The New Generation American Family “Decline and Decay.”?
Question by geno1581: The new generation american family “decline and decay.”?
Compared to the children of the pre 1980s it seems as the children today are spoiled.
As the discipline switched from the parents to the state these children seem to have much less respect for anything than their counterparts of earlier times. I know that much as changed since then, and time seemed to shorten when demands seem to be made with very little effort on their part. I see these “children” at the age of 18 who has never had a job, much less a future, who still depends on “mother” to prepare their meal for them. But, I wonder….. Where is the breakdown?
In the 1940s when WWII was going on.. Kids as young as 16 were so eager to fight for America that many lied about their age in order to serve. It concerns me now to see alcoholics before they are even legal age to drink. Is there still hope for America??
Best answer:
Answer by Jim
The American family has experienced tremendous change over the past few decades. The 1950’s television version of the family as depicted by Lucy and Desi, Ozzie and Harriet, or June and Ward Cleaver no longer exists, if it ever did.
Today, 41 percent of all children are born out of wedlock. By the late 1980’s, the divorce rate was so high that one of every two NEWLY CONTRACTED marriages would end in divorce. (The rate is now a bit lower, and divorce is a bit less common.) More people are choosing not to marry. More people are choosing to live alone. Of those who choose to have children, it is now more common than in the past to have only one or two children. Many married people today are choosing not to have any children.
Whereas the family was the major agency of socialization in the past, that function has been taken over by preschools, baby-sitters, or relatives who are not part of the “nuclear family.” The effect of television has been devastating. Hundreds of studies in social psychology have shown that children who view violence on television are more likely to be aggressive as adults.
Values and norms are changing. Education is being devalued because too many college-educated young adults are having a difficult time trying to find employment. Along with that, the cost of education has escalated to the point that new college graduates begin their professional lives with significant debt.
Because of population growth, partly due to immigration policy, housing is scarce. Scarcity causes a lack of affordability. At one time, a factory worker could afford a small house on one salary. Today, even with two salaries, too many people cannot afford to buy. This means that people do not have the same “stake” in a community as was once the case.
America is developing into a two-tiered society: one well educated, rich, and secure; the other poorly educated, living at or slightly above the poverty level, and lacking any social power (which is the basis for personal security).
Many of my fellow sociologists would say that the family is not dying out; it is simply changing. Perhaps that is their idea of political correctness. Personally, I think that what has happened to the American family is a nightmare that has almost magically come true.
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