Social Changes for the American Family: Today

¶ … Social Changes for the American Family: Today and in 10 Years

The next ten years will see a greater variation in the structure of families and marriages, with much greater variations and flexibility than has ever been the case in the past. This will be primarily driven by the recognition that children, regardless of the composition of a family unit, need the structure and stability of long-term relationships at the adult level of stabilize their emotional maturation

(Milot, 2001). This shift to as much greater tolerance of marriage structures in addition to a questioning of consumerism, and if economic conditions continue to be turbulent, anti-consumerism, will mark the next ten years. The American family will shift from the prototypical nuclear family definition to one marked by more of a polyglot of roles, responsibilities and lifestyles (Milot, 2001).

Analysis of the American Family Today and in Ten Years

Clearly the economic conditions of today are driving the majority of American families to have tow wage earners (Perrone, Worthington, 2001). This will accelerate over the coming ten years with it becoming increasingly typical for multiple generations to live in the same house together to help make ends meet. There is also going to be an increasingly dominant trend in defining the sociological structure of the family, with increased variation in the type of relationships more tolerated as well (Milot, 2001). There will be much greater focus on creating family structures that allow for greater levels of economic security while also ensuring a high level of flexibility and variability of roles, all predicated on supporting the ongoing functioning of a family unit (Perrone, Worthington, 2001). In short, the family will increasingly become focused on being more agile than it is today, capable of being flexible across a broader range of situations, both social and economic. There will also be a much greater tolerance in wide variations in the composition of just what a family is, with the needs for stability and permanence becoming more paramount than today. This will be driven both by economic necessity and also by the need for greater levels of stability during increasingly turbulent times. Even if economic prosperity returns and the economic conditions stabilize as to their conditions prior to 2006, the shifts driven during the last six years of recession will leave an indelible mark on the agility and structure of families who will bind together to be more financially solvent.