Essay on 21st Century Family

In the 21st century, changes among and within families in the United States have been experienced at the heart of our views about life and the manner in which it functions. Some of the things that are reshaping the family life in the 21st century include dramatic divorce rates, the introduction efficient and safe birth control methods and longer lifespan. The emerging realism of family life is in sharp contrast with ideal notions of the family that have been in existence and developed over centuries. Conflicts in the manner we identify the family is creating deep contradictions in the public policy. If the 21st generation wants to have a family as an essential element in our society, we need to understand what the family is and what it is becoming.

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Currently, the family life is changing. There is a decline of two-parent households in the United States due to increased divorce, remarriage and cohabitation. Furthermore, the families have become smaller as a result of growth drop in fertility and single parent households. The circumstances surrounding parenthood has drastically changed, and Americans are also experiencing a fewer number of childrens. When we go back to 1960s, babies were born within marriages, but currently, out of five out of 1o infants occurs to women who are not yet married or living with the non-marital partner. Additionally, there are drastic changes in the family structures as the role of mothers at home and in the workplace have transformed. Mothers have now joined the labor force, and many of them are now primary breadwinners of various families. Parents end up spending less time with their kids since they arrive late in the evening and leave very early in the morning for work (Bianch et al. 2012).

Due to this transformation, the existence of one dominant family form in the United States can no longer. At the moment, children are being raised in the setting of progressively diverse and, for many, continuously developing family forms. This is entirely different from 1960 where there was only one dominant family form. During that time, more than 75% of children were staying in a family with parents who were married in their first marriage. The number of children living in this type of household form declined in the 1990s to 60%, and in the 21st century, only 45% are in this family form. The decreasing share of children living in what was referred to as traditional family has been mainly caused by the rise in the number of children who lives with a single or cohabiting parent.

Furthermore, there are changes in what exactly a family is. For many centuries, a family has been identified to be made of father, mother, and children who are commonly referred to as nuclear. Nonetheless, this is not the case with many at the moment. Due to increased number of gays and lesbians, it is not a surprise to find a man that has married a fellow man and the same applies to women. Furthermore, some women do not prefer getting married, yet they want to have children. In this case, they go for donor insemination, and you will find a family with a mother and her children with no present father. Notably, most of the parents have ended up abandoning their children due to various reasons such as poverty, drug addiction, and increased family wrangles. This has led to break up of so many families and thus leaving children with no one to care for them. The 21st century has been characterized by the increase in the number of divorces. This is the reason why there is increased the number of children centers in the 21st century that has been established to provide care for less fortunate children since such broken families struggle to provide much-needed care (Bianch et al. 2012).

The forms of dating have transformed over several generations, and the 21st-century dating remains a dangerous sport. The 21st generation now days feel that the older way of dating limits their capability to find that person they wish to be within the modern world. The teenager has now adopted going steady approach whereby they meet their boyfriends and girlfriends through the mutual friend at a social place. This relationships are not long term due to less commitment. As a result, youths are finding themselves dating different individuals and more that 80% of this relationship are leading to intimacy regardless of the time you have known each other. With increased deadly sexually transmitted diseases, the teenager is in increase trouble as the spread of this diseases is increasing due to such kind of relationships (Cherlin, 2005).

The good thing about the 21st century is that the life expectancy is projected to increase as compared to 20th century. The WHO states that the 21st century is healthier at the same time longer for the current generation than ever. However, this is not a guarantee as it all depend on you, through proper diet and exercise. As such, most of the families will remain stable for years since all family member are there to contribute to the family. For instance, a parent will be there to provide proper care for their children for many years. When we compare the family life in the 21st century with other centuries, it appears as if we are not heading the right direction. The so-called traditional families have reduced and in the coming years, if the society we are living in does not intervene, we will no more have the traditional family in the next century.

References

Bianchi, S. M., Raley, S. B., & Casper, L. M. (2012). Changing American Families in the 21st Century. The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Couples and Family Relationships, 36-47.

Cherlin, A. J. (2005). American marriage in the early twenty-first century. The Future of Children, 33-55.