Layout 1

(1977),sociologist and member of the

ResearchAdvisory Board of the National

Marriage Project,stated that by the mid-

1990snotoneAmericanfamilywillbeleft.”

Governmental Intervention

It is no wonder these fears about the

future of the family were met with an

increase in governmental involvement.

Groups representing the medical, legal,

and social aspects of family life emerged

to address the problems plaguing the

American family. They included

pediatricians, judges in the juvenile

court system, psychologists, and social

workers. Each of these groups offered

“expert”advice on childrearing,

parenting, and social policy, in an

attempt to strengthen the family.

TheProgressive Reform Movement

of the early 1900s sought to curb the

decline of the family. This movement

inspired laws enforcing compulsory

school attendance, child labor

restrictions, the Pure Milk Act, the first

seniority systems in the workplace, as

well as pensions for widows (allowing

children to remain with their mothers).

These broad attempts to restore the

family also included the prohibition of

alcohol and the elimination of male-only

forms of recreation, such as red-light

districts.

However,racismandprejudicealso

played into social policy. For example,

when single white girls became pregnant,

they often were secretly sent to private

homes and their babies given up for

adoption. Single black girls in the same

circumstances were often said to be

immoral, and their pregnancies were

touted as an example of the“inferiority”

of African-Americans. Sometimes these

girls were even forcibly sterilized (Mintz

& Kellogg, 1988).

The Suffrage Movement

Asyouwillrecallfromchapter2,

agitationforequalsuffrage(therightto

vote)beganintheearly1800sandthe

Chapter 3

SIDEBAR3.1
WHOWOULDHAVEGUESSED?

• The1920swasthefirsttimethatthemajority
  ofAmericanfamiliesconsistedofa
  breadwinnerhusband,ahomemakerwife,and
  childrenattendingschool.


• Themostrapidincreaseinunwedpregnancies
  tookplacebetween1940and1958.


• Teen childbearing was higher in the 1950s
  than today.


• Thedefiningcharacteristicsofthe1950s
  family—arisingbirthrate,stabledivorcerate,
  andadecliningageofmarriage—wereaglitch
  inhistory—outofsyncincomparisontolong-
  termhistoricaltrends.


• Throughout the history of America,most
  families have needed more than one
  breadwinner to support the family.
  Source:Coontz,1999: pp.79,90,92,94.