“…the story of the family, once a dense cluster of many siblings and extended kin, fragmenting into ever smaller and more fragile forms. The initial result of that fragmentation, the nuclear family, didn’t seem so bad. But then, because the nuclear family is so brittle, the fragmentation continued. In many sectors of society, nuclear families fragmented into single-parent families, single-parent families into chaotic families or no families…This article is about that process, and the devastation it has wrought—and about how Americans are now groping to build new kinds of family and find better ways to live.” (David Brooks)
Brooks expresses a lot of great points in this essay. Starting in the 1960’s and 70’s, marriages were considered important for the self-expression of ones identity rather than child bearing which was the norm before this period. One historian even indicated that the “american family” ideal had been collapsing since the end of the 1800’s. With this new definition of marriage, the number of married couples living without kids has doubled from 1970-2012, 28% of households are now single person homes, and about 45% of marriages end in divorce today. I will let you all read the rest however I am curious to see what you all think of this.
My take: This is an underrated issue. While I agree we shouldn’t go back to the “father and mother” social dynamics that we had in the sixties, family is important in our lives even if it is not blood related family. Kids with single parents, or unmarried cohabiting parents, have greater chances of poor mental health, living and staying in poverty, and less academic achievement. This topic is so broad and complicated that I could go on for hours however I want to keep it short so I can hear your views. I will finish my take by saying that this issue requires we take action on poverty (as most unstable marriages and single parenting occur for people with little to no income) and our education system (it is vital that people of all socio-economic backgrounds be able to have the opportunity to a good education).
If you are interested in this topic, I also strongly recommend Nick Shulz’s book, “Home Economics” Link Here: https://www.amazon.com/Home-Economics-Consequences-Structure-Capitalism/dp/0844772607/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=home+economics+nick+shulz&qid=1581711752&sr=8-1-spell
This is a fantastic article that I highly recommend by David Brooks. It is a bit long but a must read.
the-curious.org 