagers are being taught are not in a laughing matter. While we are very strict on sex before marriage, not everyone will make that choice. The hormones rushing through the adolescent brain needs to be taught that, yes waiting until marriage is an option, but if you choose to not wait that’s okay. Comprehensive sex education will teach teenagers the tools and facts they need to stay safe if they choose to be sexually active. Although people...
Words: 986 - Pages: 4
...The changes in sexuality for men and women, sexuality are an important function in middle adulthood. Men tend to function sexually in a satisfying marriage and intimacy when they are overall pleased with their partner. Marital satisfaction probably increases the pleasure derived from sexual intercourse, and a satisfying sexual relationship probably increases the satisfaction derived from a marriage (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010). Women are much more likely to be orgasmic in very happy marriages than in less happy marriages (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, p.426). Men and women reach their sexual desire at two different ages, a man’s sex drive reaches its peak at a relatively young age, whereas a woman’s tends to peak in her late 30s or early 40s (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010). Other changes involved with couples experiencing difficulty with their sex drive, is having children, many adjustments, pressures, and problems can be associated with parenthood (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010). Men engagement is in extramarital affairs decreases as men age, on the other hand, women extramarital relationships increases, of the thought men reaches their sexual peaks at an earlier age. Other changes that will cause an extramarital affair: reasons due to unsatisfying sex drive within the marriage or illnesses of the partner, or dysfunction in the relationship. Following a divorce, a man can have several partners, and women are more likely to an active sex life with more partners then...
Words: 454 - Pages: 2
...d) First of all, over four in every ten children are now born outside marriage. This is five times more than in 1971. However, nearly all these births were registered by both parents. In most cases, the parents are cohabitating. One reason for this increase in births outside marriage may be the decline in stigma and increase in cohabitation. For example, only one-third of 18-24 year olds now think marriage should come before parenthood. Secondly, women now have fewer children than in the 1970s. For example, in 2001 the average number of children per women fell to a record low of 1.63. This change in pattern is due to women having children at a later age for reasons such as wanting a career before starting a family. Because of the change in the position of women even over the last 40 years, women now have many more options than just motherhood. They are more independent, and aren’t seen as simply ‘homemakers’ anymore. This is also the reason why many women remain completely childless. Its predicted that a quarter of those born in 1973 will be childless when they reach the age of 45, and this change in pattern is mostly due to woman seeking to establish themselves in a career. Another change in pattern is the number of lone-parent families. Lone-parent families now make up 24% of all families, so one in four children live in this family type. The number of lone-parent families has increased due to the increase in divorce and separation, and more recently, the increase in the...
Words: 357 - Pages: 2
...BECOMING A MOTHER (ROUGH DRAFT) TAMMY ALEXANDER ASHFORD UNIVERSITY: ENGLISH 1 BECOMING A MOTHER Although parenthood is a life changing event, the changes can be very positive and maturity can come much faster than expected. Becoming a mother had so many positive affects in my live. I would say,” It totally changed my life but it was a much needed change”. Before becoming a mother my life only revolved around me. I did things such as; going to parties, hanging at clubs, I did an enormous amount of shopping for myself and just simply had a good time enjoying life. The thought of having a child never crossed my mind. I would often here my boyfriend say, “Everybody can get pregnant except Tammy”. With a blank stare on my face every time he said it, I could imagine the horrific sound of immense pain I heard from my sister during the birth of her son. Indeed, a baby can be a blessing but I would often ask myself, is this life I wanted for myself? Moreover, with much thought, proper planning and marriage I agreed to have a baby. I never imagine the awful morning sickness, the welcomed wt loss, and the loss of appetite I would experience. I thought I was supposed to gain weight and consume much more food than I normally ate. My experience was totally different; I had a shocking amount of wt loss, 40 pound wt loss to be exact. The smell of food was horrible to me. My eating habits only consist of eating ice. The cold and crisp ice seemed to be the only thing I could tolerate...
Words: 613 - Pages: 3
...most negatively stereotype, one-parent families. Penny Turner, who is lone mother, but she don’t see it as something negative. Penny don’t have many money, but it doesn’t change anything for her. She think it’s easier for her, to teach her children the value of things. A survey of single parents’ attitudes to their situation, tell us, that large numbers of Britain’s 1.8 million lone mothers and fathers feel positive about rearing children on their own. Theresa Goodman think it’s better for the child to live without all the conflicts a marriage can bring, and the child get often more attention. The moms in this article, think that their children are better without a dad, because they think, there will be a lot of conflicts, and because there is only one to decide for the children. 2. I will make one list with positive side and one negative side, with the three articles in one list. Positive side of single parenthood It’s possible to get a baby without a man, but with help from Donor insemination for single woman. It’s easier to teach the children the value of things in live. It’s easier to teach the children in the things the mother or father means is the right way to do things. As a single parent, you will find out who your true friends really are. Negative side of single parenthood Some women means that if they not find Mr. right, they don’t get any children. The negative stereotype, from Britain: One-parent families. The economic is most likely...
Words: 296 - Pages: 2
...Week 1 Homework Chapter 1: Marriage, Relationships, and Family Commitments: Making Choices in a Changing Society 3. What important changes in family patterns do you see today? Do you see positive changes, negative changes, or both? What do they mean for families, in your opinion? As the textbook states on page 13 the three society-wide trends have already dramatically changed American family life and will continue to do so. (1) new communication and reproductive technologies, (2) changes in America’s race/ethnic composition, and (3) economic uncertainty. Also, delayed marriage and frequent divorce are transforming the American household, etching patterns of solitude, single parenthood and homes increasingly filled by unmarried couples. Men and women are marrying later than ever before. On these days a couple will move in together, have kids, then marriage each other when it should be the other way around. 4. What are some examples of a personal or family problem that is at least partly a result of problems in the society? The list of personal, family, or social problems is huge and not identical from area to area. Some predominant social issues include the growing divide between rich and poor, domestic violence, unemployment, pollution, urban decay, racism and sexism, and many others. Sometimes social issues arise when people hold very different opinions about how to handle certain situations like unplanned pregnancy. Also, the problem of materialism and consumerism...
Words: 381 - Pages: 2
