Is the American Family in Trouble?
W. Bradford Wilcox states that most marriages are happy and are much more equal and fair than decades ago. Although it’s true that some marriages are unequal and unfair, and the fact that most husbands and wives experience moments or even periods of frustration with their work-family arrangements, most married couples with children are satisfied with their relationship. Both husbands and wives contribute equally to the paid and unpaid work needed to sustain a family. Thus, husbands and wives in this category judge their marriages to be fair and equal. When discussing housework, childcare, and careers, Wilcox, reports that husbands and wives both contribute about 55 hours equally. Although, married mothers do more of the housework …show more content…
Sawhill, statistics show high rates of divorce, unwed childbearing, and single mother households among today’s families. Economic opportunity is one primary factor affecting marriages today. The shutdown of factory jobs in certain areas has led to many divorces in towns where less educated men used to be able to support their families and a middle-class lifestyle, earning about $70,000 or more a year. Having the requirement of particular skills for these jobs has made these men less desirable marriage partners.
Women’s role in society also contributes to unhappy marriages that lead to divorce. In Sawhill’s book titled Time of Transition: The Growth of Families Headed by Women, she argued that not only was a man’s financial contributions important but also, what a woman can gain by marriage. If a woman does not see herself as gaining from the marriage, she may decide to raise the children on her own. Women today are more educated and are working higher paying jobs than in the past consequently leading them to the ability to support themselves without having to get married. When husbands fail to adjust to the wife’s new breadwinning role, the couple is more likely to
W. Bradford Wilcox states that most marriages are happy and are much more equal and fair than decades ago. Although it’s true that some marriages are unequal and unfair, and the fact that most husbands and wives experience moments or even periods of frustration with their work-family arrangements, most married couples with children are satisfied with their relationship. Both husbands and wives contribute equally to the paid and unpaid work needed to sustain a family. Thus, husbands and wives in this category judge their marriages to be fair and equal. When discussing housework, childcare, and careers, Wilcox, reports that husbands and wives both contribute about 55 hours equally. Although, married mothers do more of the housework …show more content…
Sawhill, statistics show high rates of divorce, unwed childbearing, and single mother households among today’s families. Economic opportunity is one primary factor affecting marriages today. The shutdown of factory jobs in certain areas has led to many divorces in towns where less educated men used to be able to support their families and a middle-class lifestyle, earning about $70,000 or more a year. Having the requirement of particular skills for these jobs has made these men less desirable marriage partners.
Women’s role in society also contributes to unhappy marriages that lead to divorce. In Sawhill’s book titled Time of Transition: The Growth of Families Headed by Women, she argued that not only was a man’s financial contributions important but also, what a woman can gain by marriage. If a woman does not see herself as gaining from the marriage, she may decide to raise the children on her own. Women today are more educated and are working higher paying jobs than in the past consequently leading them to the ability to support themselves without having to get married. When husbands fail to adjust to the wife’s new breadwinning role, the couple is more likely to