Variations in American Family Life Chapter 3 1. Outline American Families across Time How Contemporary Families Differ from One Another Racial and Ethnic

Variations in American Family Life

Chapter 3

1

Outline

American Families across TimeHow Contemporary Families Differ from

One AnotherRacial and Ethnic Diversity

2

American Families across Time

American marriages and families are dynamic and must be understood as the products of wider cultural, demographic, and technological developments. The Colonial Era (1607–1776) Nineteenth-Century Marriages and Families Twentieth-Century Marriages and Families Contemporary Families

3

The Colonial Era (1607–1776)

Native American Families In the early years of colonization, there were

2 million Native Americans in what is now the United States.

Most families were small. There was a high child mortality rate.Marriage took place between the age of 12

and 15 years for girls and between the age of 15 and 20 for boys.

4


Colonial FamiliesThe family was the primary unit for

producing goods and caring for the needs of its members.

Marriages were arranged.The wife was not an equal, but a helpmate. Like her children, the colonial wife was

economically dependent on her husband.

5


Colonial Concept of ChildhoodChildren were believed to be evil by nature.Childhood did not represent a period of life

radically different from adulthood. When children reached the age of 10, they

were often “bound out” as apprentices or domestic servants.

6


African-American families Began in the United States in the early seventeenth

century. During the seventeenth century and much of the

eighteenth, enslaved Africans and their descendants faced difficulty forming and maintaining families.

Childhood experience was often bitter and harsh. Despite the hardships placed on them, enslaved

Africans and African Americans developed strong emotional bonds and family ties.

7

Nineteenth-Century Marriagesand Families

In the nineteenth century, the industrialization of the United States transformed American families from self-sufficient farm families to wage-earning, increasingly urban families.

With this shift, a radically new division of labor arose in the family.

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Marriage and Families Transformed Without its central importance as a work unit and

less and less the source of other important societal functions the family became focused on feelings.

This shift brought love to the foreground as the basis of marriage.

The two most important family roles for women in the nineteenth century were housewife and mother.

A belief in childhood innocence replaced the idea of childhood corruption

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The African American FamilyThe Slave Family

By the nineteenth century, the slave family had already lost much of its African heritage

Slave children endured deep and lasting deprivation.

Slavery did not destroy all aspects of slave families.

Relied on extended kinship networks and on unrelated adults to serve as surrogates

10


African-American Families After FreedomThousands of former slaves formally

renewed their vows, as they were now legally able to marry.

The first year or so after freedom was “the traveling time.”

African Americans traveled up and down the South looking for lost family members who had been sold.

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Immigration: The Great TransformationBetween 1820 and 1920, 38 million

immigrants came to the United States.Kinship groups were important for

survival.The family economy focused on family

survival rather than individual success.

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Twentieth-Century Marriagesand Families

The Rise of Companionate Marriages In the 20th century, companionate marriage

became an ideal.Men and women shared household decision

making and tasks.Marriages were expected to be romantic.Wives were expected to be sexually active.Children were treated more democratically.

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The Depression and World WarsFamily roles and relationships were

profoundly affected by the Depression and two world wars.

Survival depended upon a combination of women’s earnings, children’s earnings, assistance from kin, or public assistance.

Between 1941 and 1945 the numbers of employed women increased by more than 6 million, to a high of 19 million.

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Families in the 1950sMarriage and birthrates were unusually

high.Divorce rates were uncharacteristically low.The economy enabled many to afford to buy

houses with only one wage-earning spouse.

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Median Age at First Marriage,1960–2008

Year Males Females

1960 22.8 20.3

1970 23.2 20.8

1980 24.7 22.0

1990 26.1 23.9

2000 26.8 25.1

2008 27.4 25.6

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Trends in Marriages, Divorces, and Births: 1970-2008

1970 1990 2008

Marriages 2,159,000 2,443,000 1,153,000

Marriage Rate 10.6% 9.8% 7.1%

Divorces 708,000 1,182,000 NA

Divorce Rate 2.2% 5.2% 3.7%

Births 3,731,000 4,158,000 4,309,000

Birthrate 18.4% 16.7% 14.2%

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Couples and Children: 1970-2008

1970 1990 2008

Married Couples 44,728,000 52,317,000 60,129,000

Unmarried Cohabitating Couples

523,000 2.9 million 6.8 million

Children living w/2 parents 59,681,000 46,820,000 51,785,000

Children living w/1 parent 8,426,000 15,842,000 19,501,000

Births to unmarried mothers 399,000 1,165,000 1,642,000

As % of all births 11% 28% 39%

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Aspects of Contemporary Families

Noticeable TrendsCohabitation

unmarried couples sharing living quarters and intimate and sexual relationships.

