User:Dgerofsky/sandbox

In the past two decades people have been affected by change more than ever before. People want to be accepted by our society and therefore more families are driven into this idea of a "post modern family." That is "-two parents working; single-parent families; adoptive families; remarried families; and so on.” This type of family is more focused on conformity to the world and open to change at any moment in time. When people get tired of trying to make ends meet with family they just give up. This is so easy to be adaptive to change it because change has become socially acceptable in today’s society. Before the 1960’s most people agreed that the “nuclear family” was to include a mother to stay at home and take care of the children, and a father who would work and make ends meet for the family.   “Then many events changed us, like World War II, the atomic bomb, the Holocaust, then later the Women's Rights movement, the Civil Rights movement, Watergate.” These disasters affected the way people thought of the world around them. People began to have worries and doubts about the culture they lived in and began to seek change. During the 1960’s “73% of all children were living in a family with two married parents in their first marriage. By 1980, 61% of children were living in this type of family, and today less than half (46%) are.” This shows the rapid decline of children living in a married household or so called traditional family.

When people started to question our nation as a whole, they also started to question the value of romantic love and the idea of having one partner that will last a life time. As divorce rates started to climb, the idea that a relationship doesn’t have to last forever became socially acceptable. “What happened to the family was thanks to the sexual revolution and new contraceptive methods, premarital sex became socially acceptable…The implicit contract based on an exchange of virginity for commitment no longer exists. The basis of the contract has become consensual. Marriage is an agreement between two equals, with the idea that we'll stay in the relationship as long as it serves our purposes and needs.” Statistics show that “Far more married adults say that love (93%), making a lifelong commitment (87%) and companionship (81%) are very important…However, when asked if they agree that there is “only one true love” for every person, fewer than three-in-ten (28%) survey respondents say, I do.”  This is also why cohabitation in today’s society is now looked at as normal. The fear of a lifelong commitment scares people and therefore if they cohabit there is an easy way out of the relationship if needed. “As marriage has declined, cohabitation (or living together as unmarried partners) has become more widespread, nearly doubling since 1990, according to the Census Bureau. In the Pew Research survey, 44% of all adults (and more than half of all adults ages 30 to 49) say they have cohabited at some point in their lives.” .” As children mature in this world they are watching parents and young adults conform to this and start to consider it an acceptable lifestyle.

Another reason family values have changed over the past few decades is because women are more likely to continue their education after high school. Nowadays in order to earn a steady income and support a child, a person will most likely need at least a college degree to hold a full time job that can support his needs. "While in 1960 just 18% of mothers with infants at home had any college experience, today that share stands at 67%. This trend is driven in large part by dramatic increases in educational attainment for all women. While about half (49%) of women ages 15 to 44 in 1960 lacked a high school diploma, today the largest share of women (61%) has at least some college experience, and just 19% lack a high school diploma." Also,Today, 40% of families with children under 18 at home include mothers who earn the majority of the family income.18 This share is up from 11% in 1960 and 34% in 2000." The push for women to attend college is why the maternal age has increased over the last twenty years. Stay at home mothers are less common today because women are expected to work and the dependence on a male figure has now become less prominent in society.

The focus of today 's society is more focused on the individual which is why family values have become lost. Suddenly work meetings or children's sporting events have surpassed the importance of family. Parents are also less protective in society today because they do not have time to put in the effort and dedication to a child. Therefore, that the child is forced to learn independence and how to take care of themselves at such a young age. "We talk a lot about quality time, but it's not really the quality of the time that is important. What is critical is that the children feel that they are important enough in their parents'' lives that the parents are going to sacrifice something for them. Real quality time is when parents say, "Look, I know I have this meeting but you are more important, and I am going to come to your recital." Children need to know they are important in their parents' lives." Family values are going to change as our world continues to advance and we see more diversity, but that should not change the importance of family and relationships. Children and young adults today are what will shape future generations. They want to believe in true love and know that they are surrounded by people who care and will support them. Ultimately these children will determine the world we live in and set an example for future generations.`