The Decline Of The Nuclear Family In The 1950's

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The nuclear family is the concept of a family composed of a mother, father, and their children living in a single household. Often in a nuclear family, the male is the breadwinner for the family, the sole source of income, and the mother stays at home to tend to the children and housework. This familial unit was most common in the 1950s in America, and has been on the decline since. Through evolution of or culture and society as a whole, the concept of the nuclear family is quickly declining. Today, only approximately 6 percent of households fall into this category, following how family values and society has changed in the years following 1950.

The occurrence of the nuclear family is on the fall today mainly due to changing values, …show more content…
These couples, known as “empty nesters”, combined with the also increasing number of bachelors and bachelorettes (single people living alone) make up approximately 60 percent of American households today. The main cause of this seems to be a combination of the state of our economy, as well as changing family values. While on the topic of changing family values, another significant factor on the decline of the nuclear family is divorce. Today, divorce is more common than ever, with approximately 40 percent of marriages ending in divorce. Due to this decline, the number of single person households continues to increase. Those with children often split time with the children, having them switch between homes on a regular basis (as settled in divorce agreements), unless the terms of the divorce appointed sole custody to one of the parents. With the increase in divorce, the nuclear family continues to decline due to more single person or single parent with children households. Also coupled with divorce, stepfamilies come into play. Following divorce, three of

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