418 Chapter 11occur despite the fact that nearly half of
Whites and Blacks believe it is immoral to
have a child without being married (Taylor,
Funk, & Clark, 2007). Younger people, how-
ever, are more accepting of this arrangement
than older people.
It is also the case that fewer women are
having children today. In 1976, only 10% of
women between the ages of 40 and 44 did not
have children; in 2008, the figure was 18%
(Livingston & Cohn, 2010). The rate is simi-
lar across ethnic groups. In the late 1950s,
there were 3.5 births per woman. In the mid-
dle of the 1970s, the rate had declined to 1.8.
During the past decade, the rate has hovered
around 2. Childlessness has increased with
improved contraception, the increased par-
ticipation of women in the paid workforce,
and some reduction in the stigma associated
with choosing not to have children. The most
common reasons for not having children are
valuing freedom, placing high importance
on education/careers, and believing that chil-
dren detract from marriage. As you will see
in a subsequent section, there is some truth
to the latter point.
With more women working outside
the home, some people fear that parents do
not spend as much time with children today
as they did years ago. This turns out not to
be true. Parents are spending just as much
time with children as they did 20 years ago
(Galinsky, 2005). But today, there is less of a
separation between work and family, as more
parents work at home and bring work home.
Children perceive parents today as stressed
and fatigued.
Another change in the traditional fam-
ily is the increased involvement of fathers
in childcare. Today, fathers spend more
time with children. In 1977, fathers spent
on average two hours per day with children
(Galinsky et al., 2009). The figure increasedmore central to women’s than men’s identities
(Katz-Wise et al., 2010).
The traditional family has changed quite
a lot over the years. The increased divorce rate
and the increased tendency to have children
outside of marriage have led to a decline in
the two-parent family. In 1970, 81% of chil-
dren lived with two parents who were married
to each other, whereas the figure was 67% in
2009 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010c). The per-
centage for African Americans is much lower
(35%) than Whites (73%). Even among two-
parent families, the notion that the man works
outside the home and the woman stays home
and takes care of the family has changed dra-
matically. This notion characterized 45% of
couples in 1975 but only 20% of couples today
(Harrington, Deusen, & Ladge, 2010).
Single parenting is also more common.
In 2008, 41% of births in the United States
were to unmarried women compared to 28%
in 1990 (Taylor et al., 2010). These numbers
are highest for African American (72%) and
Hispanic (53%) compared to White (29%)
and Asian (17%) women. These numbersFIGURE 11.9 Photograph of father and child
spending time together at the beach.M11_HELG0185_04_SE_C11.indd 418 6/21/11 12:43 PM