Nuclear Families In The 1950s

403 Words1 Page
Register to read the introduction…

“In the 1950’s, 86 percent of children lived in two-parent families, and 60 percent of children were born into homes with a male breadwinner and a female homemaker” (Conley 451). In contrast, “in 1986, fewer than 10 percent of U.S. families consisted of a male breadwinner, a female housewife, and their children, a figure that has since fallen to 6 percent” (Conley 455). Modern families come in all shapes and sizes. They no longer follow the strict nuclear family layout. There are many reasons why the nuclear family is no longer the most common family type. Some of these reasons include increased divorces, increased acceptance of different sexual orientations, increased amount of couples choosing not to get married/common-law marriages, increased amount of people choosing not to have children (rise of birth control methods), increased amount of families with both parents working/needing to work, etc. Personally, I do not believe the decrease in the nuclear family model is a bad thing. By definition a family is just a group of people who are related or married/in a relationship and it can still be a healthy and well-functioning unit no matter the size or combination of people it is made up

Show More
Related

  • 1950s Family Structure

    2184 Words  | 5 Pages

    There are different structures of families in America.  In the nuclear family arrangement, partners and their children constitute the primary relationship. In the extended family arrangement, relatives provide the fundamental relationship. The man is, usually, the head of the family in such family arrangements. Gay families constitute of marriages between parties of the same sex. Other structures of the family include a single parent family, peer families and relationships based on the idea that both parties are equal.

    Read More

  • Society's Changing Attitude about the Traditional Family Model

    1857 Words  | 4 Pages

    Traditional family in today’s society is rather a fantasy, a fairy tale without the happy ending. Everyone belongs to a family, but the ideology that the family is built around is the tell tale. Family structures have undeniably changed, moving away from the conventional family model. Nowadays more mothers work outside of the home, more fathers are asked to help with housework, and more women are choosing to have children solo. Today there are families that have a mom and a dad living in the same home, there are step-families, and families that have just a mother or just a father. Probably the most scrutinized could be families that consist of two moms or two dads. These are all examples of families and if all members are appropriately happy and healthy then these families are okay and should incontestably be accepted. So why is the fantasy of the traditional family model still so emphasized in our society? This expectation is degrading and misleading. Progressing with times one ought not be criticized or shunned for being true to their beliefs. It is those living falsely, living as society thinks they should that are the problem. Perhaps as a society, if there were more focus and concern for happiness and peace within ones family and fewer worries for the neighbor then there would be less dilemma.

    Read More

  • A Modern Twist on a Traditional American Family Ideal from the 1950's

    1585 Words  | 4 Pages

    Depictions of families in the 1950s were extreme in a myriad of ways. The notion of a “nuclear family,” in which a husband, wife and their children were considered the smallest unit of our society, became incredibly popular. Husbands and wives each seemed to have particular roles and duties from which they couldn’t stray. The husband, of course, was a working man responsible for bringing money to the household. His wife worked on something else: their household itself. She cleaned, cooked, and decorated. She bought groceries and clothing for everybody. She watched their children, fed them, and took care of them. In the 1950s, advertising advocated these roles and these roles alone: straying from them was rather unthinkable. The “nuclear family” had a facade of perfection, hiding any troubles within. To challenge it was to ostracize oneself. More than half a century later, notions of family have loosened considerably, but the influence of the 1950s lives on. In the attached advertisement from 2011, Coca-Cola supports its consumeristic goals by presenting a modern twist on classic 1950s family ideals via a brazen acceptance of the negative effects of its products.

    Read More

  • Essay On Family Roles In The 1950s Family

    1539 Words  | 4 Pages

    Imagine life as a woman in the 1950s: struggling with the idea that men are superior to women, and stuck in a life filled with empty opportunities. Esther Greenwood, protagonist from the novel The Bell Jar, contemplated this problem as she began learning the typical customs expected of women during the 1950s. Pressured by both her mother and society to accept a future devoid of genuine happiness and adventure, Esther lost control of her own life and spiraled downward into a continuous cycle of denial and depression. During the 1950s, a typical family consisted of a working father, a stay-at-home mother, and respectful children, all living together in a safe, suburban neighborhood. Author Sylvia

    Read More

  • Effects Of Family Relationships In The 1960s

    1938 Words  | 4 Pages

    Family relationships in general are affected by historical events in an obvious way. Gender roles were not in dispute leading up to the 1960s, for wives and husbands were coworkers in the family activity. Children were welcomed as coworkers, and as a source of security in illness and old age. Family relationship changed in the 1920s due to people leaving the farms to work in urban centers. The Industrial Revolution is the reason (cause) the “Joint family” (Encyclopedia) unit broke down when workers moved to cities for jobs. The joint family included Grandparents, Aunts, Uncle, Cousins, etc.. At this time Progressives notice changes (effects) such as: courtship now dating, women smoking cigarettes, Jazz music, perfume, and dress styles, to name a few symptoms of coming change. These changes were not fads. When the ideas of the late 19th and early 20th century found support in business and government law and courts many people departed from the nuclear family ideal in the 1960s because a family relationship if close and loving became

    Read More

  • The Impact Of Television On The American Family

    1446 Words  | 3 Pages

    Television has played a major role in the death of the American nuclear family. According to Dictionary.com, a nuclear family is defined as a primary social unit consisting of parents and their offspring. Television has become commonplace in American culture, and most watch oblivious to the effect it has on them and their families. “2009’s Nielsen’s Television Audience Report shows that 54% of homes in the U.S. had three or more television sets, 28% had two television sets and only 18% had one television set” (“More”). Over the past seven decades’ television has had a progressive impact on the American family unit by showing family can be diverse in race, gender, and parenting styles.

