Is there a big breakdown of the traditional American family?

[goodpen]

Some families may not be able to "get along with one paycheck", but many more have both parents working because they don't want to get along on one salary. Gotta have a bigger house, more bathrooms, at least 2 cars etc. and , of course they all need their own phones. Children are more influenced by baby sitters than Mothers, just imo.

[Chris]

When we speak of traditional we mean common custom full knowing there were always exceptions.

The demise of the traditional family is largely a matter of individualism (see Kevin MacDonald's Individualism and the Western Liberal Tradition) and economics (especially division of labor).

[Standing Wolf]

In 1950, more than a third of American women worked outside the home. That percentage has increased over time to its present level of about 57 percent. A significant increase, to be sure, but there are certainly factors affecting that change other than just wanting "a bigger house, more bathrooms, at least 2 cars etc." In many fields seventy years ago, women were either excluded outright for their sex - with very little if anything to be legally done about it - or they were marginalized and pigeonholed into dead end, unrewarding jobs that they were happy to abandon at the first opportunity. Were the 33.9% of women who worked outside the home in 1950 part of "non-traditional" families...or were they, as today, a mix of women who simply had a strong desire to do a particular job, single mothers with no other means of support, and the wives of spouses whose income was insufficient to fully support the family?

[Chris]

1950, right after WWII. Relatively recent.

Tradition

A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past.[1][2] A component of folklore, common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes (like lawyers' wigs or military officers' spurs), but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings. Traditions can persist and evolve for thousands of years—the word tradition itself derives from the Latin tradere literally meaning to transmit, to hand over, to give for safekeeping. While it is commonly assumed that traditions have an ancient history, many traditions have been invented on purpose, whether that be political or cultural, over short periods of time. Various academic disciplines also use the word in a variety of ways.

[carolina73]

It was just a few years ago that we read the stories of the 16 year old girls purposely becoming pregnant to raise children , while being raised by the welfare state.

I would argue that the fear of not working or of raising children is not necessarily the problem of the newer generations. Apparently some of them are afraid of work and finding a young man that is not afraid of work is also a problem they have.

[carolina73]

In 1950, more than a third of American women worked outside the home. That percentage has increased over time to its present level of about 57 percent. A significant increase, to be sure, but there are certainly factors affecting that change other than just wanting "a bigger house, more bathrooms, at least 2 cars etc." In many fields seventy years ago, women were either excluded outright for their sex - with very little if anything to be legally done about it - or they were marginalized and pigeonholed into dead end, unrewarding jobs that they were happy to abandon at the first opportunity. Were the 33.9% of women who worked outside the home in 1950 part of "non-traditional" families...or were they, as today, a mix of women who simply had a strong desire to do a particular job, single mothers with no other means of support, and the wives of spouses whose income was insufficient to fully support the family?

Working meaning part time in many of those cases. They worked at banks, grocery stores and then would migrate to full time jobs as the kids were in high school.

But you are exactly right that "keeping up with the neighbor" forced the drop a kid and rush back to a career attitude. Based on the lack of savings, they gained very little with 2 people going to work.

[Standing Wolf]

Who is it, exactly, that is labeling families where both spouses work "non-traditional"? Until my recent retirement, both my wife and I worked, and I never thought of our family as being "non-traditional". How about all of you? Are you part of a two paycheck household? If you are, do you consider your family to be "non-traditional"?

[carolina73]

Who is it, exactly, that is labeling families where both spouses work "non-traditional"? Until my recent retirement, both my wife and I worked, and I never thought of our family as being "non-traditional". How about all of you? Are you part of a two paycheck household? If you are, do you consider your family to be "non-traditional"?

Traditional would be a family oriented, structured around 2 parent families raising children. The professional day care services were rare 60 years ago. There was no pre-school.

Examples of non-traditional:
Not having kids would be non-traditional.
Single parent would be non-traditional.

That is not a meant to judge someone. It is just a most common vs least common structure at the time.

[Standing Wolf]

Traditional would be a family oriented, structured around 2 parent families raising children. The professional day care services were rare 60 years ago. There was no pre-school.

Examples of non-traditional:
Not having kids would be non-traditional.
Single parent would be non-traditional.

That is not a meant to judge someone. It is just a most common vs least common structure at the time.

I agree with that. You have to admit that some folks do seem to employ the term in a judgmental way...for example attributing the woman partner's working outside the home as being motivated by avarice or jealousy (see goodpen's comment, above) or by a fear of being shunned by "feminists".

[jigglepete]

Traditional would be a family oriented, structured around 2 parent families raising children. The professional day care services were rare 60 years ago. There was no pre-school.

Examples of non-traditional:
Not having kids would be non-traditional.
Single parent would be non-traditional.

That is not a meant to judge someone. It is just a most common vs least common structure at the time.

As to the bolded, didn't that used to be referred to as a "nuclear family?" What happened to that term? Was it cancelled?