Evolution of the Typical American Family

The American family has come a long way and has changed a lot overtime. Liberals and conservatives have their own views on the American family today. It is very tough to raise a family nowadays. However, there are some easier ways to raise a family today as well. Some of the things that I will talk about are divorce and its effects, welfare, abusiveness on children and wives, and a couple of articles in the book, "Families in the U.S."

One tough thing about today's American family is divorce. In 1816, one marriage out of one hundred ended in divorce. Then between the years 1869-1888, divorce increased up to one hundred and fifty percent. And the worse, between the years 1960-1980, the divorce rate increased up to two hundred and fifty percent. Divorce rates peaked in 1981 and then started to decline a little during the mid 1980's. However, divorce rates now are as high as they have ever been. Now fifty percent of all marriages end in divorce. There are five reasons for the increase in divorce. The first reason is in modern societies; individual happiness is regarded to be important so when people are unhappy with their marriage, they break-up and split. The second reason is it is easier to get divorced financially. The third reason is that women's economic independence has contributed. The fourth reason is the stigma of divorce has lessened so people are not

worried socially. The last reason is the change of laws. The "no fault" laws have contributed to increases in divorce rates.

There are also the effects of divorce on the children, not just the husband and wife. More than one million children experience divorce every year. One effect of divorce is the parental loss. The children lose the loss of ...

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... go with that. Sometimes a kid can be left out of one of the step families.

One more problem with our society is welfare. In 1996, we changed our welfare system. We changed welfare because welfare was becoming a big burden on tax payers and we were rewarding and encouraging women to have babies out of wed lock. There

were five ways in which we changed our welfare system. One way was that welfare was no longer an entitlement. The federal government gives grant blocks to states and the state spends at their own discretion. Another way is the work requirements are that you need to work after two years. Another way in which welfare changed is teenage mothers have to live with a guardian to get benefits. Another way is you are entitled to welfare for five years only. And the last way in which welfare has changed is the child-care funding.