    Read More

  • 1950 Family Structure

    628 Words  | 2 Pages

    What is family structure and how has it changed over the years compared to the 1950? Family structure is the support of loving family member to help care for and raise their offspring under the roof to which they live. Usually, this is by two loving parents, or grandparents to which help raise these children if parents are unable to fulfill their commitments. Though, family structure has changed tremendously over the years, I recall my parents telling me that before considering marriage you need to date first, be financially secure; then begin having a family. Basically, there was a golden rule to the values and responsibilities to which we needed to abide by when it

    Read More

  • Parke Nuclear Family

    295 Words  | 1 Pages

    Parke challenges the contrary believe of the nuclear family being the ideal family form in today’s society and perhaps in the past, as well. “We have chosen a period in our history that we imagine or recall as being a particularly good period for families and then used this era as the baseline for comparisons with the contemporary state of the family” says Parke (2013, p.3). He goes on to say this idea is misleading as several factors were ignored. The following statement: “families do not exist in a social vacuum” refers to the idea that the dynamics of family include several other factors aside from a mother or a father (e.g., extended family, friends, neighbors, etc). Clearly, there is more to a family than just a mother or a father. As

    Read More

  • The Impact of Societal and Economic Changes upon the Family

    1940 Words  | 4 Pages

    Family and society have come across many changes during our history. Every change that occurred has affected what many people would call the "Benchmark Family" (Scanzoni #7). This is considered the perfect family or the norm. The Family would consist of the husband that is the breadwinner and the wife who is responsible for raising the children, and taking care of the home (Scanzoni #4). Society has changed dramatically from the 19th century. These changes in turn have affected Family. Many factors through the years have been responsible for these changes. Feminism is a tremendous factor that is still having its effect on family and society today. Another factor is employment. Women in the workplace have changed family structure over the years. Sex is also a factor that changed family and society in many ways. I will explore these factors and show what effect they have on family.

    Read More

  • Relationship Between Children and Parents During the Fifties

    1654 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the 1950s, family dynamics in post war period of WWII embodied the relationship between children and their parents. The suburban family lifestyle in the community centered on conformity –family togetherness involved parents taking interest in their child’s life. The coexistence of Americans in the Fifties perceived the relationship between children and adolescents to their parents as rebelling against parent authority. Such scenarios such as, “Live My Own Life,” an episode on a TV shows Father Knows Best, Bud Anderson feeling resentment toward his parents, because his dad disapproves of the activities he wants to enjoy. The episode shows that Bud wants to grow up even though his parents continuously treat him like a kid. Another distant relationship between children and parent is the literary text, “The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury. In Bradbury’s text, the children’s self refinance on technology replaced the parents absent role in the family. The theme of depending on technology, abandonment, and man versus machine justify the parents’ blind sight, enabling technology to supply happiness in the children’s lives. The discourse in the Fifties was self-reliance, where children persuaded with their parents to give in their every whim.

    Read More

  • The Nuclear Family Replaced the Extended Family After Industrialisation

    667 Words  | 2 Pages

    the men went out to work and the women stayed at home to do housework

    Read More

  • The Nuclear Family And Alternative Family Structures

    734 Words  | 2 Pages

    The reason why I say this is because that is what a nuclear family is also referred to as a traditional family. Another reason for this is because I grew up in a nuclear family and believe that is what it should consist of and till this day I still live in a nuclear family.

    Read More

  • The New Nuclear Family: Problems & Benefits in Single Parenthood

    815 Words  | 2 Pages

    Families supported by single parenthood are no longer viewed as nontraditional. Becoming apart of the social norm, 27% of the families in the United States are headed by only one single parent. As more single-parent families begin to emerge in North America, the public brings concern to examine the outcomes of these households for the wellbeing of children. Overall, financial difficulties and possible negative effects for children are two main issues of single-parenthood. However, a number positive factors of single-parenthood exist within these cons.

    Read More

  • The Function of the Nuclear Family

    1571 Words  | 4 Pages

    Murdock’s idealised view of the family could now be seen as outdated as it is no longer the most common family structure in Britain today although it can still be used as an argument against other perspectives. While there have been many changes to the structure of the family and the roles performed within it, the nuclear family remains an ideal for the majority of people in society.

    Read More

  • Women and Families

    922 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the most interesting concepts in the opening chapter The Nuclear Family is the insistence of society to continue to hold the traditional family structure in highest regard. It’s like the saying ‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks’. Even though most families are non- traditional we haven’t accepted it. It was a good point by Coontz(1997) to say that “holding on to these nostalgic ideas creates problems for contemporary families.” By hanging on to this notion that families aren’t good enough with a mommy and a daddy and three kids, I think really does delay the development of solid, clear, moral foundations for modern families. If these families are considered secondary and not as good in the first place then there’s going to be hesitance to even bother improving them. The children of these families would benefit most from the relinquishment of the traditional ideal. They need to be secure in the fact that their family is as good as anyone else’s.

    Read More

More about Nuclear Families In The 1950s

Open Document