Non-Traditional Family Structure So-Called \"Non-Traditional\"

Non-Traditional Family Structure

So-called "non-traditional" families are more common in contemporary American society than so-called "traditional" families, making them the new traditional family. Since most American marriages end in divorce, there is no reason to presume that the traditional family structure is necessarily more beneficial to children. The health, stability, and absence of dysfunction and emotional trauma in the family is much more important in that regard than the superficial structure or makeup of the family.

Prior to the late 20th century, the predominant family structure in the United States was a nuclear family consisting of a married husband and wife and their children (Healey, 2008; Macionis, 2007). Married women rarely worked outside the home, especially before World War II, and divorce was not an option for many women in unhappy marriages. During the last quarter of the 20th century, women became a much more important part of the American workforce and much more independent in general. Nowadays, approximately sixty percent of American marriages end in divorce; gay marriage is on the verge of social acceptance; and single parenthood is no longer the exception but the rule. As a result, more American families are one-parent families or same-sex couple families than the traditional nuclear family consisting of a married mother and father and their children (Healey, 2008; Henslin, 2005).

There may be good reason to expect that children living in non-traditional families may be happier and healthier in some respects than children living in many traditional families. That would likely be true with respect to those traditional families in which unhappily married parents remain together instead of getting a divorce. This issue is potentially significant precisely because the most common reason provided by unhappily married parents who choose not to terminate their marriages is "for benefit of the children" as a result of their assumptions that marital dissolution is necessarily more harmful to children than the alternative of being raised in a single-parent household. It is also important in connection with the ongoing contemporary debate about same-sex marriage and same-sex adoptive partners (Healey, 2008).

Research Question

1. How prevalent are so-called non-traditional families (NTFs) in the U.S.

2. What problems (if any) have been associated with NTFs?

3. Are children living in NTFs benefited or harmed by their situation?

4. Are children living in NTFs better off than children living with unhappily married parents in traditional families?

Problem Statement