How Has Your Family Changed

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Richard Salisbury 3 October 2013 How Has Your Family Changed? According to Herbert S. Klein’s article “The Changing American family” “[t]he American family has undergone a profound transformation” over “the past 20 years” (Klein 1). This article brings up some of the major changes in the American family system and how these systems have changed and develop over the years. Klein states that since 1980 “[t]he traditional American family has been undergoing profound transformations for all ages, all races, and all ethnic groups” (Klein). Every aspect of the American family is experiencing change. In 2000, the proportion of persons who were over 15 years old and never married reached historic levels, it is about a third of the men and a quarter of the women were listed as never having married. Now, more and more senior aged people are living alone or without other generations present than the before. In 1910, most elderly people (age over 65) were living with their children and only 12% of them lived alone. However, by 1990 almost 70% of senior citizens (age over 65) lived alone. There was also a big rise in “empty nest” households, with elderly couples no longer having “resident” children of any age (Klein). Klein also mentions that the factors influencing these trends everywhere in the modern industrial world seem to be the same; late marriages, women increasing their participation in the workforce, thus having higher incomes, and changing beliefs in the importance and necessity of marriage. All these facts showed us the American family has changed a lot. The trend of having a perfect family is taught to us through many different perceptions. As children we read these stories that have a perfect family and life. Traditional families of the past are directly contradicted by the new trends of today. Divorces of today are a traditional scene. Years ago marriage
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