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Chapter 3

Sandwichedbetweentwolengthyworld

wars,theGreatDepressionseemsto

symbolizethefirsthalfofthe20thcentury.

Thesewereyearsofstruggle,deprivation,

andfamilyupheaval.Womenenteredthe

workforceingreatnumbers,fillingthe

positionsvacatedbytheirhusbandsand

helpingwiththewareffort.Whenthemen

returned,thecountryexperiencedatimeof

optimismandeconomicexpansion.The

nuclearfamilyofthe1950scameto

symbolizewhatmanyrefertotodayasthe

“traditional”family.Likethetraditional

familyoftheVictorian1800s,thepost-war

familysymbolizedsecurityfromtheoften

unstableworldoutsidethebordersofthe

UnitedStates.

Astrongyouthculturefosteredbythe

1950sledtosweepingpoliticaland

philosophicalchangeswhichwouldaffect

thesecondhalfofthe20thcentury.The

nuclearfamilycameunderincreasing

pressureasmoreandmorewomenentered

theworkforce.Themakeupoffamilies

begantochangefromthetraditional

breadwinner-father/homemaker-mother

modeltoothermorecommonforms.

Several indicators are used to measure

the health of the family.These include

the marriage rate,divorce rate,birth rate,

and age of first marriage.These

indicators have been used to suggest the

American family is in a state of decay.

However,according to family historian

Steven Mintz (2001),the family is not a

dying institution and in many respects is

stronger than in the past.Marriage and

other trends stabilized in the 1990s,after

undergoing sweeping changes in

previous decades.

Whiletheheadlinesfocusonthedeath

ofmarriage,rampantdivorces,andarising

infertilityrate,recentdatafromthe

NationalCenterforHealthStatistics

(NCHS)andtheCensusBureautells

anotherstory.Accordingtothesestatistics,

thefertilityrateactuallyroseslightly

between1999and2000;themarriagerate

stabilizedafter10consecutiveyearsof

decline;andthedivorceratecontinuedits

20yeardownwardtrajectory.Theoverall

impressionsuggestsrelativestability(Fields,

2003).

Notallfamiliessurvivedaswellas

others.African-Americansstruggledboth

sociallyandfinancially,withfewer

opportunitiesthantheirwhite

counterparts.Evenaftergainingtherightto

vote,manywerepreventedfromexercising

thatright.

Inlookingoverthehistoryofthefamily,

itbecomesevidentthat,whilethereare

problems,theincreasinganddecreasing

trendsestablishapattern—notapatternof

demise,butoneofchange.Theformofthe

Americanfamilyhaschangedoverthelast4

centuries,buttheinstitutionoffamily

remainsanintactandvitalcomponentof

Americansocietytoday.

Summary