MarriageDivorce, remarriage, and blended familiesUnmarried motherhood and single-parent

families

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Factors Promoting ChangeEconomic changesTechnological innovationsDemographicsGender roles

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Percentage of Married Women Employed outside the Home Who Have Children 6 Years Old or Younger

19

30

45

5963

59 60

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2004 2007

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Demographic Changes Three important changes have emerged:

1. Increased longevity

2. Increased divorce rate

3. Decreased fertility rate

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How Contemporary FamiliesDiffer from One Another

Social Class A social class is a category of people who share a

common economic position in the stratified society in which they live.

Structurally, social class reflects the occupations we hold, the income and power they give us, and the opportunities they present or deny us.

The cultural dimension of social class refers to any class specific values, attitudes, beliefs, and motivations that distinguish classes from one another.

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Social Class and Family Life: Upper ClassRoughly 10% of the population occupies

this position. The uppermost level of this class represents

3% of the population.

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Social Class and Family Life: Middle ClassRepresents between 45 to 50% of the

population.Upper-middle class consists of highly paid

professionals (lawyers, doctors, engineers). Middle-middle class comprises includes

white-collar service workers with incomes between $40,000 and $80,000.

25


Social Class and Family Life: Working ClassAbout a third of the U.S. population is

working class. Tend to work as skilled laborers, earn

between $20,000 and $40,000, and have high school or vocational educations.

26


Social Class and Family Life: Lower ClassClose to 20% percent of Americans are

poor.The poverty line was determined by

calculating the annual costs of a “minimal food budget” multiplied by three.

Families whose incomes are even one dollar above this are not officially classified as poor.

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The 2009 Poverty Guidelines for the 48 Contiguous States and the District of Columbia

Persons in Family Poverty Guidelines1 $10,8302 14,5703 18,3104 22,0505 25,7906 29,5307 33,2708 37,101

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Class and Family Life Within upper-class families we tend to find sharply

sex-segregated marriages in which women are subordinated to their husbands.

Middle-class marriages tend to be ideologically more egalitarian and are often two-career marriages.

Working-class couples who work “opposite” shifts, have higher levels of sharing responsibilities.

Marriages among the lower class are the least stable.

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Class and Family Life: Parents and ChildrenAmong the upper class, an important

objective is to see that children acquire the appropriate understanding of their social standing and cultivate the right connections with others like themselves.

Middle-class parents tend to emphasize autonomy and self-discipline.

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Structural Downward Mobility: U.S. Families Face the Recession The recent and current state of the U.S. economy in

2009–2010 has made downward mobility a harsh and painful reality for large numbers of U.S. families across the social class spectrum

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Racial and Ethnic Diversity - Definitions

The Census Bureau defines ancestry as any of the following: “where their ancestors are from, where they or their parents originated, or simply how they see themselves ethnically.”

The way the Census Bureau asks people of their ancestry can affect results.

A racial group is a group of people classified according to their phenotype which is determined by anatomical and physical characteristics, such as skin color and facial structure.

An ethnic group is a group of people distinct from other groups due to cultural characteristics (e.g. language, religion, and customs) that are transmitted from one generation to another.

A minority group is a group of people whose status places them at an economic, social, or political disadvantage.

According to recent Census data, more than thirty percent of the U.S. population is ethnic minorities.

32


African American Families According to the Census Bureau, in 2007 there

were nearly 39 million African Americans in the United States, making African Americans 13% of the U.S. population.

Compared with the total U.S. population, African Americans are younger and less likely to be married.

Blacks are more likely to bear children outside of marriage and more likely to live in single-parent families.

33


Hispanic FamiliesAs of July 2007, there were an estimated

45.5 million Hispanics, representing 15% of the U.S. population.

Emphasize extended kin relationships, cooperation, and mutual assistance.

La familia includes not only the nuclear family but also the extended family.

Bilingualism helps maintain ethnic identity.

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Asian American Families Asian Americans are the second-fastest-growing minority in

the United States after Hispanics. In 2007, the more than 15 million Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders represented 5% of the U.S. population.

The largest Asian American groups are Chinese Americans, Filipino Americans, Asian Indians, Koreans,Vietnamese, and Japanese Americans.

Groups such as Cambodians, Laotians, and Hmong first came to this country in the 1970s as refugees from the upheavals resulting from the Vietnam War.

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Race, Ethnicity, and Socioeconomic Status

Total Whites African Americans

Latinos Asians

Median family income, 2007

$50,740 $55,069 $40,300 $42,074 $77,046

Percent unemployed, February 2009

8.1 7.3 13.4 10.9 6.9

Percent of families in poverty, 2007

9.5 6.0 21.3 18.5 8.0

Percent of children in poverty, 2007

14.9 10.6 34.6 27.5 11.6

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Documents

Variations in American Family Life Chapter 3 1. Outline American Families across Time How Contemporary Families Differ from One Another Racial and Ethnic