"It is better to debate a question without settling it than to settle a question without debating it." Joseph Joubert (1754-1824)

Introduction
David L. Bender

The traditional family of the twentieth century consists of a working father, a mother that stays home, and their children.  Many people romanticize this family structure, hearkening back to television shows of the 1950's and 1960's like Leave It to Beaver and Ozzie and Harriet.  In these shows the mother was always nurturing and available, the father always gave good advice, and the children were always well-behaved.  These shows made traditional families look especially loving, supportive, and successful.  Many parents of today compare their turbulent, hectic lives with those of a fictionalized past and find their own situations wanting.  Deborah Edler Brown and Michele Donley, writing in Newsweek's fall 1990 special issue on families, support this theory:  "Much of the turmoil felt by parents in the '90's derives from the fact that so many are children of the 50's.  Their image of an ideal family comes from TV shows like Father Knows Best."

This idealized version of the traditional family, however, has never really existed.  While a greater number of traditional families may have existed in the 1950's, most families were not the romantic versions that appeared on television.  Between 1940 and 1960, for example, the number of working wives doubled from 15 to 30 percent.  In addition, the divorce rate of the 1950's was higher than any previous time, except for a brief upsurge after World War II.  Many families in the 1950's may have felt the same sense of upheaval that prompts parents now to long for an idealized image of the traditional family.

Today, 70 percent of America's families are nontraditional.  the most common family type is composed of either a two-career married couple and their children or a single parent and his or her children.  These two groups each comprise 29 percent of all families, making them almost as common as the traditional family.  stepfamilies are also increasingly common.  In addition to these type, a minority of Americans--homosexual couples with children, grandparents raising grandchildren, communal families -- have broadened the definition of "family" still further.

Thus, while many people may believe the traditional family is best--63 percent of Americans polled claimed it as ideal--they have found it to be unfulfilling or unattainable.  According to William J. Doherty, a professor of family and social science, one explanation may be that "traditional family structures are no longer appropriate for the modern age" because such structures no longer meet some families' emotional and economic needs.  Another explanation may be that many Americans, especially single mothers, may not have a choice in their family structure.

Many single mothers were either abandoned by their husbands, forced to leave abusive situations, or never married the father of their children.  many may still believe in the importance of the traditional family, but circumstances have not allowed them to live in one.

As the American family changes, the roles traditional and nontraditional families will play in the future remain uncertain . . . [For example,] How are two-career parents affecting the family? . . . As more Americans find themselves living in new types of families, [this issue] will gain in importance.

Work Cited:  Bender, David L., and Bruno Leone, eds.  The Family in America:  Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1992.

Note:  Articles are reproduced here as they appeared in the original text.